Who is Sophia Petrillo in The Golden Girls?

Show

The Golden Girls

Played by

Estelle Getty

First episode

“The Engagement”Season 1, Episode 1, aired September 14, 1985

Role

Main cast

Network

NBC

Occupation

Retiree, formerly of Shady Pines

Show run

1985 to 1992

Also known as

Sophia, Sophia Weinstock, Sophia Grisanti

Sophia Petrillo is the smallest woman in the house and easily the most dangerous in an argument. Played by Estelle Getty, she carries a wicker purse, a wicked tongue, and a story about the old country for every situation.

On The Golden Girls, Sophia Petrillo's story runs through Dorothy Zbornak (Daughter), Rose Nylund (Roommate), and Blanche Devereaux (Roommate).

Other NBC sitcom characters from around the same time include Woody Boyd (Cheers) and Lilith Sternin (Cheers).

Who is Sophia Petrillo?

Sophia was born in Sicily and fled an arranged marriage to start over in New York, where she married Sal Petrillo and raised three children: Dorothy, Gloria, and Phil. After a stroke, she lived at the Shady Pines retirement home until it burned down in the pilot, and she moved in with Dorothy and her roommates in Miami.

She is a widow, a superb cook, and a straight talker with no interest in politeness. Her relationship with Dorothy, a constant mix of insults, guilt trips, and fierce love, is the emotional spine of many episodes.

Personality and comedy

Sophia says exactly what she thinks, usually in a single devastating line. She also tells long, wildly embellished stories about her youth in Sicily, often opening with a specific place and year, that may or may not have any connection to the truth. Her one-liners became some of the most quoted lines of the series.

The show also lets Sophia be wise and tender. Several of the most moving episodes center on her friendships with other older people, including a friend with Alzheimer's disease and another who wants Sophia beside her when she ends her life. Estelle Getty balanced the sass with real feeling, which is why audiences loved her so quickly.

Key storylines

In season two, Sophia's sister Angela moves to Miami and their old rivalry flares up again. In season four, she reconnects with Max Weinstock, the widower of her best friend, after learning a long-buried truth about her late husband Sal, and the two marry and briefly reopen Max and Sal's old pizza and knish stand before deciding to have the marriage annulled. Her day of quiet activism and volunteering in "The Days and Nights of Sophia Petrillo" shows she is busier than anyone gives her credit for.

In season six, Sophia's son Phil dies, and at his funeral she finally confronts her feelings about his cross-dressing. In the finale she plans to follow Dorothy to Atlanta but decides to stay in Miami with Rose and Blanche.

Behind the scenes and legacy

Sophia was the first of the four roles cast. Estelle Getty was originally meant to appear only occasionally, but the audience reaction to her in the pilot was so strong that the producers made her a regular. Getty, who was actually more than a year younger than Bea Arthur, wore heavy makeup, a white wig, and thick glasses to play Dorothy's mother.

Getty won the 1988 Emmy for supporting actress in a comedy for "Old Friends," completing the cast's set of acting Emmys, and was nominated every year of the original run. She continued as Sophia in The Golden Palace, and the four stars were named Disney Legends in 2009.

Sophia Petrillo: frequently asked questions

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