Estelle Getty passed away today at the age of 84 after losing a battle to Lewy body dementia. She will always be remembered as her Emmy-winning performance as Sophia Petrillo, the witty mother of Bea Arthur on “The Golden Girls.”  For seven years Sophia engaged in glorious repartee with her TV daughter, Dorthy Zbornak.

Even though Getty will always be remembered as Sophia, she played many wonderful and often motherly roles on both stage and screen.  And here are our top 10:

1) Stuart Little (1999) Getty was the voice of Grandma Estelle Little

2) “Torch Song Trilogy,” (1982) on Broadway as Harvey Fierstein’s mother.

Read the rest of this entry »

The TakePart Top 10 Weekly Roundup is a compilation of the week’s most notable stories from our entertainment-meets-social-action blogging network. Several topics really stood out this week, including the Oscars as social advocacy inspiration, civil rights and Black History Month, and lots of hot news on entertainment going Green. Check out our most popular posts of the week on these subjects, as well as a few TakePart blogger favorites.

Katie:

Happy Belated “Freedom to Marry” Week!

Rosa and Raymond Parks: Valiant Valentine #5

* * *
Nicole:

Top 10 Oscar Picks to Inspire Social Action

Cornel West: Black Thoughts On Black History Month

* * *
Giulia:

H&M’s “Fashion Against AIDS”

Ed Begley Jr. Goes Green

* * *
Gina:

Top 10 Best Picture Winners That Inspire

Remixing “Chicago 10″

* * *
Kerry:

How To Set the World On Fire Without Burning Out

Eco-Brokers Cater to Green Homebuyers

I was so busy celebrating Valentine’s Day, finding guilt-free Valentine’s Day Gifts, and awarding Valiant Valentines to social action-taking couples, I didn’t have enough time to blog about Freedom To Marry Week, the great week-long holiday that celebrates marriage for all people. Freedom To Marry is an inclusive non profit organization dedicated to ending the exclusion of same-sex couples and their families from marriage.

Do you believe that people who love each other and are committed to each other also deserve to be able to marry each other? Then ! Sign the Marriage Resolution! And watch Julie Goldman and Kate McKinnon in the music video for Julie’s song Commitment Ceremony, which is both hilarious, and inspiring. Not to apply an peer pressure, but FYI, when you sign the pledge you’ll be in good company, joining fellow pledgers like Gillian Anderson, Matthew Broderick, Bea Arthur, Beck, Neve Campbell, Alan Cumming, Ted Danson & Mary Steenburgen, Ellen DeGeneres, Laura Dern, David Duchovny, Nora Ephron & Nick Pileggi, Melissa Etheridge, Al Franken, Whoopi Goldberg,

Read the rest of this entry »