Estelle Getty Passes Away

News
By Kelly West
published

Golden Girls star Estelle Getty passed away earlier today. The woman popularly known for her role as the perpetually cranky Sophia Petrillo on The Golden Girls died in her Los Angeles home surrounded by her family. She was 84-years-old.

According to TMZ, Getty had been suffering from Lewy Body Dementia for years. A note on Getty's website said she died gracefully.

Getty always brought a certain blunt honesty to the role of Sophia. I remember as a kid thinking that was one old lady I never wanted to mess with. She received multiple Emmy nominations for the role. Here's a clip from The Golden Girls, in case your memory of the series is a bit rusty or you just feel like reminiscing a bit in honor of Ms. Getty.

Kelly West
Kelly West
Assistant Managing Editor

Kelly joined CinemaBlend as a freelance TV news writer in 2006 and went on to serve as the site’s TV Editor before moving over to other roles on the site. At present, she’s an Assistant Managing Editor who spends much of her time brainstorming and editing feature content on the site. She an expert in all things Harry Potter, books from a variety of genres (sci-fi, mystery, horror, YA, drama, romance -- anything with a great story and interesting characters.), watching Big Brother, frequently rewatching The Office, listening to Taylor Swift, and playing The Sims.