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| 'Golden Girls' Actress Estelle Getty Dies at 84 | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jul 22 2008, 06:15 PM (269 Views) | |
| Deleted User | Jul 22 2008, 06:15 PM Post #1 |
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Deleted User
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http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,388722,00.html LOS ANGELES — Estelle Getty, the diminutive actress who spent 40 years struggling for success before landing a role of a lifetime in 1985 as the sarcastic octogenarian Sophia on TV's "The Golden Girls," has died. She was 84. Getty, who suffered from advanced dementia, died at about 5:30 a.m. Tuesday at her Hollywood Boulevard home, said her son, Carl Gettleman of Santa Monica. "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. 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. It 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." The Internet Movie Database gives her height as 4-feet-9. In addition to her son Carl, Getty is survived by son Barry Gettleman, of Miami, Fla.; a brother, David Scher of London, and a sister, Rosilyn Howard of Las Vegas. |
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| Beatlesaholic | Jul 22 2008, 06:42 PM Post #2 |
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Me At Thanksgiving On November 24, 2011.
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RIP Estelle!
Edited by Beatlesaholic, Jul 22 2008, 06:42 PM.
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Paul John George Ringo Are My Favorite Beatles! The Beatles Rule!!!!! Beatles Biggest Fan Kirsten Julian Lennon Biggest Fan RIP John Lennon RIP George Harrison RIP Maurice Gibb RIP Andy Gibb RIP Michael Jackson RIP Grandpa Nick RIP Grandma Tess My Favorite Beatles Movie And Album Is A Hard Day's Night & My Favorite Paul McCartney Album Is Good Evening New York City! Gold Strawberry: BeatlesBiggestFan (16 votes) ![]() | |
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| mspeel 007 | Jul 22 2008, 06:52 PM Post #3 |
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| [AND IN THE END.....THE LOVE YOU TAKE...IS EQUAL TO THE LOVE YOU MAKE | |
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| maccascruff | Jul 23 2008, 01:05 AM Post #4 |
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Sing the Changes
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I loved that show. Are any of the Golden Girls still alive now? |
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| Beatlesaholic | Jul 23 2008, 02:43 PM Post #5 |
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Me At Thanksgiving On November 24, 2011.
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Yes Bea Arthur Betty White Rue McClanahan! |
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Paul John George Ringo Are My Favorite Beatles! The Beatles Rule!!!!! Beatles Biggest Fan Kirsten Julian Lennon Biggest Fan RIP John Lennon RIP George Harrison RIP Maurice Gibb RIP Andy Gibb RIP Michael Jackson RIP Grandpa Nick RIP Grandma Tess My Favorite Beatles Movie And Album Is A Hard Day's Night & My Favorite Paul McCartney Album Is Good Evening New York City! Gold Strawberry: BeatlesBiggestFan (16 votes) ![]() | |
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| beatlespud | Jul 23 2008, 07:58 PM Post #6 |
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Rue McClanahan also was on Maude as well Dean |
| Save the whales, collect the entire set!!! | |
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| maccascruff | Jul 24 2008, 02:03 AM Post #7 |
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Sing the Changes
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And I saw a quote from her, so she is still living. |
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