[Sam]

Lots of GG related news around lately, as you'd expect...just found this doing a Google...

Quote

'Golden Girls' : 'Getty not on deathbed'  

Big News Network.com     Saturday 20th November, 2004 

Estelle Getty, from the U.S. TV series, The Golden Girls, is suffering from dementia but is not near death, as has been reported, say her former castmates.

Bea Arthur, Betty White and and Rue McClanahan were in Beverly Hills, Calif., Thursday for the DVD release of their popular show, where the actresses dismissed reports of Getty's impending death, Entertainment Tonight reported Friday.

Getty, who played Sophia on the long-running series, is not near death ... not near death at all, the actresses said.

I went over there not too long ago and after I left, she told her caregiver that I was a nice lady. It's just heartbreaking, said White, who played Rose.

Arthur, who played Getty's daughter, Dorothy, on the show, said they had seen signs of the actress' dementia while working together.

She had terrible trouble retaining her lines, Arthur said.

The three-disc DVD set will be in stores Tuesday.

Courtesy of this page!

Sam

[justlikeDorothy]

It's good to hear that she's not dieing, but it's so depressing.

"'I went over there not too long ago and after I left, she told her caregiver that I was a nice lady. It's just heartbreaking,' said White, who played Rose."

[Freddy Peterson]

I think that either Betty visits her often, or the quote is repetitive. I've heard that same thing many times... "She's a nice lady."

You can look at some semi-recent pictures of Estelle on her website. Be prepared... she's not the lady she once was, unfortunately.

[Nougi]

It's a kind of relief but her situation sounds so sad anyway! Whatever is happening to her (I mean medias seem to be a little confused about her state of health) I few days ago we even thought she might be the "surprise" of the next GG reunion on Lifetime and then she was said to be near to death)
She is and she always will be the very nice and caring lady who played Sophia with a tremendous talent despite her stage fright in each Golden girls fan's heart.

This post has been edited by Nougi: 20 November 2004 - 11:10 AM

[Sam]

There's a video of the girls talking about Estelle at the DVD party the other night - click here!

It is so incredibly sad, especially when Rue breaks up

Sam

[Katie]

I didn't watch the video since I'm on dial-up (ugh!) but it sounds like a segment I happened to catch on Entertainment Tonight this evening. Bea was saying how they didn't know at the time, of course, but looking back they could see how her mind was starting to deteriorate early on because she had so much trouble remembering her lines. They got in acting coaches, tried hypnosis, etc., but she constantly had to use cue cards. She just couldn't memorize her lines.

It was horribly sad to hear Rue talk about her phone conversation with her--how she'd just reply "yes" and have no idea who she was talking to.

[CheeseCake]

OMG! That was so sad!!! I started to cry when Rue began to break down.

[Paul]

Thanks for that, Sam.

Its a really sad affair, such a shame she's missing out on all this

[MoonCanto]

Thanks for the article, Sam
Perhaps Estelle got to live vicariously through Sophia- i.e., enjoy her older years since she doesn't get to have that kind of fun now. Sophia Petrillo was a blessing in more than one way

[Sam]

MoonCanto, on Nov 22 2004, 03:22 AM, said:

Perhaps Estelle got to live vicariously through Sophia- i.e., enjoy her older years since she doesn't get to have that kind of fun now. Sophia Petrillo was a blessing in more than one way

That's a really good point

I watched the video clip again today when my mum came over as she wanted to see it. We were both sitting there fighting back the tears. Get's to you even more after a couple of views. My grandmother had Alzheimers for years before she died and it's a terribly cruel disease. Some days she would know me, some days she would ask me who I was I can't imagine what it must be like for the sufferer...

Sam

[Cyber-Raga]

I almost wished I hadn't watched that clip. I wanna remeber Estelle in a positive way. This is so tragic, it really is.

[Sam]

From the TV Guide website...

Quote

Golden Girl's Health Woes

Estelle Getty was sadly absent from last week's Golden Girls DVD release party due to poor heath. Despite those rumors in the tabs, the 81-year-old actress — best known as Sicilian sasspot Sophia Petrillo — is not dying. However, she does suffer from dementia.

"She's out of it," her TV daughter, Bea Arthur, tells TV Guide Online. "Occasionally, she's aware... We really should have known back then [during the series' run] because, of the four of us, she absolutely couldn't retain lines. It was impossible. She had to use cue cards or a TelePrompTer.

"It was annoying," Arthur admits, then sympathetically adds, "but I'm sure that was the onset [of her illness], which we had no idea about."

Arthur and costars Rue McClanahan and Betty White have remained in touch with Getty, though it hasn't been easy due to her declining mental state. "It's so sad," Arthur says. "Rue has tried to call Estelle a number of times, as I have. And, of course, every time you call, the nurse will tell you that she's out of it. So Rue asked the nurse to call her when Estelle is coherent.

"Rue got on the phone to speak to her and said, 'Hi sweetie, this is Rue calling. I just want to know how you are.' And Estelle just said, 'Yes.' And later, the nurse told Rue that Estelle said, 'That was a nice woman.' She's out of it."

While Getty's health issues may've affected her during Golden Girls' original run, viewers never would've known she had trouble with her lines. Sophia's mind — and that saucy tongue of hers — always appeared sharp as a tack. "Our director, Terry Hughes, was brilliant," Arthur nods knowingly. "It was a terrific organization, from the writers to the directors, the producers, the costuming and the lighting. We were very lucky."

Sam

[Nougi]

Her "picture it" stories from Sicily lines were pretty long indeed!