“I think ‘Iconned’ a lot of people.” —Betty White, on being asked what being a TV and comedy icon means to her First you must go back to Oak Park, Illinois, on January 17, 1922. That’s when electrical engineer Horace White and his homemaker wife, Tess, welcomed their bouncing baby girl named Betty. Little did they realize their only child would grow up to be the hilarious First Lady of Television with an amazing decades-spanning career—and live to 99 years old (just a few weeks short of her 100th birthday). “She’s like the love child of Mister Rogers and the Energizer Bunny with a vintage chardonnay,” says Ray Richmond, author of the new book Betty White: 100 Remarkable Moments in an Extraordinary Life. White, of course, also happened to be beloved by the masses, thanks to the charming self-deprecating wit that she displayed in everything from 1960s game shows to Hot in Cleveland. She joked that she had planned to spend her 100th birthday “lunching” with Robert Redford (her heartthrob) and then…“I’ll spend it with as many animals as I can round up,” she told Parade. “My pets have all passed on now and I haven’t taken in anyone new because at my age I don’t want to leave anyone behind. But I miss having a friend with a leg on each corner.” She attributed her long life and career to “good luck,” saying, “I don’t think I had anything to do with it!” But we know better. Here’s a tribute to all things Betty.
Betty White Milestones
With her six Emmy Awards (five Primetime; one Daytime), a 1995 induction into the Television Academy Hall of Fame and the SAG Life Achievement Award (2010), White is one of most popular, lauded and talented actresses in the history of Hollywood. Check out White through the ages. 2 — White and her parents move from suburban Illinois to Los Angeles. She said she always considered herself a California girl. 17 — She graduates from Beverly Hills High School. Her classmates vote her “Best-Looking Female.” 27 — Screen queen: She makes her TV series debut on Al Jarvis’ daily live variety show Hollywood on Television in 1949. 31 — Two years after the premiere of I Love Lucy, White does her own version of the 1950s housewife in the sitcom Life With Elizabeth, garnering her first Emmy nomination for her performance. 32 — She hosts her own daily variety show, The Betty White Show (1954). She also serves as a producer, pushing boundaries by hiring a female director and showcasing Black dancer Arthur Duncan. 41 — She marries TV host Allen Ludden in 1963, two years after meeting him as a guest on his game show Password. They were together until his death in 1981 of stomach cancer. Though they never had kids, she had three stepchildren from Ludden’s previous marriage. 49 — An animal lover since childhood, White creates, writes and hosts The Pet Set, which features both wild animals and her friends’ own pets. She worked closely with the L.A. chapter of the ASPCA as well as the guide dog school the Seeing Eye. 51 — White enters the Emmy-winning sitcom The Mary Tyler Moore Show as ultra-feisty Sue Ann Nivens in 1973. Her time on the show led to two Emmys for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. 61 — At long last, White is named host of her own game show: Just Men. And she becomes the first woman to win a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Game Show Host (1983). 63 — Thank you for being a funny friend: White makes her debut as daffy Rose Nylund in the 1985–92 NBC sitcom The Golden Girls alongside Bea Arthur, Estelle Getty and Rue McClanahan. Fun fact: She was originally asked to play frisky Blanche, but producers suggested she and McClanahan switch roles. 82 — In 2004, White takes on a dramatic role: She’s foul-mouthed criminal Catherine Piper in the final season of the Emmy-winning legal series The Practice. She went on to appear as the character in 16 episodes of the spinoff Boston Legal from 2005 to 2008. 88 — Talk about a touchdown: During the height of her career renaissance, a football-playing White makes a funny cameo in a commercial for Snickers that airs during Super Bowl XLIV. 90 — She wins a Grammy for Best Spoken-Word Album for the audio version of her book If You Ask Me (And of Course You Won’t) in 2012. She authored seven books in all, including two about her love of animals. 90 — Happy birthday! Her celebration includes a 90-minute star-studded TV special in her honor, featuring a special video message from President Barack Obama. 91 — On a 2013 episode of Hot in Cleveland, she reunites with former co-stars Mary Tyler Moore, Valerie Harper, Cloris Leachman and Georgia Engel. (Alas, they’ve all since passed.) 95 — In 2018, on the eve of her 96th birthday, she tells Parade that her secret to longevity is vodka and hot dogs. 100 — You can celebrate Betty’s long life on January 17 at the theater. The one-day-only Betty White: 100 Years Young—A Birthday Celebration will be shown that dayin more than 900 movie theaters across the country (fathomevents.com). The revealing glimpse into the TV icon’s life will take you behind-the-scenes on set, at home and as her role as an animal advocate. Special guests—including Robert Redford, Clint Eastwood, Carol Burnett and Valerie Bertinelli—will share memories and toasts.
Stars Share Fondest Memories of Betty White
So, what’s it really like working with—and befriending—an icon? Her co-stars Marie Osmond (Maybe This Time, 1995–96) and Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland, 2010–15) fill us in. Marie Osmond: “On the set of Maybe This Time during a break, I started choking just as Betty’s assistant walked in and handed her a drink of ‘water.’ I asked Betty if I could have a sip. She put her hand over her glass, winked and said, ‘Oh, honey, you don’t want my water,’ and we both cracked up.” Valerie Bertinelli: “Absolutely everything! She is drop-dead funny. She is also one of the kindest people I’ve ever known.”
Favorite Betty White performance?
Osmond: “It’s actually two—Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Rose Nylund on The Golden Girls. They are so completely and utterly different. You watch her as one and can’t imagine her as the other. To utterly embody these two completely different women?! I mean, such comic range!” Bertinelli: “Hands down, it’s Sue Ann Nivens. Betty’s innate kindness is really what made the character so perfect and such a full character.”
What makes Betty White such a gifted comedienne?
Osmond: “She has impeccable comedic timing and amazing acting skills. When you combine that with her love of her craft, it makes Betty a true star.” Bertinelli: “She’s very smart and a great listener.”
Betty White’s Best Roles
Not surprisingly, the woman who first appeared on a TV way back in February 1939—it was an experimental television transmission in a Packard automobile dealership in downtown Los Angeles—racked up countless memorable moments onscreen. “There’s a reason why she’s the greatest entertainer,” Richmond says. “Her career arc is the entire arc of television!” Here are five of Betty’s greatest hits.
Password
Betty and husband Allen Ludden couple up on the Password episode of The Odd Couple on December 1, 1972. Plot? When Felix (Tony Randall) and Oscar (Jack Klugman) appear as the guest panelists, White portrays herself as a cutthroat celebrity contestant who assures Felix, “I play to win.” Hilarity ensues. (Paramount+)
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
The Golden Girls
White flashes her funny bones early in the first season of The Golden Girls via this Emmy-winning installment from December 14, 1985. In this episode (titled “A Little Romance”), her good-hearted and innocent Rose Nylund falls for a guy who can’t commit because she isn’t Jewish. All the endearing facets of the character are on brilliant display. (Hulu)
The Proposal
As Grandma Annie in the 2009 romantic comedy The Proposal, she proves that she can be as effective on a big screen as the small one. Indeed, White enchants as a spunky, loopy old lady who performs a memorable tribal song-and-dance ritual in the forest. In the process, she outshines co-stars Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds. (Peacock)
Saturday Night Live!
At age 88, White is tapped to host a May 2010 episode of Saturday Night Live after a fan-fueled social media campaign catches fire. Though she’s the oldest person to ever take the stage at Studio 8H, she’s more than up to the task. The event generates SNL’s highest ratings in 18 months—and White earns an Emmy for her trouble. (YouTube) Next, Betty White’s Greatest Quotes
