Estelle Getty-Sophia Petrillo From Golden Girls Dies
Estelle Getty, the great character and diminutive actress who spent 40 years struggling for success before landing a role of a lifetime in 1985, as the sarcastic octogenarian, Sophia Petrillo, on TV’s “The Golden Girls,” has died. She was 84.
Estelle Getty, who suffered from advanced dementia, died at about 5:30 a.m. Tuesday at her Hollywood Boulevard home, in California.
Besides Golden Girls, she also appeared in small parts in a handful of films and TV movies during that time, including “Tootsie,” “Deadly Force” and “Victims for Victims: The Theresa Saldana Story.”
Estelle Getty, “Thank you for being a friend…that we all knew and loved!”
After her success in “The Golden Girls,” other roles came her way. She played Cher’s mother in “Mask,” Sylvester Stallone’s in “Stop or My Mom Will Shoot” and Barry Manilow’s in the TV film “Copacabana.” Other credits included “Mannequin” and “Stuart Little” (as the voice of Grandma Estelle).
She married New York businessman Arthur Gettleman (the source of her stage name) in 1947, and they had two sons, Carl and Barry.
In addition to her son Carl, Estelle Getty is survived by her sons Barry Gettleman, of Miami and Carl Gettleman of Santa Monica. A brother, David Scher of London, and a sister, Rosilyn Howard of Las Vegas.
She will be missed and remembered.
Rest In Peace, Estelle Getty…or, as I fondly remember her, “Sophia.”
“Thank you for being a friend…”
~The Baby Boomer Queen~
"
"
"
