Estelle Getty

Estelle Getty
Getty at the 41st annual Primetime Emmy Awards in 1989
Born	Estelle Scher July 25, 1923(1923-07-25) New York, New York
Died	July 22, 2008(2008-07-22) (aged 84) (&1000000000000008400000084 years, &10000000000000363000000363 days) Los Angeles, California
Residence	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Nationality	American
Other names	Estelle Scher-Gettleman Estelle Getty
Education	Seward Park High School
Occupation	Actress, comedienne
Years active	1978–2000
Home town	New York City, New York, U.S.
Television	The Golden Girls, The Golden Palace, Empty Nest
Religion	Judaism
Spouse	Arthur Gettleman (1946–2004; his death) (2 sons)
Children	Carl Gettleman (son) Barry Gettleman (son)

Estelle Scher-Gettleman (July 25, 1923 – July 22, 2008), better known by her stage name Estelle Getty, was an American actress, who appeared in film, television, and theatre. She is best known for her role as Sophia Petrillo on The Golden Girls from 1985 to 1992, which won her an Emmy and a Golden Globe, on The Golden Palace from 1992 to 1993 and on Empty Nest from 1993 to 1995. In her later years, after retiring from acting, she battled Lewy body dementia.

Life and career

Getty was born Estelle Scher in New York City, the daughter of Sarah and Charles Scher, Jewish immigrants from Poland who worked in the glass business. She had a sister Roz and a brother David. Getty got her start in the Yiddish theater and also as a comedienne in the Catskills borscht belt resorts, and among her most notable stage roles was as Harvey Fierstein's mother in Torch Song Trilogy during its original Broadway run.

She is best known for her role as Sophia Petrillo on the popular 1980s sitcom The Golden Girls. Her character was the wise-cracking Sicilian mother of Dorothy Zbornak, played by Beatrice Arthur (the other main characters being played by Betty White and Rue McClanahan); in real life, Getty was in fact one year younger than Arthur. Getty won an Emmy Award in 1988 for Outstanding Supporting Actress.

During her time on The Golden Girls Getty wrote an autobiography with Steve Delsohn entitled If I Knew Then, What I Know Now... So What? (Contemporary Books, 1988). She further capitalized on her success by releasing an exercise video for senior citizens in 1993.

She attended Seward Park High School.

Personal life

Getty was married to Arthur Gettleman (whose name she adapted into her stage name) from 1946 until his death in 2004. Getty had two sons: Carl Gettleman, who lives in California, and Barry Gettleman, who lives in Florida.

In 1991, as later reported in Star magazine, Getty helped to nurse her 29-year-old nephew Steven Scher, who was near death and suffering from the final stages of AIDS. Because Scher's parents lived in England and his friends were no longer able to care for him in Greensboro, North Carolina, Getty had him flown to California and admitted to hospice care. He died in January 1992.

In 2000, Getty stopped making public appearances after revealing she had Parkinson's disease and osteoporosis. In 2002, media reports claimed she was also suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Doctors later discovered she actually had Lewy body dementia; both the Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diagnoses were incorrect. Cast members attempted to talk to her on the phone or in person, but found that she couldn't remember them, or anything about the show. Bea Arthur said that even during production of the series Getty had so much trouble remembering her lines that they should have known something was wrong from the beginning.

In 2003, Lifetime television hosted a Golden Girls reunion, but Getty did not appear due to her failing health.^{[citation needed]}

Death

The handprints of Estelle Getty in front of The Great Movie Ride at Walt Disney World's Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park.

On July 22, 2008, at approximately 5:30 a.m. PDT, Getty died in her Hollywood Boulevard home in Los Angeles from natural causes three days before her 85th birthday.

Estelle Getty was buried in the Plains of Abraham (formerly Section 14) Jewish section, of Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, CA. She is interred near other entertainment notables like actors Paul Muni, Lester Allen, Felix Bressart, former German filmmakers Joe & Mia May (Mandel), and 007 co-screenwriter Richard W. Maibaum. On August 1, 2009, Estelle's tombstone was installed.

Getty's Golden Girls co-stars reflected upon her death; Rue McClanahan told the Associated Press, "Don't feel sad about her passing. She will always be with us in her crowning achievement, Sophia." Betty White remarked, "The only comfort at this moment is that although Estelle has moved on, Sophia will always be with us." Bea Arthur said in a statement, "Our mother-daughter relationship was one of the greatest comic duos ever and I will miss her." Arthur herself died of cancer less than a year after Getty on April 25, 2009, and on June 3, 2010, Rue McClanahan died of a stroke.

In honor of Getty, Lifetime TV, which aired reruns of The Golden Girls at the time, aired ten episodes of the series featuring the best of Sophia on Friday, July 25, her birthday. Fans voted for their favorite episode on Lifetime's website. The episode "Old Friends" received the most votes and was aired last during the marathon.

Awards

Emmy Awards

Getty at the 1988 Emmy Awards

• 1986 – Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series – The Golden Girls – (Nominated)
• 1987 – Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series – The Golden Girls – (Nominated)
• 1988 – Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series – The Golden Girls – (Won)
• 1989 – Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series – The Golden Girls – (Nominated)
• 1990 – Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series – The Golden Girls – (Nominated)
• 1991 – Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series – The Golden Girls – (Nominated)
• 1992 – Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series – The Golden Girls – (Nominated)

Golden Globe Awards

• 1985 – Actress in a Leading Role – Musical or Comedy Series – The Golden Girls – (Won)
• 1986 – Actress in a Leading Role – Musical or Comedy Series – The Golden Girls – (Nominated)
• 1991 – Actress in a Supporting Role – Series, Mini-Series or Television Movie – The Golden Girls – (Nominated)

Drama Desk Award

• 1982 - Drama Desk Award Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play - Torch Song Trilogy – (Nominated)

Golden Raspberry Awards

• 1992 – Worst Supporting Actress - Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot (Won)

Performances

Television

• Cagney and Lacey (1 episode) (1984)
• Copacabana (1985)
• The Golden Girls (180 episodes, 1985–1992)
• Empty Nest (52 episodes, 1988–1995; regular
• The Golden Palace (24 episodes, 1992–1993)
• The John Larroquette Show (1 episode) (1996)
• Duckman (1 episode) (1997)
• Stuart Little (1999) - Estelle Little, George's grandmother and Frederick's mother.

Live Theatre

• Torch Song Trilogy (1982) .... Mrs. Beckoff

External links

• Estelle Getty at the Internet Movie Database
• Estelle Getty at the Internet Broadway Database
• Estelle Getty at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Estelle Getty Memorial
• Official Estelle Getty website
• "Estelle Getty: Maverick Mother & TV Trailblazer", 1995 interview
• "Estelle Getty, Actress, Dies at 84", Associated Press via The New York Times, July 22, 2008, filed at 4:34 p.m. ET
• Estelle Getty at Find a Grave
• Estelle Getty - Obituary and public tribute