Estelle Getty

Has died!
She was my favorite off the Golden Girls (which I still watch!)...

Estelle Getty, the diminutive actress who spent 40 years struggling for success before landing a role of a lifetime in 1985 as the sarcastic octogenarian Sophia on TV's "The Golden Girls," has died. She was 84.
Getty, who suffered from advanced dementia, died at about 5:30 a.m. Tuesday at her Hollywood Boulevard home, said her son, Carl Gettleman of Santa Monica.
"Estelle always wanted to be an actress, and she achieved that goal beyond her dreams," former "Golden Girls" co-star Rue McClanahan told The Associated Press. "Don't feel sad about her passing. She will always be with us in her crowning achievement, Sophia."
"The Golden Girls," featuring four female retirees sharing a house in Miami, grew out of NBC programming chief Brandon Tartikoff's belief that television was ignoring its older viewers.
Three of its stars had already appeared in previous series: Bea Arthur in "Maude," Betty White in "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and McClanahan in "Mama's Family." The last character to be cast was Sophia Petrillo, the feisty 80-something mother of Arthur's character.
"Our mother-daughter relationship was one of the greatest comic duos ever, and I will miss her," Arthur said in a statement.
When she auditioned, Getty was appearing on stage in Hollywood as the carping Jewish mother in Harvey Fierstein's play "Torch Song Trilogy." In her early 60s, she flunked her "Golden Girls" test twice because it was believed she didn't look old enough to play 80.
"I could understand that," she told an interviewer a year after the show debuted. "I walk fast, I move fast, I talk fast."
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.
"The only comfort at this moment is that although Estelle has moved on, Sophia will always be with us," White said in an e-mail to The Associated Press.
"The Golden Girls" culminated a long struggle for success during which Getty worked low-paying office jobs to help support her family while she tried to make it as a stage actress.
"I knew I could be seduced by success in another field, so I'd say, 'Don't promote me, please,'" she recalled.
She also appeared in small parts in a handful of films and TV movies during that time, including "Tootsie," "Deadly Force" and "Victims for Victims: The Theresa Saldana Story."
After her success in "The Golden Girls," other roles came her way. She played Cher's mother in "Mask," Sylvester Stallone's in "Stop or My Mom Will Shoot" and Barry Manilow's in the TV film "Copacabana." Other credits included "Mannequin" and "Stuart Little" (as the voice of Grandma Estelle).
"The Golden Girls," which ran from 1985 to 1992, was an immediate hit, and Sophia, who began as a minor character, soon evolved into a major one.
Audiences particularly loved the verbal zingers Getty would hurl at the other three. When McClanahan's libidinous character Blanche once complained that her life was an open book, Sophia shot back, "Your life's an open blouse."
"I always told her she should be a standup comic. She was so funny in person," McClanahan recalled. "She would always say, 'Why couldn't we make these characters Jewish? Why am I Sicilian?'"
Getty had gained a knack for one-liners in her late teens when she did standup comedy at a Catskills hotel. Female comedians were rare in those days, however, and she bombed.
Undeterred, she continued to pursue a career in entertainment, and while her parents were encouraging, her father also insisted that she learn office skills so she would have something to fall back on.
Born Estelle Scher to Polish immigrants in New York, Getty fell in love with theater when she saw a vaudeville show at age 4.
She married New York businessman Arthur Gettleman (the source of her stage name) in 1947, and they had two sons, Carl and Barry. The marriage prevailed despite her long absences on the road and in "The Golden Girls."
Getty was evasive about her height, acknowledging only that she was "under 5 feet and under 100 pounds."
McClanahan said her nickname for Getty was "Slats."
"Because she was so short, itty-bitty," she said.
In addition to her son Carl, Getty is survived by son Barry Gettleman, of Miami; a brother, David Scher of London; and a sister, Rosilyn Howard of Las Vegas.
___
Associated Press Writers Robert Jablon and Solvej Schou contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

Life Happens....

So, my vacation is definitely over with! I'm on a 7-3 schedule lately! How EXHAUSTING! I'm NOT a morning person at all! Shelly is out, though, so I'm doing her shifts until she comes back. Anyway, just wanted to stop in and say a quick hello! These days of working 7 and 8 days without a day off, also, is getting to me! Nickelback is my music tonight, so lemme get back to it!

Later,

Priscilla

Bummed

I don't know why, but I'm just bummed out today! I went to my neice's birthday party earlier, and then I dropped my kids off at home, got some money from the ATM, went to Popeye's and then went driving for about an hour. I was listening to one song that I really like, and I just started crying, for no reason. Anyway, gonna go to a message board and hang out for a while, I guess.

Later,

Priscilla

Getting Better........

I'm still on vacation, and I am getting better! The flu is leaving my body, thank goodness! Unfortunately for me, my vacation time was spent here in town! BUT fortunately for McD's, I was given the opportunity to make up sick days! I hate making up sick days on my vacation, but since I wasn't out of town, it worked out! AND it's all done now! WOOOOHOOO! I don't have to worry about it now! I don't go back until Monday!

WOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! 2 Friday, Saturday, and Sunday days OFF IN A ROW! THAT NEVER HAPPENS for me! Wow! I do NOT look forward to going in on Monday, BUT I do look forward to some events on Friday...... I do have to replace a tire for my car, BUT other than that......... things are AWESOME..... and McD's will not be in my vocabulary on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday!

Anyway, I shall chat later!

Priscilla

Was a Happy 4th

We had a fun day on the 4th. We were over at my SIL's house all day. Put 3 grown men and fireworks/firecrackers together, you have a bunch of overgrown boys, but they had fun! Everybody was happy! We all got to see some pretty fireworks all day!

Today is my birthday, and I can't get past this nasty flu. I'm trying to eat right now, but it's not agreeing with me too much.

I DON'T WANT TO BE SICK ANYMORE!!!!

Anyway, let me get going for now. I'll talk to yall later!

Priscilla

Still Sick

I did go in to work last night for inventory, and what normally takes me 3-4 hours to do, took over 5 hours last night. I didn't think I'd ever get done. And sometime during the shift I started throwing up. I couldn't keep anything down, and that of course didn't help. When I got home and got a bath, I tried to sleep, that didn't happen, not with me getting "sick" every half hour or so. I called in sick this morning for the entire day. I couldn't even hold my head up this morning. It was horrible! Anyway, I stopped throwing up earlier today, finally ate something this evening, and have some nyquil. My voice is coming back, but things still hurt really bad in my chest. I'm still having some problems breathing, and hopefully things will get better soon.

I guess I'll talk to yall later.

Priscilla