Just as we were getting over the death of actress Bea Arthur of The Golden Girls, an email arrived from auction house Bonhams & Butterfields alerting us to the sale of property from the estate of Golden Girl Estelle Getty. [Recommended reading: NYT magazine story from 2002 about why gay men all secretly love the show.] Perhaps our very favorite of the four ladies, Getty played the little ornery one known as Sophia, she of the pit bull remarks and saucer-sized glasses.
The immortal handbag (est. $1,000-$1,500) and glasses (est. $400-$600)Aside from Getty's Emmy and Golden Globe statuettes (estimated at $4,000-6,000 and $3,000-5,000, respectively), her character's trademark straw handbag and eyeglasses will be on the block. Reached on the phone, Margaret Barrett, the director of Bonhams's Entertainment Memorabilia Department, reassured us that the double Golden Girls news whammy was purely coincidental. However, she acknowledged that the timing might be good news for the sale, which takes place on June 14 in Los Angeles.
For more info, click here.
