That Golden Girl

July 22, 2008 12:19 PM

Emmy Award-winning actress Estelle Getty has died.

This would be a great place to collect priceless Estelle moments, like old interviews, cultural cul-de-sacs, and Golden Girls moments. I'm partial to this parody of the movie Clueless.

posted by [NOT HERMITOSIS-IST] (91 comments total)

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And can the lovely funny people STOP DYING for the rest of the year?
posted by WolfDaddy at 12:23 PM on July 22, 2008 [3 favorites]

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posted by oonh at 12:24 PM on July 22, 2008

We'll miss you, pussycat.
posted by kalimac at 12:24 PM on July 22, 2008 [5 favorites]

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posted by cashman at 12:26 PM on July 22, 2008

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posted by Sk4n at 12:27 PM on July 22, 2008

Here's hoping they don't give her a plot under shady pines.

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posted by Alvy Ampersand at 12:28 PM on July 22, 2008 [4 favorites]

That parody was awesome.
posted by DU at 12:28 PM on July 22, 2008

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posted by ericb at 12:29 PM on July 22, 2008

Bummer. Interesting fact, she was 10 months younger than Golden Girls daughter Bea Arthur.
posted by starman at 12:29 PM on July 22, 2008

Wow, she was still alive? I was just thinking about her a few days ago, she looked super-old back in the 80s.

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posted by JHarris at 12:33 PM on July 22, 2008

"Picture it... Brooklyn, 1947..."
posted by ericb at 12:33 PM on July 22, 2008 [4 favorites]

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posted by Smart Dalek at 12:35 PM on July 22, 2008

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posted by gcbv at 12:36 PM on July 22, 2008

I Got You Babe.
posted by ericb at 12:37 PM on July 22, 2008 [1 favorite]

This would be a great place to collect priceless Estelle moments

Okay.

http://psychosophia.ytmnd.com/
posted by anazgnos at 12:38 PM on July 22, 2008

The saddest thing about her passing is that it resulted in this post.
posted by LarryC at 12:39 PM on July 22, 2008

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posted by nooneyouknow at 12:39 PM on July 22, 2008

I was just thinking about her a few days ago, she looked super-old back in the 80s.

"In her early 60s, she flunked her 'Golden Girls' test twice because it was believed she didn’t look old enough to play 80....She came prepared for the third audition, however, wearing dowdy clothes and telling an NBC makeup artist, 'To you this is just a job. To me it’s my entire career down the toilet unless you make me look 80.' The artist did, Getty got the job and won two Emmys."^*

posted by ericb at 12:42 PM on July 22, 2008 [3 favorites]

The saddest thing about posting in an obit thread you don't like is that it resulted in you coming across as an asshole.
posted by ericb at 12:44 PM on July 22, 2008 [11 favorites]

yeah, kudos to her makeup artists. she looked 84 back in the '85. on the show, at least.
posted by snofoam at 12:45 PM on July 22, 2008

Joe Brofmowski: Mom, what're you doing here?
Tutti Bomowski: I've got to change you.
Joe Brofmowski: [looks down and realizes he's wearing a diaper] Mommy! I don't want to be changed.
Tutti Bomowski: [holding up diapers and baby powder] I've got to change you.

You changed us all, Estelle. You changed us all.
posted by The Card Cheat at 12:45 PM on July 22, 2008 [1 favorite]

I legitimately credit her character on Golden Girls to helping me develop my penchant for sarcasm. Oh Sophia Petrillo, you will be missed!

(do you all think I'm being sarcastic or not? ha!)

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posted by mrzer0 at 12:45 PM on July 22, 2008

Thank you for being a friend…
posted by AwkwardPause at 12:46 PM on July 22, 2008 [1 favorite]

I will also cherish her for reminding us that, yes, Blanche really was a slut.
posted by dhammond at 12:47 PM on July 22, 2008 [1 favorite]

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posted by Blazecock Pileon at 12:50 PM on July 22, 2008

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posted by aerotive at 12:52 PM on July 22, 2008

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posted by chunking express at 12:54 PM on July 22, 2008

In 1999, after my grandmother died, I bought a few episodes of "The Golden Girls" on DVD. The only way I could get to sleep was to pop in an episode because Estelle Getty's wise-cracking Ma reminded me so much of my own grandmother's brassiness. I still watch them to this day.

One of my favorite lines from her:

Dorothy (anticipating one of Ma's favorite "Picture it. Sicily" stories): "Oh Ma, you're not going to tell another story, are you?
Ma: "No, I'm going to sing an old Negro spiritual. Of course I'm going to tell a story!"

Thank you, Estelle for some very good laughs.

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posted by notjustfoxybrown at 12:55 PM on July 22, 2008 [1 favorite]

But who now will shoot when Stallone says "Stop!"?

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posted by tapeguy at 1:05 PM on July 22, 2008

Picture it. Sicily 1923, a young star was born.
posted by milarepa at 1:12 PM on July 22, 2008

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posted by Afroblanco at 1:15 PM on July 22, 2008

To me, the saddest part of her passing is the irony that in her 60's she played a vibrant, sarcastic 80 year old...but in her actual 80's, she apparently suffered from Lewy Body Dementia. A friend's mother is afflicted with this, and it has robbed her of just about everything.

On TV, aging is reduced to some jokes about hot flashes, ED, and aching joints. In real life, aging is fucking brutal.

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posted by mosk at 1:16 PM on July 22, 2008 [4 favorites]

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posted by bshort at 1:18 PM on July 22, 2008

Such a huge loss. She will be missed.


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posted by pearlybob at 1:21 PM on July 22, 2008

Metafilter: .
posted by Hands of Manos at 1:22 PM on July 22, 2008

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posted by condour75 at 1:22 PM on July 22, 2008

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posted by Navelgazer at 1:28 PM on July 22, 2008

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posted by AloneOssifer at 1:28 PM on July 22, 2008

From mosk's Wikipedia link:

Dementia with Lewy bodies exhibits clinical overlap between Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease.

That's all I needed to know right there. Man, that's horrible. Just plain horrible.

Rest in peace, Estelle.
posted by Spatch at 1:29 PM on July 22, 2008

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posted by googlebombed at 1:30 PM on July 22, 2008

Some of my favorite Golden Girls moments were courtesy of Estelle Getty.

Some classic Sophia quotes:
"Jealousy is an ugly thing, Dorothy. And so are you, in anything backless."

(When debating whether an ex-con Blanche has been corresponding with should be trusted) "Do you think he went to prison just for some male bonding and free coveralls?"


Blanche: I have writer's block. It's the worst feeling in the world.
Sophia: Try ten days without a bowel movement sometime.


Blanche: Are you implying I lost my virginity at an early age?
Sophia: I'm just saying you're lucky Jack and Jill magazine didn't have a gossip column.


If I met a man who was over seventy but still looked half-way decent, I'd be on my back faster than you could say, 'I've fallen and I can't get up!'

Rest in peace, Estelle, and thank you for than many hours of laughter you gave me while watching the Golden Girls with my own aging parents.
posted by Oriole Adams at 1:34 PM on July 22, 2008 [2 favorites]

I loved the Golden Girls when I came to America, because it was the first show I could really understand all the way through, plus it made me laugh a lot.

Today I understand a lot more English and would rather watch The Wire or just read a good book. When I see an old Golden Girls episode, its faults and simplicities are obvious. But I understand how talented one must be to take part in such a formulaic endeavor and have one's character seem fresh and sassy - even if each episode consists of rewritten jokes from the previous week.

Estelle Getty was pretty good at keeping the show's stale material fresh, and that made her a better actor than most out there. And she was pretty believable as an old sarcastic pain in the ass; I'd never have guessed she was younger than her TV daughter.


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posted by Dee Xtrovert at 1:40 PM on July 22, 2008 [1 favorite]

I never watched this show but reading those favorite lines, it sounds like every friar's club roast I've ever seen (sanitized). Good writing. Sorry to hear the end was tough for EG.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 1:43 PM on July 22, 2008

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posted by babybuns at 1:47 PM on July 22, 2008

Blanche: Mel and I were meant to be together.
Sophia: I wish I could say the same for your thighs!
posted by Coatlicue at 1:51 PM on July 22, 2008 [1 favorite]

And another, when Dorothy and Ma were fighting over the television.

Dorothy: Ma, I wanted to watch the "Cosby Show."

Ma: Too bad. Just look out the window and hope some nice black family moves in across the street.
posted by notjustfoxybrown at 1:54 PM on July 22, 2008

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Stay Golden, girl.
posted by gummi at 1:58 PM on July 22, 2008

Back in 2002 I was writing and editing for Vegetarian Times, working on a short news item about Rue McClanahan's involvement in the "slow food" movement. I got her number from her publicist and called her up while she was on location in Georgia, filming some movie with Cuba Gooding Jr. She mentioned to me that Estelle Getty had started developing dementia, but said that all the Golden Girls stayed in pretty constant contact with her (and each other.) Funny show. I remember watching it on Friday/Saturday nights with my parents.

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posted by emelenjr at 2:00 PM on July 22, 2008

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posted by notashroom at 2:05 PM on July 22, 2008

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posted by PigAlien at 2:08 PM on July 22, 2008

I wish I could find those old "Where's the Beef" commercials online, so that I could post a link in tribute.

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posted by Slap Factory at 2:09 PM on July 22, 2008

That Clueless parody immediately made me think of this. Oh TV Land Awards... you sure have a knack for making older actresses frighten me in somewhat hilarious ways.

I knew Estelle was doing poorly, for some reason I looked up her website a few months ago wondering if she was still alive... you could tell they were waiting for her to pass and that she no longer had any memory left, it was sad.
posted by miss lynnster at 2:13 PM on July 22, 2008

She always reminded me of my grandmother.

Love the Clueless clip! But where's the "Stop, or my mom will shoot!" love?

PS, Bea Arthur is hotter than Sarrica Jessica Parker.
posted by Eideteker at 2:16 PM on July 22, 2008

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posted by magstheaxe at 2:21 PM on July 22, 2008

Good night Estelle! You were wrong. I wasn't a union spy.

I worked with Estelle during her Torch Song Trilogy stint and she thought I was a Union spy.
She swore that one day she'd expose me. Sorry darlin'. (True story)
posted by doctorschlock at 2:38 PM on July 22, 2008 [2 favorites]

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posted by chihiro at 2:43 PM on July 22, 2008

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posted by Pope Guilty at 2:45 PM on July 22, 2008

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posted by ZachsMind at 2:54 PM on July 22, 2008

I hear there will be a hundred member children's choir singing "Thank You for Being a Friend" at the funeral.
posted by sourwookie at 2:58 PM on July 22, 2008 [1 favorite]

What's the matter, jcterminal? Emmy award envy?
posted by emelenjr at 2:58 PM on July 22, 2008 [3 favorites]

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posted by longsleeves at 3:01 PM on July 22, 2008

"Our mother-daughter relationship was one of the greatest comic duos ever," Arthur said in an overstatement.
posted by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese at 3:09 PM on July 22, 2008

jcterminal: explain to me why "the site to post the best of the web" is being used as a memorial to a mediocre character actor of no actual note?

It's a shame that your perfectly valid argument that ObitFilter is not "the best of the web" is almost instantly discredited by your wholly fucktarded and inherently wrong assertion that Estelle Getty was "mediocre character actor of no actual note." WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG.
posted by dhammond at 3:10 PM on July 22, 2008 [8 favorites]

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posted by kjh at 3:22 PM on July 22, 2008

JcTerminal: "...being used as a memorial to a mediocre character actor..."

ESTELLE GETTY WAS A SAINT!

(I reserve the right to call Bea Arthur a 'mediocre character actor' when we get to her)
posted by ZachsMind at 3:24 PM on July 22, 2008

Aw, damn. Golden Girls is my favorite sick-at-home-show, sad-at-home-show, lonely-at-home-show -- it unfailingly cheers me right up. Seeing four great comediennes still at the top of their game working at their age makes me hopeful that I'm only going to get sassier and more full of moxie as I age. Also, that I'll be dodging Shady Pines successfully, perhaps with the help of my friends. (I've got a promise from at least one that if we find ourselves aged and single we'll Golden Girls it up together.)

Now if you'll pardon me, I've got a few sad queens that I need to send heartfelt condolences to, and an old Sicilian woman to hire to give jcterminal and ZachsMind the Evil Eye.
posted by melissa may at 3:29 PM on July 22, 2008 [2 favorites]

...besides, I questioned the validity some weeks ago of us doing an ObitThread for a walrus. If we're gonna do an ObitThread for a walrus, we're gonna do an ObitThread for Estelle Getty.

We're also gonna do an ObitThread for Lucy the sign language chimp if she ever dies... or is she already dead?
posted by ZachsMind at 3:30 PM on July 22, 2008

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posted by mike3k at 3:38 PM on July 22, 2008

Golden Gals Gone Wild
posted by mildred-pitt at 3:49 PM on July 22, 2008

"...and an old Sicilian woman to hire to give jcterminal and ZachsMind the Evil Eye."

* covers self in mirrors *

Evil Eye away!
posted by ZachsMind at 4:09 PM on July 22, 2008

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posted by greta simone at 4:14 PM on July 22, 2008

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posted by esmerelda_jenkins at 4:28 PM on July 22, 2008

You know what Estelle Getty? Whatever Estelle wanty.

I apologize. I thought she was kind of an awesome lady, basically.
posted by cortex at 4:37 PM on July 22, 2008 [2 favorites]

I've got to sit down. If you need me, I'll be on the lanai.
posted by box at 4:39 PM on July 22, 2008 [2 favorites]

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posted by sueinnyc at 4:44 PM on July 22, 2008

EG was described in several obits as being a "tireless supporter of gay rights."

So, yeah, besides all the laughs, thank you for being a friend, Estelle.

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posted by Morrigan at 4:47 PM on July 22, 2008 [3 favorites]

Honestly, I had forgotten how funny Sophia was. Here's to you, Ms. Getty, wherever you are.
posted by WCityMike at 4:50 PM on July 22, 2008

> Golden Gals Gone Wild

Okay, I'm sorry, don't mean to be mean, but my penis just inverted.
posted by WCityMike at 4:54 PM on July 22, 2008

She made hay with some really hacky writing. She had impeccable timing, she rocked it like the real Sicilian ladies who I grew up around in Soho/Little Italy, mean as fuck, hilarious.
posted by Divine_Wino at 4:54 PM on July 22, 2008

I've got a promise from at least one that if we find ourselves aged and single we'll Golden Girls it up together.

I've the same agreement with friends.

Every evening we'll retire to the lanai at 5:00 p.m., have cocktails and watch the pool boy(s) at dusk.
posted by ericb at 5:04 PM on July 22, 2008

I've the same agreement with friends.

Golden Boys? I think you can see that in Times Square for a quarter, dude.
posted by jonmc at 5:49 PM on July 22, 2008 [1 favorite]

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posted by dantsea at 6:01 PM on July 22, 2008

"...if we find ourselves aged and single we'll Golden Girls it up together."

Here's hoping my old age is like the movie Bubba Hotep.
posted by ZachsMind at 6:14 PM on July 22, 2008

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posted by brandz at 6:22 PM on July 22, 2008

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posted by crossoverman at 8:21 PM on July 22, 2008

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posted by Mael Oui at 8:32 PM on July 22, 2008

Thank you, Estelle, for being a friend.

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posted by fredosan at 10:14 PM on July 22, 2008

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posted by Goofyy at 11:10 PM on July 22, 2008

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posted by Francis7 at 5:06 PM on July 23, 2008

Some people are more upset about Estelle's passing than others.

LEAVE SOPHIA ALOOOONNNNE!
posted by miss lynnster at 7:58 PM on July 23, 2008

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posted by wires at 8:39 PM on July 23, 2008