Estelle Getty

Our favorite Ma, Estelle Getty of the Golden Girls, passed away yesterday from a progressive brain disease. We've been keeping track of various homages to the "tart-tongued" Sophia on the original GG. Lifetime announced today that they will honor her with a 10-episode marathon of Ms. Getty's most memorable performances on Golden Girls starting at noon on Friday. Set your DVR. Or you can check out some golden YouTube picks over at The House Next Door blog (link via Art Fag City).

Here's more from other publications:

"When she auditioned, Getty was appearing in Hollywood as the carping Jewish mother in Harvey Fierstein's 'Torch Song Trilogy.' In her early 60s, she flunked her Golden Girls test twice because she didn't look old enough. "I could understand that," she told an interviewer a year after the show debuted. "I walk fast, I move fast, I talk fast." She came prepared for the third audition, wearing dowdy clothes and telling the makeup artist, "To you this is just a job. To me it's my entire career down the toilet unless you make me look 80." The artist did, Getty got the job and won two Emmys" [Associated Press obit]  read more »