Estelle Getty, seen in blue, was known for playing Sophia on the show "Golden Girls."
"She was loved throughout the world in six continents, and if they loved sitcoms in Antarctica she would have been loved on seven continents," her son said. "She was one of the most talented comedic actresses who ever lived."
"The Golden Girls," featuring four female retirees sharing a house in Miami, grew out of NBC programming chief Brandon Tartikoff's belief that television was ignoring its older viewers.
Three of its stars had already appeared in previous series: Bea Arthur in "Maude," Betty White in "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and Rue McClanahan in "Mama's Family." The last character to be cast was Sophia Petrillo, the feisty 80-something mother of Arthur's character.
"Our mother-daughter relationship was one of the greatest comic duos ever, and I will miss her," Arthur said in a statement.
When she auditioned, Getty was appearing on stage in Hollywood as the carping Jewish mother in Harvey Fierstein's play "Torch Song Trilogy." In her early 60s, she flunked her "Golden Girls" test twice because it was believed she didn't look old enough to play 80.
"I could understand that," she told an interviewer a year after the show debuted. "I walk fast, I move fast, I talk fast."
She came prepared for the third audition, however, wearing dowdy clothes and telling an NBC makeup artist, "To you this is just a job. To me it's my entire career down the toilet unless you make me look 80." The artist did, Getty got the job and won two Emmys.
"The only comfort at this moment is that although Estelle has moved on, Sophia will always be with us," White said in an e-mail to The Associated Press after Getty's death was announced.
"The Golden Girls" culminated a long struggle for success during which Getty worked low-paying office jobs to help support her family while she tried to make it as a stage actress.
"I knew I could be seduced by success in another field, so I'd say, 'Don't promote me, please,"' she recalled.
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."
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).
"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.
Audiences particularly loved the verbal zingers Getty would hurl at the other three. When McClanahan's libidinous character Blanche once complained that her life was an open book, Sophia shot back, "Your life's an open blouse."
Getty had gained a knack for one-liners in her late teens when she did standup comedy at a Catskills hotel. Female comedians were rare in those days, however, and she bombed.
Undeterred, she continued to pursue a career in entertainment, and while her parents were encouraging, her father also insisted that she learn office skills so she would have something to fall back on.
Born Estelle Scher to Polish immigrants in New York, Getty fell in love with theater when she saw a vaudeville show at age 4.
She married New York businessman Arthur Gettleman (the source of her stage name) in 1947, and they had two sons, Carl and Barry. The marriage prevailed despite her long absences on the road and in "The Golden Girls."
Getty was evasive about her height, acknowledging only that she was "under 5 feet and under 100 pounds."
In addition to her son Carl, Getty is survived by son Barry Gettleman, of Miami; a brother, David Scher of London; and a sister, Rosilyn Howard of Las Vegas.
When I first started blogging in late June of 2006, I was in the process of changing jobs. As some of you remember, my first day at work for DPA was in Hermosa Beach, Ca.
Every summer DPA takes all of it's employee's and locks all of us up for 3 days. Over the course of those 3 days we are force fed different flavors of Kool Aid. Just kidding!
As I have written before, these retreats are used to bring the organization toegther. Since we have 8 offices all around the country, it affords us the opportunity to talk about our policies and programs, our vision and our mission.
It is pretty impressive to be in a room with 57 employees whose goal in life is to make a difference in the lives of thousands upon thousands of people around the world.
Though peole think we are all a bunch of pot heads, that myth is just that, a myth. Actually, most employee's don't use. In the end, most of us have some personal connection to the ill effects of the war on drugs.
Personally, I lost my father to his involvement in trafficking of arms and drugs.
Due to the scheduling of training for me this year while I am there AND a DPA member reception I am co-managing, I fly out Monday morning and return the week after. The trip is a total 9 days. Our good friend Billy W is meeting us on Wednesday.
On Monday night Covis and some friends are taking the world's longest tramway to have dinner at an elevation of 10,378 ft at the High Finance Restaurant.
Next Friday morning Clovis, Billy and I will depart on the adventure portion of this trip.
We are traveling to Ghost Ranch, Bandalier National Monument and the Georgia O'Keefe museum. We are also going white water rafting. We are staying at the Ojo Caliente Mineral Spirngs Resort and Spa.
I will try and post pictures and blog a journal during the week.
I am very excited to be visting such a beuatiful part of our country.
Raf
