Golden Girl Estelle Getty Passes On At 84

I opened my Yahoo page to find that Estelle Getty had died at her Hollywood Blvd. home this morning at 5:30 AM. She is best known as Sophia Petrillo on the long running television show "Golden Girls". She was arguably the most funny of the four women and avid viewers of the show have the most difficult time deciding which is their favorite among the stars of the show. Getty portrayed the mother of Golden Girl Dorothy Zbornak (Bea Arthur) and so it was always thought she was much older than the other three women, which in actuality she was a year younger than Arthur.

Born in New York City on July 25, 1923 and is considered a late bloomer. She was 47 years of age when she performed in her first off-Broadway play. Her most important stage role was playing Harvey Fierstein's mother in the Broadway play "Torch Song Trilogy".

Ms. Getty stopped making public appearances in 2000 after revealing that she had Parkinson's Disease, osteoporosis and Alzheimer's Disease. It was later found that she had been misdiagnosed and that she in fact suffered from Lewy Body Dementia, which has some of the symptomatology as Alzheimer's Disease.

In 2003 Lifetime Television hosted a Golden Girls Reunion Show in which Ms. Getty was unable to attend due to failing health. She received 7 Emmy and 3 Golden Globe nominations for her role on "The Golden Girls", winning each award once. Paying tribute to the star, her longtime care-giver Paul Chapdelaine says, "Sadly, today July 22, 2008 at 5:35 a.m. Pacific Time, we said our last good-byes to our little friend Estelle, who passed away and made her journey to the great beyond. Although it was a trip that she never wanted to take, she went gracefully, in the comfort of her own home, surrounded by her family and her very loving care-givers". Here is the link with the story and enjoy the below clip from the show. RIP Ms. Getty.