Estelle Getty (born Estelle Scher on July 25, 1923 in New York City) - is a Jewish-American actress whose most important beginning role was playing Harvey Fierstein's mother on Broadway in the play Torch Song Trilogy, however she was best known for her role as Sophia Petrillo on the popular 1980s sitcom, The Golden Girls. In it, she played the wise-cracking old Italian mother of Dorothy Zbornak, who was the show's main protagonist, played by Bea Arthur. One of the most ironic things about casting Getty in this role was that she was actually two months younger than Bea Arthur: on Golden Girls, Getty was heavily made-up to seem significantly older.
In 2000, she stopped making public appearances after she revealed that she had Parkinson's Disease and Osteoporosis. In 2002, it was revealed to the media that she is also suffering from Alzheimer's Disease. It was later found out that she actually had Lewy Body Dementia, not Parkinson's Disease.
Selected Filmography
- Stuart Little (1999)
- Empty Nest (1988) (TV series) (1994–1995)
- Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot! (1992)
- The Golden Palace (1992) (TV series)
- Mannequin (1987)
- Copacabana (1985) (TV)
- The Golden Girls (1985) (TV series)
- Mask (1985)
- Tootsie (1982)
External Links
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