Estelle Getty
Encyclopedia
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
.
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
.
, and Barry Gettleman, who lives in Florida
.
Although her trademark character of Sophia Petrillo
was a Democrat who often criticized the Republican Party
on numerous occasions Getty herself was the exact opposite. In life Getty was a registered Republican who thought highly of Ronald Reagan
and his various policies.
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.
from natural causes three days before what would have been 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.
Stage name
A stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...
Estelle Getty, was an American actress, who appeared in film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
, and theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
. She is best known for her role as Sophia Petrillo
Sophia Petrillo
Sophia Petrillo is a fictional character from the TV series The Golden Girls, and its spin-offs The Golden Palace and Empty Nest. She was portrayed by Estelle Getty for 10 years and 258 episodes and was arguably the breakout character of the show...
on The Golden Girls
The Golden Girls
The Golden Girls is an American sitcom created by Susan Harris, which originally aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992. Starring Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty, the show centers on four older women sharing a home in Miami, Florida...
from 1985 to 1992, which won her an Emmy and a Golden Globe, on The Golden Palace
The Golden Palace
The Golden Palace is an American sitcom that originally aired on CBS from September 18, 1992, to May 14, 1993. The show was a spin-off and continuation of the sitcom The Golden Girls....
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
Dementia with Lewy bodies
Dementia with Lewy bodies , also known under a variety of other names including Lewy body dementia, diffuse Lewy body disease, cortical Lewy body disease, and senile dementia of Lewy type, is a type of dementia closely allied to both Alzheimers and Parkinson's Diseases...
.
Life and career
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, the daughter of Sarah and Charles Scher, Jewish immigrants from Poland
History of the Jews in Poland
The history of the Jews in Poland dates back over a millennium. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Jewish community in the world. Poland was the centre of Jewish culture thanks to a long period of statutory religious tolerance and social autonomy. This ended with the...
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
Borscht Belt
Borscht Belt, or Jewish Alps, is a colloquial term for the mostly defunct summer resorts of the Catskill Mountains in parts of Sullivan, Orange and Ulster counties in upstate New York that were a popular vacation spot for New York City Jews from the 1920s through the 1960s.-Name:The name comes from...
resorts, and among her most notable stage roles was as Harvey Fierstein
Harvey Fierstein
Harvey Forbes Fierstein is a U.S. actor and playwright, noted for the early distinction of winning Tony Awards for both writing and originating the lead role in his long-running play Torch Song Trilogy, about a gay drag-performer and his quest for true love and family, as well as writing the...
's mother in Torch Song Trilogy
Torch Song Trilogy
Torch Song Trilogy is a collection of three plays by Harvey Fierstein rendered in three acts: International Stud, Fugue in a Nursery, and Widows and Children First! The story centers on Arnold Beckoff, a torch song-singing Jewish drag queen living in New York City in the late 1970 and 1980s...
during its original Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
run.
She is best known for her role as Sophia Petrillo
Sophia Petrillo
Sophia Petrillo is a fictional character from the TV series The Golden Girls, and its spin-offs The Golden Palace and Empty Nest. She was portrayed by Estelle Getty for 10 years and 258 episodes and was arguably the breakout character of the show...
on the popular 1980s sitcom The Golden Girls
The Golden Girls
The Golden Girls is an American sitcom created by Susan Harris, which originally aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992. Starring Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty, the show centers on four older women sharing a home in Miami, Florida...
. Her character was the wise-cracking Sicilian
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
mother of Dorothy Zbornak
Dorothy Zbornak
Dorothy Hollingsworth , is a fictional character from the TV series The Golden Girls, portrayed by Bea Arthur for 7 years and 183 episodes. Dorothy was the strong, sarcastic, sometimes intimidating, and arguably most grounded of the four women in the house...
, played by Beatrice Arthur
Beatrice Arthur
Beatrice "Bea" Arthur was an American actress, comedienne and singer whose career spanned seven decades. Arthur achieved fame as the character Maude Findlay on the 1970s sitcoms All in the Family and Maude, and as Dorothy Zbornak on the 1980s sitcom The Golden Girls, winning Emmy Awards for both...
(the other main characters being played by Betty White
Betty White
Betty White Ludden , better known as Betty White, is an American actress, comedienne, singer, author, and former game show personality. With a career spanning seven decades since 1939, she is best known to modern audiences for her television roles as Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and...
and Rue McClanahan
Rue McClanahan
Rue McClanahan was an American actress, best known for her roles on television as Vivian Harmon on Maude, Fran Crowley on Mama's Family, and Blanche Devereaux on The Golden Girls, for which she won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in 1987.-Early life:McClanahan was born Eddie Rue...
); in real life, Getty was in fact one year younger than Arthur. Getty won an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
in 1988 for Outstanding Supporting Actress.
During her time on The Golden Girls
The Golden Girls
The Golden Girls is an American sitcom created by Susan Harris, which originally aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992. Starring Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty, the show centers on four older women sharing a home in Miami, Florida...
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
Seward Park High School
Seward Park High School is a now-closed comprehensive high school which was located in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York City. The school began as P.S. 62 Intermediate, a intermediate school. In 1923 the school pursued an experimental path as a combined junior-senior 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 CaliforniaCalifornia
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, and Barry Gettleman, who lives in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
.
Although her trademark character of Sophia Petrillo
Sophia Petrillo
Sophia Petrillo is a fictional character from the TV series The Golden Girls, and its spin-offs The Golden Palace and Empty Nest. She was portrayed by Estelle Getty for 10 years and 258 episodes and was arguably the breakout character of the show...
was a Democrat who often criticized the Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
on numerous occasions Getty herself was the exact opposite. In life Getty was a registered Republican who thought highly of Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
and his various policies.
In 1991, as later reported in Star magazine
Star (magazine)
Star is an American celebrity tabloid magazine.-History:Star was founded by Rupert Murdoch in 1974 as competition to the tabloid National Enquirer with its headquarters in New York City. In the late 1980s it moved its offices to Tarrytown, NY and in 1990 Murdoch sold the magazine to The Enquirers...
, Getty helped to nurse her 29-year-old nephew Steven Scher, who was near death and suffering from the final stages of AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
. Because Scher's parents lived in England and his friends were no longer able to care for him in Greensboro, North Carolina
Greensboro, North Carolina
Greensboro is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the third-largest city by population in North Carolina and the largest city in Guilford County and the surrounding Piedmont Triad metropolitan region. According to the 2010 U.S...
, 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
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system...
and osteoporosis
Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis is a disease of bones that leads to an increased risk of fracture. In osteoporosis the bone mineral density is reduced, bone microarchitecture is deteriorating, and the amount and variety of proteins in bone is altered...
. In 2002, media reports claimed she was also suffering from Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
. Doctors later discovered she actually had Lewy body dementia
Dementia with Lewy bodies
Dementia with Lewy bodies , also known under a variety of other names including Lewy body dementia, diffuse Lewy body disease, cortical Lewy body disease, and senile dementia of Lewy type, is a type of dementia closely allied to both Alzheimers and Parkinson's Diseases...
; 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
Lifetime Television
Lifetime Television, often referred to as Lifetime TV, or most commonly, Lifetime, is an American cable television specialty channel devoted to movies, sitcoms and dramas, all of which are either geared toward women or feature women in lead roles. The cable network is owned by A&E Television Networks...
television hosted a Golden Girls reunion, but Getty did not appear due to her failing health.
Death
On July 22, 2008, at approximately 5:30 a.m. PDT, Getty died in her Hollywood Boulevard home in Los AngelesLos Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
from natural causes three days before what would have been her 85th birthday.
Estelle Getty was buried in the Plains of Abraham (formerly Section 14) Jewish section, of Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Hollywood Forever Cemetery, originally called Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery, is one of the oldest cemeteries in Los Angeles, California. It is located at 6000 Santa Monica Boulevard in the Hollywood...
in Hollywood, CA. She is interred near other entertainment notables like actors Paul Muni
Paul Muni
Paul Muni was an Austrian-Hungarian-born American stage and film actor...
, Lester Allen
Lester Allen
Lester Allen was a screen, stage, vaudeville, circus actor, and film director. In vaudeville, he appeared in a double act with Nellie Breen and also emceed at the Palace Theatre.-Selected filmography:...
, Felix Bressart
Felix Bressart
Felix Bressart was a German-American actor of stage and screen.Felix Bressart was born in East Prussia, Germany and was already a very experienced stage actor when he had his film debut in 1928. He started off as a supporting actor, e.g...
, 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
Rue McClanahan
Rue McClanahan was an American actress, best known for her roles on television as Vivian Harmon on Maude, Fran Crowley on Mama's Family, and Blanche Devereaux on The Golden Girls, for which she won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in 1987.-Early life:McClanahan was born Eddie Rue...
told the Associated Press, "Don't feel sad about her passing. She will always be with us in her crowning achievement, Sophia." Betty White
Betty White
Betty White Ludden , better known as Betty White, is an American actress, comedienne, singer, author, and former game show personality. With a career spanning seven decades since 1939, she is best known to modern audiences for her television roles as Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and...
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
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
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.
Emmy Awards
- 1986 – Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series – The Golden GirlsThe Golden GirlsThe Golden Girls is an American sitcom created by Susan Harris, which originally aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992. Starring Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty, the show centers on four older women sharing a home in Miami, Florida...
– (Nominated) - 1987 – Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series – The Golden Girls – (Nominated)
- 1988 – Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series – The Golden GirlsThe Golden GirlsThe Golden Girls is an American sitcom created by Susan Harris, which originally aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992. Starring Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty, the show centers on four older women sharing a home in Miami, Florida...
– (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 GirlsThe Golden GirlsThe Golden Girls is an American sitcom created by Susan Harris, which originally aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992. Starring Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty, the show centers on four older women sharing a home in Miami, Florida...
– (Nominated)
Drama Desk Award
- 1982 - Drama Desk Award Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play - Torch Song TrilogyTorch Song TrilogyTorch Song Trilogy is a collection of three plays by Harvey Fierstein rendered in three acts: International Stud, Fugue in a Nursery, and Widows and Children First! The story centers on Arnold Beckoff, a torch song-singing Jewish drag queen living in New York City in the late 1970 and 1980s...
– (Nominated)
Golden Raspberry Awards
- 1992 – Worst Supporting Actress - Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot (Won)
Television
- Cagney and Lacey (1 episode) (1984)
- CopacabanaCopacabana (musical)Copacabana is a TV-musical, stage musical, and nightclub show written by Barry Manilow, based on the song of the same name. The show toured the United States and, as of 2006, became available to license to performing companies and schools for the first time....
(1985) - The Golden GirlsThe Golden GirlsThe Golden Girls is an American sitcom created by Susan Harris, which originally aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992. Starring Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty, the show centers on four older women sharing a home in Miami, Florida...
(180 episodes, 1985–1992) - Empty Nest (52 episodes, 1988–1995; regular
- The Golden PalaceThe Golden PalaceThe Golden Palace is an American sitcom that originally aired on CBS from September 18, 1992, to May 14, 1993. The show was a spin-off and continuation of the sitcom The Golden Girls....
(24 episodes, 1992–1993) - The John Larroquette ShowThe John Larroquette ShowThe John Larroquette Show is a situation comedy that ran on the NBC network from 1993 to 1996. The show, created by Don Reo, was a vehicle for John Larroquette following his run as Dan Fielding on Night Court. The series took place in a seedy bus terminal in St. Louis, Missouri and focused on the...
(1 episode) (1996) - DuckmanDuckmanDuckman: Private Dick/Family Man is an American animated sitcom that aired from 1994–1997, created by Everett Peck and developed by Peck. The sitcom is based on characters created by Peck in his Dark Horse comic...
(1 episode) (1997) - Stuart LittleStuart LittleStuart Little is a 1945 children's novel by E. B. White, his first book for children, and is widely recognized as a classic in children's literature. Stuart Little was illustrated by the subsequently award-winning artist Garth Williams, also his first work for children...
(1999) - Estelle Little, George's grandmother and Frederick's mother.
External links
- Estelle Getty Memorial
- Official Estelle Getty website
- "Estelle Getty: Maverick Mother & TV Trailblazer", 1995 interview
- "Estelle Getty, Actress, Dies at 84", Associated PressAssociated PressThe Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
via The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, July 22, 2008, filed at 4:34 p.m. ET - Estelle Getty - Obituary and public tribute