Estelle Getty

Estelle Getty

Estelle Gettleman, known as Estelle Getty, was an American actress. She was best known for her portrayal of Sophia Petrillo on The Golden Girls. She also appeared in Empty Nest, Nurses, Blossom, Touched by an Angel and Mad About You.

About Estelle Getty in brief

Summary Estelle GettyEstelle Gettleman, known as Estelle Getty, was an American actress. She was best known for her portrayal of Sophia Petrillo on The Golden Girls. She also appeared in Empty Nest, Nurses, Blossom, Touched by an Angel, Mad About You and The Nanny. She retired from acting in 2001 due to health issues and died in 2008. Getty was born in New York City, New York on July 25, 1923, to Charles Scher and Sarah, Jewish immigrants from Poland. Her father owned and operated his own business, installing glass windows into automobiles and trucks, and her mother was a homemaker. The two lived separately for some time in the mid-80s, as Arthur had no desire to leave New York and work in California, and they moved to Oakland Gardens, Queens, while Arthur worked with his father-in-law in glass installation.

They had two children together and remained married until his death on September 24, 2004, at the age of 85. They lived in the Bronx for a time, and after the births of their sons, moved to California in order to work on TheGolden Girls. Getty wrote her autobiography entitled If I Knew Then, What I Know Now… So What?, with the help of Steve Delsohn, published by Contemporary Books in 1988. The last name she would later use as the basis for her stage name, Estelle, was used by her friends on the New York theater circuit and the two married on December 21, 1947.