People in the News

From The Associated Press

Estelle Getty, the diminutive actress who spent 40 years struggling for success before landing a role of a lifetime in 1985 as the sarcastic octogenarian Sophia on TV’s “The Golden Girls,” has died. She was 84. Getty, who suffered from advanced dementia, died early Tuesday at her Hollywood Boulevard home, said her son, Carl Gettleman of Santa Monica.

“Estelle always wanted to be an actress, and she achieved that goal beyond her dreams,” former “Golden Girls” co-star Rue McClanahan told The Associated Press. “Don’t feel sad about her passing. She will always be with us in her crowning achievement, Sophia.”

“The Golden Girls,” featuring four female retirees sharing a house in Miami, grew out of NBC programming chief Brandon Tartikoff’s belief that television was ignoring its older viewers. Three of its stars had already appeared in previous series: Bea Arthur in “Maude,” Betty White in “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and McClanahan in “Mama’s Family.” The last character to be cast was Sophia Petrillo, the feisty 80-something mother of Arthur’s character. “Our mother-daughter relationship was one of the greatest comic duos ever, and I will miss her,” Arthur said in a statement.

“The only comfort at this moment is that although Estelle has moved on, Sophia will always be with us,” White said in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

Born Estelle Scher to Polish immigrants in New York, Getty fell in love with theater when she saw a vaudeville show at age 4.

She married New York businessman Arthur Gettleman in 1947, and they had two sons, Carl and Barry. In addition to her son Carl, Getty is survived by son Barry Gettleman, of Miami; a brother, David Scher of London; and a sister, Rosilyn Howard of Las Vegas.

Christian Bale, 34, on Tuesday denied allegations of assault made by his mother and sister, hours after the star of “The Dark Knight” was arrested, questioned by London police and released.

British media reported that Bale’s mother and sister complained he had assaulted them at the Dorchester Hotel in London on Sunday night, a day before the European premiere of “The Dark Knight.” Bale’s London-based law firm

A woman thought to be Bale’s sister Sharon told reporters “it’s a family matter” from her home in Corfe Mullen. His mother Jenny Bale in nearby Bournemouth said she did not want to comment.