ESTELLE GETTY
July 25, 1923-July 22, 2008
By Bea Arthur
We thought we had the perfect cast for The Golden Girls, the three of us — Rue, Betty, and me. Suddenly, this lady walked in and I was just so taken with the fact that she was so tiny. I thought, ''Wow, we may have comedy here, real comedy.'' Without a doubt, I feel that our relationship — the mother-daughter relationship between Dorothy and Sophia — was one of the funniest duos in history. I really feel that Estelle and I had as terrific a duo. My God, it was a joy. I don't know which came first — whether it was her comic timing or our director. But the two of us together, you knew every day that we came to the table to read the week's script. I always waited to see what she was going to say. Everyone adored her. She was so anti establishment. Even kids who didn't know what the hell she was talking about fell in love with her. It just flowed between us.
Estelle, Sophia, I mix the two of them up. I can't tell you which one was which. I always knew that it was going to work. And we could always take it beyond the written word. I always knew what her character was going to do, which allowed me to put my hand over her mouth many times. It was a joy, I don't know what else to say. It was absolutely a joy working with her. One of my favorite moments was a scene in which Dorothy's ex-husband, Stan, had just left and I said, ''Oh God, why did I marry him?'' She said, ''Because he knocked you up.'' And I said, ''Why did I let that happen?'' And she said, ''Because you were drunk.'' Who talks that way? I couldn't give you the one thing that enamored me of her. It was just ideal. We were all lucky. I think the expression is ''we stepping in shit.'' It was beautiful.
Getty, 84, died after a battle with dementia in L.A.
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