Actress Estelle Getty, best known for her famed role in the TV show The Golden Girls, passed away July 22nd at the age of 84. The Golden Girls was a revolutionary and much loved American sitcom that highlighted getting older as a time for fun, friendship, and laughter. The Golden Girls aired from 1985 to 1992 on NBC, and featured four retired women living together in Miami, bickering, teasing, talking about sex and life, and loving each other through it all.
 
Getty played “Sophia,” otherwise known as “Ma,” the diminutive, wise cracking, sarcastic, and energetic mother of Bea Arthur’s character, Dorothy. Sophia always recounted tales of her days living in Sicily, her past loves, friends, and of course memories of Italian food and traditions. Most of her stories started out like this, “Picture it! Sicily! 1947! It was a rainy April night, and Salvatore and I had just finished up a nice bottle of Chianti…” Sophia really was the best storyteller, especially when compared to Rose’s long-winded rambling tales.

The salty senior served as an example for all of us that we could truly dance into our twilight years with zest and energy (and a healthy dose of attitude.) Getty showed us that we didn’t need to fall into the stereotypical roles that the media had previously portrayed for us. Remember when Ma escaped from “the home” otherwise known as “Shady Pines” after her stroke? She wanted to attend Blanche’s surprise party on the lanai. Rose invited all of the party guests by calling the people (all men of course) from Blanche’s “little leather black book that she keeps next to her massage oil on the nightstand.” Well Ma didn’t want to miss out on all the fun, so she just waltzed into the house, shocking Dorothy with her escape from the home. Sophia convinced the girls that she was 100% recovered from her stroke (even though she was still a little confused and knocked on the front door to ‘knock on wood,’ and then turned around to answer the door.) No matter, she was absolutely positively through living at Shady Pines! Of course, the girls embraced Sophia and moved her into their ranch home. But for years, and many many episodes going forward, Shady Pines was a running joke that Ma would sarcastically bring up because she was still so bitter about her “time in the home.”

The Golden Girls won several awards such as the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series. Not once, but twice! The sitcom was also Emmy nominated 57 times. All four the show’s Silver Celebrities won at least one Emmy in their own right while the show was on air.

So this leads me to ask the question, “Where are all of the shows for FiftyAndFurthermores now? Where is our next Golden Girls?” There aren’t any popular shows on the major networks that rival the impact, popularity, and social significance of The Golden Girls. Baby Boomers won’t take that void in TV programming for long, and sooner or later TV execs will have to wise up and get some age appropriate programs on air for us. We all know that the media has an obsession with youth, hence the need for communities, websites, and ezines like FiftyAndFurthermore.com. Hmmm… this conversation puts me in the mood for cheesecake.*

Do you know who was the oldest Golden Girl? Was it Sophia? To find the answer to this trivia question, and to learn more about the life of Estelle Getty, click into her official website to find out the answer. http://www.estellegetty.com/main.html.
 
*Long before “Sex in the City” made martinis the popular cocktail du jour, the Golden Girls cherished their heart-to-heart talks in the kitchen over their famous cheesecake - which is a dessert that can apparently fix any problem, no matter how big or how small.