And of course she was way too young for the part of Sophia Petrillo. And the very first person she brought in for the show was Estelle, who was playing Harvey Fierstein’s mother in Torch Song Trilogy here in L.A. On The Golden Girls, we had an amazing casting director who’s no longer with us, Judith Weiner. Trust me – don’t let her out of the room until you’re satisfied, because she’s the one!” I told Jay Sandrich, Paul and Susan, “If you don’t like her, have her do it again. Obviously I wanted Estelle in for a callback, but when she was due to come in, I couldn’t be there. You don’t expect to hear the dialogue jump off the page that way, but I realized oh my God, this is everything we wanted. Estelle walked through the door, and it was frightening.
So one day, I was handling casting because Paul and Susan were busy. , we had quite a few shows on the air, and were covering many responsibilities. John Bowab, a TV director (though not of The Golden Girls) and friend of Estelle’s
I’m so glad that she found her glory in her own time. And I couldn’t have been happier for Estelle. It wasn’t that she didn’t work, but she wasn’t in the big time until Harvey Fierstein came up with that character for her in Torch Song Trilogy which both broke your heart and made you laugh your ass off.
She sure did pound the pavement, being a very determined lady. I used to have all these open casting calls, and Estelle would come to every one of them, on her lunch hour.
And so, I thought it would be fitting to comb through my files and put together a tribute from her former friends, co-workers and peers here, in their own words, are some memories of Estelle, from those who knew and loved her best.Įstelle used to tell a story about the 1970s, when I had a theater production office in the old Victoria Theater building in New York, and she was a secretary on Long Island. As I found out in researching The Q Guide to The Golden Girls, Estelle Getty was universally beloved on that sitcom's set.
0 kommentar(er)
