Estelle Getty Biography

Estelle Getty was an American actress and comedian, best known for her character Sophia Petrillo in the sitcom ‘The Golden Girls’. She grew up in New York and aspired to become an actress as a child. She worked as a waitress in Catskills borscht bell resorts and theatre artist in Yiddish theatre. Getty gave a shot to stand-up comedy as well but did not find the expected response and engagement from the audience. She made guest appearances in numerous television shows such as ‘Fantasy Island’, ‘Cagney & Lacey’, ‘Blossom’, ‘Touched by an Angel’, ‘Mad about You’ and ‘The Nanny’. She played the role of a teacher in her debut film ‘Team-Mates’. She acted in a number of commercially successful films, such as ‘Tootsie’, ‘Mask’ and ‘Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot’. She was nominated seven times in the Emmy Awards for her performance in ‘The Golden Girls’ and won once. She was married to Arthur Gettleman and had two sons from her marriage. Her autobiography ‘If I Knew Then, What I Know Now... So What?’ covered revelations and details about her life. She died three days before her eighty fifth birth anniversary due to Dementia with Lewy bodies.