First we lost the lovely Jo Stafford (read her obituary in The Telegraph), and today there's the very sad news of the death of Estelle Getty.
Always cast in parts that were much older than she was, Estelle was most famous as the irascible Sophia in The Golden Girls. Despite playing the mother, Miss Getty was in fact a year younger than her "daughter" Bea Arthur!
As the struggling actress daughter of Polish immigrants, her breakthrough came courtesy of Harvey Fierstein, who cast Miss Getty as his mother in the Broadway version of Torch Song Trilogy.
From there she had some small parts in movies such as Tootsie and Mask before being catapulted to stardom by landing the part of Dorothy's mother in what is now one of the most-loved of all American comedies since The Lucy Show.
Her later years were clouded by dementia, and she was unable to make a few Golden Girls reunions due to ill-health. We will all miss her terribly, but her lasting legacy is with us for ever:
Some of her best lines:
Blanche: We just rented that movie Aliens, it scared us half to death.Estelle Getty tribute on the BBC website
Sophia: I found it scary too. That Sigourney Weaver is a sweet girl but she really shouldn't go without makeup.
Blanche: I treat my body like a temple.
Sophia: Yeah, open to everyone, day or night.
Stan: Hello Sophia, you're looking younger every day.
Sophia: Hi Stan, and that's a beautiful toupee you're wearing. Great, now we're both liars.
Dorothy: Ma, you're making this up!
Sophia: So what? I'm old, I'm supposed to be colourful.
Rose: Sophia, why are you in such a bad mood?
Sophia: Excuse me Rose, but I haven't had sex in fifteen years and its starting to get on my nerves.
Dorothy: Hi, ma. Where are you going?
Sophia: To the boardwalk. I like to watch the old guys rearrange themselves when they come out of the water.
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