The actress-comedian, Estelle Gettelman Getty passed away. She played the short, elderly wise-cracking mother in Golden Girls; though she wasn't the oldest of the four stars.
I checked a few of the online obits and couldn't find the information I know, first and second person.
Getty, spent the 1950's and 1960's in Bell Park Gardens, Bayside, NY. I know it, because we were neighbors, and her son Carl was in my class.
And even more important, it was my mother who gave her a start by introducing and driving her to the Fresh Meadows Community Theater. My mother had been an active participant both in front of and behind the curtains when we lived a mile from Fresh Meadows in Bell Park Gardens. (I tried searching for Fresh Meadows Community Theater in a few internet search engines, but apparently it has been inactive during the past few decades. I remember hearing that Paul Newman had also been in it in his very early days, but I can't confirm that.)
A neighbor of Getty had told her that if she was interested in acting, she should ask my mother to help out, and she did. Getty was a "wise-cracker," like the characters she played.
We left BPG in 1962, so I don't know when the Gettelmans moved out.
8 comments:
Hi, I'm Rich Vehlow, a blogger over at LiveJournal, and a product of Bell Park gardens. I lived at 68-14 Springfield Blvd. for a few months after my birth in July 1969, then lived in 67-48 Springfield Blvd from 1969 into the 1990s. My late father lived in 220-47 73rd Ave. from 1949 to his marriage in 1967 and my grandparents were in that apartment from 1949 to 1979.
So where did Estelle Getty live in BPG?
I understand Richard Dreyfuss also lived as a kid for a time in BPG as well.
Thanks. My email is rev1969@gmail.com.
-Rich Vehlow
Troy, NY
Hi, Rich,
I lived in three apartments, the last being 67-62 Springfield Blvd. I think the Gettelmans lived near the traffic circle there. I'm sure on the BPG site, there will be details on that.
Richard Dreyfuss left in the late 1950's, if I'm not mistaken.
I think the Gruens (mother and two daughters) lived near where your father grew up. They moved out about 1960.
Amazing to think that you were second generation.
I loved her character on Golden Girls.
And I worked at PS 177 on 188th street before I made Aliyah. Nice neighborhood.
It's great to hear things others wouldln't dare saying.
Who lives in that neighborhood now?
It's become a very Asian neighborhood--I think Korean, but I'm not sure. The houses are very well-maintained. Many of the smaller capes are torn down and mini-Mcmansions are put up.
Sounds like what Bayside has become. My aunt reports that the houses in her area, 214th St and 69th Av, are being snapped up by Asians who come for the great school district.
I know that area very well, as I had many friends who lived there. I lived further up Union Tpke on 249th Street, in Bellerose.
The neighbourhood is very Asian now. I go back to the general area at least once a year, and I have noticed the gradual changes. But, the homes are well kept, and it is a relatively quiet and safe place to live.
I'm glad to hear that it's still a good place to live. Thanks for writing.
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