How did Estelle Getty win an Emmy for GG?

She was the best one on there, you fool.

FFS....troll harder OP....EG was the initial attraction to the show....just like Jackee on 227.

How did she? I am assuming she got the majority of votes?

And she wasn't up against her co-stars

How DID she win

Fuck you, R2.

She was never the weakest link and no one on DL ever credibly claimed such. She was the least famous when the show began, the only unknown in the cast, and most didn’t realize that the actress playing her was decades younger than the character, and around the same age as the other actresses.

There were no weak links on Golden Girls. All 4 were at the top of their game and played off one another quite ably. This dynamic is key to the show’s enduring popularity. How you missed that is beyond me, OP.

Yup. Her performance on Broadway in "Torch Song Trilogy" was unforgettable. She DESERVED to get a break on a show that would pay her the big TV bucks. And when she got that break, she nailed it.

At the time I was actually surprised she didn’t win until after season 3. Her speech was adorable.

She and Betty were the only two nominated every season.

Estelle was the youngest of the four.

Rue was the youngest of the four, R10.

She won for Old Friends, which had touching and moving story.

She and Betty were nominated every season.

Who was that young guy next to Estelle? He looks like the date Sophia took to the awards banquet in season 1 (it’s a pleasure to be here).

She seriously could have been Valerie Harper’s mother they have the same exact voice and mannerisms.

Lol Betty in “game show mode” with those glasses.

Estelle Getty was the only one of the four to win a Golden Globe.

R15 that’s because they always skew young and hip.

I agree with the poster upthread. She was excellent in Torch Song Trilogy as well. Hell of an actress.

OP, the tide has turned a little because the recent books on GG have talked about how Estelle had trouble learning her lines, performing for the Studio audience, relying on cue cards, reshoots, etc. But back in the day, when GG was just a mainstream show and not the gay classic that it is now, everyone regarded Sophia as the reliably funny character.

Didn't Estelle have some kind of early onset dementia? She certainly had no problems when I saw Torch Song.

She had lewy body dementia, r19

I don't think that's true at all, R18. She had the easiest jokes and the lowest brow humour (lots of fart stuff) and she was definitely the weakest link acting wise. When the show was on when I was a kid, my mom would always comment how much she didn't think Sophia was particularly funny and her humor seemed forced and the jokes easy. When I watched the show again in the '90s I had to agree , she is definitely the least skilled of the four (I would actually say that McClanahan is technically the most proficient actor of the four, though Arthur and White have the best 'comedy chops' as they say). That said, she's still great on the show, she's just not at the same level either acting or comedy wise of the other three. I don't have an issue with her winning any of her awards, it was the supporting category. Though, I do believe she beat Julia Duffy, who never won an Emmy, and deserved at least one Emmy for her work on Newhart.

She definitely got the least screen time of the four. I always found her my least favorite, although I;m not a big fan of the show, really. But so far as I liked them, my favorites went in this order:

1. Rose (the funniest)

2. Dorothy (the wittiest)

3. Blanche (sometimes tiresome, but usually funny)

4. Sophia (usually tiresome and sour)

R22 One of the reasons she received the least screen time is because she was always telling the writers to give her lines to the other ladies. She just had such a hard time remembering them, the poor thing.

Never really got into the show but she always sounded like she was trying too hard to be a Jewish mother.

Christ, what tedious queens you are....

Estelle Getty brilliantly delivered her performance. It doesn’t matter if she forgot her lines and had a hard time memorizing them. To analyze a performer who had struggles backstage is absurd. It’s her performance that really mattered.

She won because she presented hole to all the Emmy voters.

R25 right?? Only on DL would Jackee’s Emmy go unquestioned and Estelle’s would be considered undeserved. Smh.

Watch the YouTube video to see that Bea didn't applaud as Estelle was walking down the aisle.

R28, I don’t see the problem. Why does everyone think they deserve applause?

R13, see R9.

r9

Big FUCKIN' deal

R28 - this video?

Um...

I'm completely amused that someone who identifies as "Philly Top" posted the comment at R25, a comment that deserves a whole column of

MARY!

MARY!

MARY!

MARY!

OT, but I am really starting to change my opinion of Bea Arthur the more I read about her.

I get it. Made was more your thing because you were the STAH. You thought Betty's playtime with the audience was unprofessional. You were annoyed with Estelle for not knowing her lines and didn't realize she had dementia. You saw yourself as a professional and the humor was too low brow for you.

I want to like her and found her very talented, but all the stuff I read about her where GG is concerned just makes her sound like an insufferable, bitter cunt.

Not clapping for Estelle is another mark in that column.

Any of those gals could have won and most did in other years. Every one of those other nominees was great - except Katherine Helmand who I never saw but may have been equally good.

I used to love Julia Duffy on Newhart.

R34 where do you see her not clapping for Estelle? In R32. You might want to look again. She looked totally thrilled.

Estelle Getty delivered her lines like nobody's business. She had impeccable comedic timing.

After she died, her Emmy was being auctioned off on eBay. The Television Academy claiming it violated their rules, tried to put a stop to it.

Bea was very fond of Estelle and often said lovely things about her in print. She was fond of Rue and Estelle and I think her Betty hate is overstated, but she was annoyed with Betty's hammy ways on taping days.

She said that she and Estelle made a classic two-hander comedy team.

R36 agreed . If you want to see a sour Bea watch her when Betty wins. No seriously she really gives her best stank eye there.

She looks happy for Estelle here.

R24, she was playing an ITALIAN mother.

So Bea l didn't take a dump in Betty's trailer?

Hmm, Bea looks happy for Betty here, also, R40

Form 1:00 of he YouTube video, when she doesn't think she's on camera.

In her book Rue said Bea was never supportive when she or Betty won an Emmy.

R44 what video are you watching? The one from R43 has Bea clapping, and at the 1:00 minute mark is Cheers.

Didn't watch the show much, but Ma seemed the best character to me, Sophia, the others I found a bit boring and nondescript; great voice also in my German; I guess Sophia was the most popular here In Germany, and also the rest of Europe. And always a sure-fire laugh.

starts at 17:13

Bea was the last one to get her Emmy. She won the same evening as Estelle but they save the leading role awards later in the show. Betty has told when she won neither Bea nor Rue said anything to her. Estelle did. R39 Yes, Bea was very supportive to Estelle and said mother daughter relationship was the best part of GG.

Why is it that actresses get upset when people assume they’re cunty to each other, when the truth is that are cunty to each other?

Let’s put them all here. After Betty Rue got her Emmy from episode End Of The Curse and gave a beautiful speech. Rue was excellent in the episode. Betty lost with Isn’t It Romantic and lesbian story line. Bea was nominated for The Stan Who Came To Dinner.

And here is Bea finally getting her Emmy for the episode My Brother, My Father. Rue was nominated for Strange Bedfellows and Betty for Bringing Up Baby. Bea’s speech is not as good as Rue’s year before.

Howie Mandel mispronouncing Rue's name. What a jackass.

R53 - god he was revolting

I would love to see scenes of her from Torchsong Trilogy...I bet she was great. She attended every AIDS or gay fundraiser she was invited to...long before it was fashionable

If I’m correct Estelle performed in Torch Song on Broadway and toured across US all the way to LA. Then she was casted as Sophia. Her role in the movie went to Anne Bancroft?

R51 I love that speech. It’s so funny hearing her in her non Blanche voice. R53 they had their fun getting back at him the next season ...

Yes, when I saw Torch Song with Estelle, it was in LA. I forget who played the cute guy(s).

R3, not a majority, likely. But definitely the most.

I definitely do not think she was the weakest link on The golden girls infact I do not think any of the 4 ensemble main actresses were weak links.

Why wasn't she nominated for a Tony for Torch Song Trilogy?

She was the weak link but still EXCELLENT. The three others were just better, that's all. Estelle was still great. Not terrible at all. Just demonstrates how wonderful that show was if the weakest link was fabulous Estelle Getty.

If she'd done a few whirlybirds she might've strengthened her chops.

There seemed to be a coordinated effort by NBC regarding the Golden Girls. I remember how it went. One year, Betty won. The next year, Rue won, the year after that Bea won and none of them ever won again.

The interesting part is that EVERY year, all the articles giving their predictions were right on. The year Betty won, all of the entertainment writers predicted Betty, and same in the two subsequent years with Rue and Bea.

I imagine the fear would be that the three women would split the vote, so whatever Emmy campaign NBC ran, they made it VERY obvious who should win in that year. If, say, Betty won two years in a row, and then Rue won, and then another show won the following year that is just a nightmare for the producers and NBC to have Bea left out.

I bet that also played into which episodes they picked to enter. It's really interesting and maybe even suspicious that the three leads of the show won in a row, and then never again.

That fact that it was a panel deciding the winners at the time instead of a full vote by the Academy makes it even more interesting.

Is Estelle wearing the same dress in all 4 videos?

I always found Betty to be the weakest link

I always found Bea to be the missing link.