The Loss of a Golden One

Estelle Getty, the diminutive actress best known for playing the witty mother Sophia on “The Golden Girls”, passed away on Tuesday after a long fight with dementia. She was 84 at the time of her death.

Estelle Getty is a very unlikely success story, and proof that success can come when one least expects it. Although wanting to be an actress since an early age Getty struggled for close to 40 years to make it, often taking mediocre office jobs to support herself and her family while she tried to make it on stage. Her luck finally started to turn in 1982 when she won the role of Mrs. Beckoff in Harvey Fierstein’s play “Torch Song Trilogy”. Soon afterwards she auditioned for the role of zany Sophia on “The Golden Girls”, a show about four older women living together in Miami. Unfortunately she failed not one but two auditions on the fact that she didn’t look old enough to play a women in her 80’s (at the time Estelle was in her early 60’s). Upon her third audition for the part she had the crew’s make up artist transform her into an 80 year old and she won the role. Her character, the mother to Bea Arthur’s Dorothy who always had a witty one-liner, was an instant hit and became the breakout character of the show. Her character was so popular that she ended up playing Sophia on five separate television shows.

In addition to acting, Estelle Getty was also a stanch supporter of gay rights. She organized several fundraisers for research in treating AIDS.

Estelle Getty is survived by her two sons as well as her brother and sister. Although she is gone, she will not be forgotten. One only has to turn to the Lifetime network, which airs “The Golden Girls” no less then six times a day, to see this actress’s talent at work.