Estelle Getty, 1923-2008, had a 'Golden' role

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSJuly 22, 2008

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," died yesterday. She was 84.

Getty, who suffered from advanced dementia, died at her Hollywood Boulevard home, said her son, Carl Gettleman of Santa Monica.

"Estelle always wanted to be an actress, and she achieved that goal beyond her dreams," former "Golden Girls" co-star Rue McClanahan told The Associated Press. "Don't feel sad about her passing. She will always be with us in her crowning achievement, Sophia." "The Golden Girls" featured four female retirees sharing a house in Miami.

Three of its stars had appeared in previous series: Bea Arthur in "Maude," Betty White in "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and McClanahan in "Mama's Family."

The last character 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 in Hollywood as the carping Jewish mother in Harvey Fierstein's "Torch Song Trilogy." In her early 60s, she flunked her "Golden Girls" test twice because she didn't look old enough.

"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, wearing dowdy clothes and telling the 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 AP.

"The Golden Girls" culminated a long struggle for success in which Getty worked low-paying office jobs to help support her family while she tried to make it as a stage actress.

She also appeared in small parts in 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."

"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. She had gained a knack for one-liners in her late teens when she did standup comedy at a Catskills hotel, where she bombed.

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 in 1947. Their two sons, Carl and Barry Gettleman of Miami, survive her, as do a brother, David Scher of London, and a sister, Rosilyn Howard of Las Vegas.

Sophia's zingers

Dorothy: Ma, I DON'T snore. Sophia: Please! I had to turn you away from the window so you wouldn't inhale the drapes!

Dorothy: Ma, what are you doing? You're supposed to be resting. Remember what the doctor said?

Sophia: Dorothy, I'm feeling anxious. And when I feel anxious, there's only one thing that calms me down.

Dorothy: I know, Ma. Cooking a big meal.

Sophia: No, making hot naked love in a closet. But hey, you do what you can.

Rose: I just found out I'm the most boring person on Earth.

Sophia: Did something happen to Regis Philbin?

Dorothy: You couldn't sleep either, huh?

Sophia: No, I'm sleeping so good I thought I'd come try it in the sink.

Rose: Sophia, why are you in such a bad mood?

Sophia: Excuse me Rose, but I haven't had sex in 15 years, and it's starting to get on my nerves.