Getty, who also won notice for her performance on Broadway as Harvey Fierstein's mother in "Torch Song Trilogy," died at her home in Hollywood, said her friend and caretaker, Paul Chapdelaine. Getty had been battling Lewy body dementia for the last eight or nine years, he said.

"Estelle always wanted to be an actress, and she achieved that goal beyond her dreams," former "Golden Girls" co-star Rue McClanahan said. "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.

"The Golden Girls," which ran from 1985 to 1992, was an immediate hit, and Sophia, who began as a minor character, soon evolved into a major one.

In 1988, the year she won an Emmy for her performance as Sophia. Getty told The Times that she did not know what made her character so popular, but she thought it had something to do with her being so small.