Born: July 25, 1923

Died: July 22, 2008

High of Her Life: Picture it: Hollywood in the mid-80s to early 90s. A Jewish woman from New York City played a wise-cracking Sicilian mother of actress Bea Arthur, despite being one year younger. Although Estelle Getty had performed in film, television and theatre, she is best known for her role on The Golden Girls. Even though fans of the show hold each character dear to their hearts, we all anticipated what smartass comment Getty would make next. We also wondered how a woman so tiny was supposed to be the mother of a ginormous Bea Arthur. But we loved her so much anyway. We all wished she was our mother, or grandmother.

Low of Her Life: In 2000 Getty stopped making public appearances. She was misdiagnosed with both Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s. Doctors later learned she suffered from Lewy body dementia, which isn’t much better. For an actress who played a woman who could recount every story of her life, this was truly a sad way to end her life. She died from natural causes, however, just three days before her 85th birthday.

Who Sees Her As a Hero: Sicilian mothers, the cast of The Golden Girls, and grandmothers