The infamous meddling mother Sophia on the Golden Girls, Estelle Getty, died on the morning of July 22. The 84 year-old costarred on the Golden Girls from 1985 through 1992 as the opinionated Sophia and also appearing on four other TV series including The Golden Palace, Nurses, Empty Nest and Blossom. Getty was 47 when she got her first significant role in an off-Broadway musical called Torch Song Trilogy, playing Harvey Fierstein’s acidic mother. She was an active supporter of gay right and in fundraising for AIDS research. Getty retired in 2000 after revealing she suffered from Parkinson’s disease and only two years later announced she was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.