Estelle Getty Of The Golden Girls Dies At 84
Estelle Getty, the diminutive actress who spent 40 years trying to make a career in acting before landing the role on a television show that made her famous, has died at age 84. According to her family, Getty, who suffered from advanced dementia, died at about 5:30 a.m. Tuesday at her Hollywood Boulevard home.
Getty had spent years trying to build a career as a stage actress only to be forced to work low paying office jobs to help support her family. She had to audition for the role of Sophia in The Golden Girls three times because the producers didn’t feel she could appear and act old enough to play the character. On her third audition, however, she came dressed for the part and landed the role that ended up nabbing her two Emmy awards.
The Golden Girls, which ran from 1985 to 1992, was an immediate hit, and Sophia, who began as a minor character, soon evolved into a major one.
After her success on that show, other roles came her way. She played Cher’s mother in Mask, Sylvester Stallone’s mother in Stop or My Mom Will Shoot and also appeared in movies such as Mannequin and Stuart Little (as the voice of Grandma Estelle).
Sadly, Stuart Little in 1999 would prove to be Getty’s next to last film. She appeared in The Million Dollar Kid in 2000, but would never make another film.
I certainly cannot claim to be a fan of The Golden Girls as I cringe a little every time I run across a rerun on television. However, I do think Estelle Getty was funny in the movies I’ve seen her in and I do realize that she had many, many fans out there who loved her in The Golden Girls. To those fans as well as her friends and family we offer our condolences.
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