Iconic Golden Girls Purse Used by Estelle Getty Sells for $192,000
The actress found the iconic on-screen accessory, which had an original estimate of $10,000 to $15,000, at a thrift shop in Los Angeles before the series started filming
Picture it: a thrift store purse just sold for Birkin-style pricing at a “Ladies of the ‘80s” auction hosted by Julien’s.
The iconic accessory, a straw top-clasp bag, was carried by Estelle Getty’s Sophia Petrillo for all seven seasons of The Golden Girls. According to her manager, Juliet Green, the purse was part of a trove of items picked up by the award-winning star after she was cast as the sharp-tongued Italian matriarch on the series.
After filming wrapped, the purse moved on with Getty to her short-lived spinoff, The Golden Palace, and it remained in her possession until her death in 2008, according to Julien’s. The purse and a pair of glasses Getty wore while in character were later sold at auction at Bonhams in 2009 with a hammer price of $7,500. On Wednesday, that same purse sold for $192,000.
“Everybody keeps asking [why Sophia always carried] the purse,” Getty said during a 1996 appearance on The Rosie O’Donnell Show, according to Juliens. “When people get old, and they’re displaced from their homes, and they have to go live someplace else, what they keep in their purse is the most important things in their lives, and putting down the purse is like putting down your life. After a while, everybody got used to the purse. Now I have it. And whoever wants it is going to have to pay heavy money for it.”
Additional Golden Girls highlights from the auction included Rue McClanahan’s annotated script, Betty White’s handwritten note card, taping tickets, and the original director’s chair. Items worn by Joan Collins during Dynasty were also sold, along with various Farrah Fawcett, Kate Jackson, Stefanie Powers, Jane Seymour, Ann-Marret, Toni Tennille, Linda Evans, Joan Rivers, Linda Gray, Loni Anderson, and Cheryl Ladd memorabilia.