Estelle Getty began her acting career in 1978 with Team-Mates. She also had short roles in two critically acclaimed classics, Tootsie and Mask. In 1985, Estelle began acting in The Golden Girls, with Beatrice Arthur, Betty White, and Rue McClanahan. The successful show won two Emmys for outstanding television series, and Estelle herself won an Emmy in 1988. Among other things she's done in TV is playing Sophia Petrillo in shows several times, The Golden Palace and Empty Nest among them. Most recently, Estelle has been in the family film Stuart Little and playing Hollywood Squares.



Getty played mother to Bea Arthur on "The Golden Girls" (1985), however, Bea is actually 15½ months older than Estelle. Estelle was born on July 25, 1923 and Bea was born on May 13, 1922. Retired in 2000 after revealing she had health issues. In the mid 1990s, she was misdiagnosed with Parkinson's disease. By the end of the 1990s, she was misdiagnosed again, this time with Alzheimer's disease. Later, she was correctly diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia, which has similar symptoms to both Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases. Was a strong supporter of gay rights. She had two children with her late husband Arthur Gettleman: sons 'Carl Gettleman' and Barry Gettleman. Her nephew Stephen died from AIDS in January 1992 at the age of 29. In 1991, as later reported in Star magazine, Getty helped her 29-year-old nephew Steven Scher, who was suffering from the final stages of AIDS and near death. Because his parents lived in England and his friends were no longer able to care for him in Greensboro, North Carolina, Getty took it upon herself to have him flown to California and admitted to hospice care. He died in January 1992.