Bea Arthur, star of Maude and The Golden Girls, is dead at 86. Arthur died in her sleep early Saturday morning at her home in Los Angeles. She had previously been suffering from cancer. She is survived by two sons, a sister and two granddaughters.

Growing up in a women's clothing shop her parents ran as a team in the 1920s, Bea Arthur would grow up to give a voice to women and senior citizens who sometimes had trouble getting television executives to take them seriously. She portrayed characters who were political but very human, sometimes vulnerable but deep down full of courage.

As tribute to Estelle Getty, who passed on July 22 at the age of 84, Lifetime will be airing 10 episodes of the iconic comedy series The Golden Girls to showcase Sophia, the intractable octogenarian Getty plays.  The ten-episode special will feature Getty in all her blustering, sarcastic splendor right from the show's pilot.  And as an added twist and favor to her fans, the last episode will be the #1 favorite Sophia episode as decided by fans, who can cast in their votes at myLifetime.com.

The Golden Girls premiered on Lifetime in 1997 and ran for seven years.  Getty had won Emmy and Golden Globe Awards for her role, alongside seven Emmy nominations.  Despite the popularity of the character, Getty said in a 1997 interview that she barely resembled Sophia in real life.

Estelle Getty, best known as Sophia Petrillo, the wise-cracking old Sicilian mother of Dorothy Zbornak (Beatrice Arthur) on The Golden Girls, has passed away yesterday at 5:35am three days before her 85th birthday, after suffering from Lewy Body dementia for years.  She was 84 and is survived by her two sons, Carl and Barry Gettleman.

"Our mother-daughter relationship was one of the greatest comic duos ever, and I will miss her," Arthur said in a statement.

Betty White was popularly known as Rose Nylund on The Golden Girls.  She comically depicted a naïve, simple and kind-hearted housemate of Blanche Devereaux (Rue McClanahan), Dorothy Zbornak (Beatrice Arthur) and Sophia Petrillo (Estelle Getty).  Known for her rambling and absurd stories, she often talked about her bizarre hometown, St. Olaf, Minnesota, which her housemates had to put up with.  Out of the four women, she was arguably the most involved in charity work, being a perennial runner up for a Volunteer of the Year award.  Along with her upbeat personality, she added energy and humor to the show with her agility, ability to do cartwheels, and tendency to scare easily.  Towards the end, she continued to live with Blanche, and Sophia in their purchased Golden Palace Hotel where she became in charge of housekeeping.  In the coming months, the 85-year-old actress will be gracing the big screen with a romantic drama movie.

Dorothy Zbornak was one of Beatrice Arthur's trademark roles.  From 1985 to 1992, she was part of the award-winning ensemble of The Golden Girls in which she portrayed a divorcee substitute teacher who lived in a house owned by Blanche Devereaux (Rue McClanahan), along with her Sicilian mother, Sophia Petrillo (Estelle Getty) and Rose Nylund (Betty White).  Known for her acidic sense of humor, she added comic relief to the show by making witty wisecracks often directed at man-hungry Blanche or dimwitted Rose.  Like other women in the household, she had a fair share of romances, including ex-husband Stanley, Elliot, Eddie and Blanche's uncle Lucas Hollingsworth (Leslie Nielsen), whom she married over the course of the final two episodes. Next week, the 85-year-old actress will be marking her come back on television when she performs in a reality show.

The Golden Girls is an American sitcom that premiered on NBC in September 14, 1985.  The series, which lasted for seven seasons, was originally conceptualized by NBC executive Brandon Tartikoff and created by Susan Harris.

The Golden Girls revolves around four older women sharing a house in Miami Beach.  They become housemates after Blanche Devereaux (Ruth Mclanahan), the owner of the house, places an ad for roommates at a grocery store bulletin board.  Rose Nylund (Betty White) and Dorothy Zbornak (Bea Arthur) respond to the ad. Dorothy’s mother, Sophia (Estelle Getty), later joins them after her retirement home, Shady Pines, burns down.