Blog dedicated to actress/musician Leisha Hailey

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Estelle Getty *****1923 - 2008*****RIP


The Golden Girls has and always will hold a special place in my heart. I was saddened to hear the gutsy and canterkerous Estelle Getty, (aka-Sophia Patrillo), passed away on Tuesday at the age of 84 after battling a long illness. I grew up with these four vivacious golden women, but I never knew how much of an influence Blanche, Dorothy, Rose and Sophia played in my life. To this day, I never go to bed without getting my Sophia fix. I own all eight Golden Girls dvd's and had the pleasure of meeting Rue Maclanahan twice at the airport. Words can't express the jubilation I felt upon meeting one of my favorite characters. I just don't think I would have been as excited had I met Madonna or Angelina Jolie. But Estelle was the nucleus of the foursome and was unequivocally the wisest one in the group. She brought such an amusing and bouyant spirit into our homes...and we love her for it....She will be missed.

Do any of you watch The Golden Girls? What are your favorite moments from that show.

9 comments:

speedy12 said...

I have to admit--my favorite line from Estelle was when she always called Blanche a slut...lolol

Anonymous said...

Do you see that none of the ladies from the Golden Girls showed up to her funeral? I used to watch that show allll the time. She was a funny lady.

speedy12 said...

Really Brit--Where did you see that piece of information? I wonder why they didn't go?

Anonymous said...

I saw it on Perezhilton.com and then today he posted the reasons why the ladies didn't show. Here's what he posted:

TV's Inside Edition caught up with Estelle Getty's son, Carl, to get to the bottom of why the living Golden Girls skipped out on her funeral.

Carl told the show, "They would certainly have been welcome. I don't know why they wouldn't be attending mom's funeral. Maybe it's a painful thing…As for the rest of them you're going to have to ask them how they felt about it and why they did or didn't come."

Inside Edition took Carl's advice and reached out to the ladies.

Bea "Dorothy" Arthur, told the show she's been grieving for years over Getty's long decline due to dementia, and could not deal with the emotion of a funeral: "She's been out of it so many years, not recognizing anyone. It's a Godsend. She's at peace."

Rue "Blanche" McClanahan, said that she couldn't attend the funeral because she recently had surgery: "I'd like them to know that I didn't [attend the funeral] because I can't fly right now with knee surgery. I don't know why Betty and Bea didn't go, maybe because they, too, have said their goodbyes to her when she was alive."

The show did not speak with Betty White, but they learned that she sent a bouquet of flowers with a card that read, "Love, Betty White." In quotes she added the name of her character on the show, "Rose."

And there you have it.

Estelle's son seems to have perceived the absences as a snub, though. Says Carl: "If it was someone I'd been tight with like that and worked with all those years I'd have been there."

speedy12 said...

Wow!!! Personally I believe it would have been too much grief for the rest of the cast members...but I can understand why her son would be upset.

Anonymous said...

She was such a brilliant lady! I loved the Golden Girls! It was not only entertaining but very progressive in many ways, imho. I have so many favorite moments, but I loved anything that started with "Picture this...Sicily...." LOL!

speedy12 said...

niki--I agree...Those were classic moments.

Anonymous said...

I to Grow up watching golden girls I still do when I get a chance to .Speedy you do know that the first season of the L. Word comes on logo. I will mis her she was so funny

J School said...

I loved the Golden Girls. I remember watching it with my grandmother. I definitely want to get the dvds someday and watch them. Sophia was the funniest of them all. A good friend of mine and Kaye's reminds me a lot of Sophia, short in height, but tall in personality.

How old is Getty's son? What they have him quoted as saying sounds like something someone really young would say, or maybe its just the way I'm reading it.

It's hard to lose someone, especially when their health has been declining for a while. In some ways, I don't blame the girls for not showing up, sometimes you just want to deal with your grief by yourself, you don't want to be surrounded by people.

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