Estelle Getty Biography: Estelle Getty, born Estelle Gettleman on July 25, 1923, was an American actress and comedian who was most renowned for her portrayal of Sophia Petrillo on “The Golden Girls” from 1985 to 1992. She was a multi-award-winning actress who tragically passed away in 2008 due to Lewy body dementia.
Estelle Getty: Early Life
Estelle Scher was born on July 25, 1923, in the Manhattan borough of New York City, and she later became Estelle Getty. Sarah and Charles, Polish-Jewish immigrants who operated a glass business on the Lower East Side, were her parents. Rosilyn and Samuel were siblings of Getty. The family would attend a live vaudeville show and a film at the Academy of Music on Friday evenings, which served as an early source of inspiration for Getty’s interest in acting. She attended Seward Park High School for her education.
Estelle Getty: Career
Getty is an actress who lives in New York and used to work as a secretary before she became an actor. After winning a Drama Desk Award for her role as Mrs. Beckoff in the “Torch Song Trilogy,” she became well-known to a lot of people. Getty has also been in “Newhart,” “Cagney & Lacey,” “Hotel,” and “Fantasy Island.” She was in both “No Man’s Land” and “Victims for Victims: The Theresa Saldana Story.”
She gained fame for her part in “The Golden Girls,” an NBC show that aired from 1985 to 1992. Sophia Petrillo was Dorothy’s mother and was born in Italy. Getty played her in the movie. She was one of four old people who were shown in Miami, Florida. Getty won both an Emmy and a Golden Globe for her work.
She brought back her character from the “Golden Girls” spinoffs “The Golden Palace” and “Empty Nest” in “City,” “Roomies,” and “The Fanelli Boys.” She did the voice of a Duckman figure and showed up in “A Match Made in Heaven.”
In 1978, Getty’s first movie was called “Team-Mates.” After a brief appearance in Sydney Pollack’s comedy “Tootsie,” she returned in 1985 to star in Peter Bogdanovich’s historical drama “Mask.” She shined in the 1987 romantic comedy “Mannequin,” starring Andrew McCarthy, Kim Cattrall, and James Spader.
Getty and Stallone were in “Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot,” a policeman action comedy released in 1992, but reviewers didn’t think it was very good. She played Grandma Estelle Little in the 1999 movie “Stuart Little.”
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Estelle Getty: Net Worth
When she died, Estelle Getty was worth $8 million. She was an American comedian and actor. A lot of people knew Estelle Getty as Sophia Petrillo from “The Golden Girls.” Besides “The Golden Palace” and “Empty Nest,” she also played the part again in “Blossom” and “Nurses.” Getty was in many movies, including Tootsie, Deadly Force, Mask, and Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot, Stuart Little, and more. She was in several TV shows, including Fantasy Island, Cagney & Lacey, Blossom, Touched by an Angel, Mad About You, The Nanny, and more. She got an Emmy in 1988 and a Golden Globe in 1986 for her work on The Golden Girls. Estelle Getty died on July 22, 2008, at the age of 84.
Estelle Getty: Relationship
Getty went to a party with Arthur Gettleman, her stage name. She ran across him among friends from the New York theater. Nine months later, they tied the knot on December 21, 1947. Their sons were Barry Gettleman and Carl. Following their marriage, he passed away at 85 on September 24, 2004. Married, they relocated to the Bronx. Following two boys, they settled in Bell Park Gardens, a cooperative area for WWII Jewish veterans, in Oakland Gardens, Queens. Arthur installed glass with his father-in-law. They lived apart between the mid-1980s and mid-1990s. Getty worked on The Golden Girls in California while Arthur Gettleman stayed in New York and worked for the family glass company.
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Estelle Getty: Death
According to her relatives, Getty passed away early morning on July 22, 2008, from Lewy body dementia at her Los Angeles residence. Her tombstone in Hollywood Forever Cemetery included a Star of David to represent her Jewish views and said: “With Love and Laughter”. Her Golden Girls co-stars Bea Arthur, Betty White, and Rue McClanahan wept in an interview. Getty’s illness had gotten so bad she could not speak or recognize them. She supposedly displayed dementia signs while taping the show. Later seasons of the program saw her using cue cards since, despite her thirty-year theater career, she struggled to recall her lines. Getty also was thought to have Parkinson’s and osteoporosis. This progressed to dementia with Lewy bodies.
Her former co-star White claims Getty had a facelift for The Golden Girls between seasons one and two. Getty was uncomfortable when the show covered death since she was so terrified of it and avoided making jokes about it.
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