Golden Girl Estelle Getty Dies

Sophia Petrillo Dead Death The actress best-known for playing the wise-cracking octegenarian Sophia Petrillo was 84 years old.

by Steven Norris

Published: Tue, July 22, 2008 - 1:34 pm CST Last Updated: Wed, July 23, 2008 - 9:30 pm CST

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Actress Estelle Getty of TV's "The Golden
Girls" died this morning at the age of 84 at her home in Los Angeles. Her
son says she suffered from advanced dementia. Getty was in her 60s
when she started playing the sarcastic octogenarian Sophia in the sitcom.
She would have turned 85 years old later this week. Getty was proud of
her role as Sophia on "The Golden Girls."
She told AP Radio in a 1988 interview that she thought Sophia
and the show had been an incredible boost to older people. She
embraced the fact that people thought of her as "the
quintessential older person," and she frequently spoke to senior
citizen groups about what it was like to have success at her age.
Getty said she also thought Sophia helped older actors break out
of stereotypical roles, like the grandmother or the token land lady
next door. And now they're cast in significant parts in sitcoms,
movies and commercials in ways that they weren't cast before.

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mustuknow Says:

Wed, Jul 23, 2008 at 3:19 am

Too true… This is weird but as I was watching the Golden Girls of late night the other evening I thought to myself ” I wonder how old MA is.” Dorothy could say “MA” like no other. God Speed my dear lady, you were a real gem here on earth.