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Estelle Getty
Golden Girl Estelle Getty dies in LA at 84

7.23.08
by: memo menos


Blanche:  “I have writer’s block.”
Sophia:    “Try ten days without a bowel movement sometime.”

Sophia:    “Ribs, great…why don’t you just kick the dentures out of my mouth!”

Rose:       “You must be tired after your cab trip.”
Sophia:     “Why?  I RODE the cab!  I didn’t push it!”

Sophia:     “All you ever do is talk about your sexual problems.  Well what about
my sexual problems?”
Dorothy:   “Ma, what is your sexual problem?”
Sophia:     “I’m not getting any!”

Sophia:      “Look, you didn’t ask for my opinion, but I’m old, so I’m giving it
anyway.”

 

ESTELLE GETTY

SOPHIA PETRILLO, the feisty, scene-stealing matriarch on THE GOLDEN GIRLS died early Tuesday morning at her home in Hollywood, California.  The pint-sized actress with a powerful comedic punch was 84 years old.  For the last decade she had struggled with dementia that kept her from public appearances.

ESTELLE got her start in playing a teacher in the 1978 film TEAM-MATES.  It was a small role, as was her appearance in the 1982 blockbuster TOOTSIE.  Over the years she played other minor parts, mostly as the mother of the major character in a film.

She was CHER’S mother in MASK, BARRY MANILOW’S mother in COPACABANA and SYLVERTER STALLONE’S gun-toting mother in STOP! OR MY MOM WILL SHOOT.

But it was THE GOLDEN GIRLS that made ESTELLE GETTY a star.  She auditioned for the part of an 80-year old mother and nearly didn’t get the job because she looked too young.  She was 61 at the time.  BEA ARTHUR who was to play her daughter was 62.  BETTY WHITE, who also played a generation younger than GETTY on the show, was 63.  But GETTY got the job on her third audition wearing an old wig and tattered clothes, and the rest is history.

THE GOLDEN GIRLS ran 176 episodes, 173 of them with ESTELLE GETTY.  It is still in major syndication on LIFETIME.  It ran from 1985 to 1992 and was the number 1 show in the country in 1985 after the very first episode, beating out THE COSBY SHOW.  During it’s run, ESTELLE GETTY was nominated 7 years in a row for a Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Emmy, winning in 1988.  The show garnered Emmy wins for each of the four actresses.

It took her 45 minutes in make-up to get into the SOPHIA character, which she played on six different network shows-THE GOLDEN PALACE, the spin-off which never really took hold, after BEA ARTHUR left the original cast.  SOPHIA PETRILLO also appeared in EMPTY NEST in 1988, BLOSSOM in 1991, NURSES in 1991 and LADIES MAN in 1999, one of her last gigs as an actress.

One of the many episodes where she really shined was one where the girls had their heads frozen.  They end up coming “back to life” at the kitchen table, body-less, with SOPHIA running around having had a body transplant from a much younger gal.  The girls are livid at SOPHIA in a track suit full of life. "I've got the body of a 25-year old and I'm in luck. The inn thing now is young bodies with old heads."

That life will live on forever, in her marvelous portrayal of SOPHIA PETRILLO, a truly GOLDEN GIRL.

_______________________________________________________________________________


revlon walk
CYD CHARISSE
6.19.08
by: memo menos

An elegant, beautiful woman, even in her 80's, CYD CHARISSE passed this earth on Tuesday June 17, 2008. She died of a heart attack at the age of 86.

Born TULA ELLICE FINKLEA in Amarillo, Texas, CYD was given her name by her brother, who called her Sid. She glamorized the spelling when she came to Hollywood. She developed polio as a young girl, and to combat the effects she took up dance. The rest is history. She studied and toured with the BALLET RUSSE. In the sexual hedonism that was Hollywood in the 50's, CYD CHARISSE epitomized the medium of dance in all its forms.

That's not to say she wasn't sexy, or scandalous. She eloped with her dance instructor, NICO CHARISSE at the age of 17. They first met when she was 6. Their marriage lasted 8 years and produced 1 son. CYD played the other woman in MARILYN MONROE'S last, and unfinished film, SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE in 1962. And in 1952 she took out a $5 million insurance policy on her legs. Vavavavoom.

CYD remarried singer and club owner TONY MARTIN, and had her second son. She is survived by her 2 sons, and 2 grandchildren.

cyd cherisse Cyd Charisse and Tony Mrtin
Cyd and husband Tony at a Tribute for the late
George Burns in January 1996.

Her signature role was with GENE KELLY in SINGIN' IN THE RAIN in 1952, and she danced with the best including FRED ESTAIRE in THE BAND WAGON in 1953. She was pregnant and had to decline the offer to do AN AMERICAN IN PARIS, a role that eventually went to LESLIE CARON.

Cyd Charisse

She appeared in a FRASIER episode in 1996, and worked in numerous television and stage roles once the musical film genre settled out in the 60's.

In 2006 she was awarded an AMERICAN NATIONAL MEDAL of the ARTS for her service and contributions to dance in the United States.

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Cyd Cherisse
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HARVEY KORMAN
5.25.08
by: memo menos

MOTHER MARCUS is dead, long live MOTHER MARCUS.

HARVEY KORMAN was a multi-talented actor. Whether it was HEADY LAMARR, I'm sorry, HEDLEY, HEDLEY LAMARR in BLAZING SADDLES or DR. CHARLES MONTAGUE in HIGH ANXIETY, or ED HIGGINS on MAMA'S FAMILY, or the Yiddish yenta, MOTHER MARCUS from THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW, or any of the other hilarious characters he portrayed on that show, HARVEY KORMAN was a hoot. He was wicked smart, funny, and warm, even goofy, and everything else he needed to be to get you to buy the gag. Some of his best gags were just laugh riots, moments of unrehearsed laughing anytime TIM CONWAY was nearby.

Harvey Corman Harvey Korman
   

He spent 10 years on THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW with the likes of CAROL, TIM, LYLE WAGGONER and VICKI LAWRENCE perfecting his craft, before moving on to become one of MEL BROOKS favorite sidekicks. He did 4 comedies with MEL.

KORMAN did voice over for TOM and JERRY, and was the voice of the GREAT GAZOO on the original cartoon version of THE FLINTSTONES.

"Give me something bizarre to play, or put me in a dress and I'm fine," he told the CHICAGO SUN TIMES in 2005.

That was HARVEY KORMAN, born in Chicago. He won 4 Emmys and a Golden Globe for his work.

More than the Emmy's, HARVEY KORMAN was ecstatic to be inducted into the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame, along with TIM CONWAY on November 6, 2002.

He died at the age of 81 on May 29, 2008.

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Harvey Korman
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