R.I.P Sophia

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In the late 80s, one comedy kept senior citizens glued to their televisions on Saturday night. The Golden Girls featured 3 mature ladies living together under one roof. Dorothy, Rose, and Blanche were the three main characters. However, it was the wise-cracking Sophia (the mother of Dorothy) who stole every scene she was in. Ironically, Estelle Getty was actually 15.5 months younger than her on-screen daughter, Bea Arthur. Sophia’s acerbic wit and zingers (often directed to the promiscuous Blanche or the naive Rose) won Estelle 7 Emmy nominations and one statue for Best Supporting Actress (1988).

Estelle’s talents were not limited to the small screen. She also appeared in 80s and 90s big screen comedies. In Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot, she appeared as Sylvester Stallone’s mother. She also was the head of a department store in Mannequin. Not the world’s most entertaining films but worth a mention (Mannequin was more entertaining than Sly’s mediocre attempt to be funny) .

Estelle’s career ended in early 2000. Unfortunately, she was diagnosed with a severe case of dementia which later took her life.

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6 thoughts on “R.I.P Sophia”

  1. I hope the older daughter looked young for her age rather than the other way around, for Estelle’s sake!

    Ugh- Stop or my mom will shoot. I just cringe whenever I think of that movie.

  2. Anyone seen Rhinestone in which Sly co-starred with Dolly Parton and attempted to sing?! I remember laughing through the whole thing and NOT because it was funny.

  3. Senior citizens and ME were glued to the tv on Sat. nights – loved that show! I remember recommending it ti my grandmother and she didn’t understand why old people would want to watch old people on tv. I liked Mannequin and especially Mannequin 2, believe it or not; although no Sophia in the latter. So Bea Arthur is in her upper ’80’s? I always knew Sophia was one of the youngest, but I didn’t expect her to pass away first – RIP Sophia.

  4. I liked Mannequin also. Funny thing about Mannequin 2… I went to the movies with my oldest brother to see Terminator 2 and they started playing Mannequin 2 but the problem was remedied. I do not remember seeing Mannequin 2 though (all the way through).

  5. As for the show itself, I was not a “glued-to-the set-Saturday-night” watcher but enjoyed it when I caught it.

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