The 100th Anniversary of Estelle Getty's Birth

It was 100 years ago on this date that Estelle Getty was born in New York City. I eulogized her when she died in 2008 at the age of 84 from Lewy body dementia, so here I will just discuss some of her better known roles. 

Of course, Estelle Getty is best known as Sophia Petrillo, Dorothy's wisecracking mother, on The Golden Girls. Amazingly enough, Sophia was originally meant to be a recurring character, but Estelle Getty as the character proved to be a hit with test audiences, and so she became a regular. At the beginning of the show Sophia was 80 years old, but Estelle Getty was only in her early sixties at the time. As a result, she had to wear make up to make her look older. It is quite possible that Sophia is the most popular character on The Golden Girls, and as a result she would appear on episodes of other shows as well. Indeed, she appeared in 52 episodes of the Golden Girls spinoff Empty Nest. She also appeared on one episode of the Empty Nest spinoff Nurses and an episode of Blossom. Of course, she was a regular on the short-lived Golden Girls sequel/spinoff The Golden Palace.

While Estelle Getty will probably always be best remembered as Sophia on The Golden Girls, she played other roles as well. In Mannequin (1987) she played kindly department store owner Claire Timkn. In Mask (1985) she played Evelyn, the grandmother of Rocky (who had craniodiaphyseal dysplasia). In the film she often acts as a mediator between Rocky (Eric Stoltz) and his mother Rusty (Cher), as well as a mediator between Rusty and her husband Abe and his daughter Rusty. While Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot (1992) is not a particularly good film, Estelle Getty was still entertaining as the constantly interfering mother of Police Sergeant Joe Bomowski (Sylvester Stallone).

Amazingly enough, Estelle Getty did not begin her career in film and television until she was older. She spent years performing various roles in New York theatres. She made her film debut in a small role in the movie Team-Mates in 1978. In 1981 she made her television debut in a guest appearance on the short-lived TV show Nurse. It was in 1982, when she was 59 years old, that she appeared on Broadway in Torch Song Trilogy. By later seasons of The Golden Girls Lewy body dementia began to take its toll, as she struggled to remember lines despite years as an actress on stage. With her health in decline, Estelle Getty retired from acting following a guest appearance on the show It's Like...You Know in 2001.

Estelle Getty was certainly a remarkable actress and played one of the most memorable characters on television. And while she will always be remembered as Sophia Petrillo, she played many other roles as well.