Estelle Getty, who has battled with Lewy Body Dementia, and was in the final stages of the disease, has passed away at the age of 84.
Getty, who was one of the best one-liners in the business, drew upon her experience as a standup comic in her early years.
"The Golden Girls" was the story of four retired ladies sharing a house together in Miami, and the numerous antics and interactions they had with one another. Thinking they were ignoring their mature viewers, Brandon Tartikoff launched the idea, and it became an immediate hit.
Bea Arthur, who played the daughter of "Sophia," said in a statement, "Our mother-daughter relationship was one of the greatest comic duo's ever, and I will miss her."
Besides Arthur and Getty, others in the cast were Betty White and Rue McClanahan.
Getty had to audition for the part three times before finally landing it. She was sixty when she got the role, and had to act like a much older eighty. The series ran from 1985 to 1992.
Surviving Getty are her son Barry Gettleman; brother David Scher; and her sister Rosilyn Howard.
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