The Emmy-winning comedian who was the first to break into the scene had one of the longest-running careers in showbiz history. She started appearing regularly on television in 1949. She also had an appearance on “Toy Story 4” in 2019.
“Even though Betty was about to be 100, I thought she would live forever,” her agent Jeff Witjas told People magazine in an interview.
“I will mourn her deeply and will miss the animal world she loved so very much.
“I don’t think Betty ever feared passing because she always wanted to be with her most beloved husband Allen Ludden. She believed she would be with him again.”
TMZ and police sources claimed she passed away at her residence on Friday. The cause of death has not been immediately disclosed.
The news caused a flood of praises, including president Joe Biden calling her “a lovely lady.”
“Ninety-nine years old — as my mother would say, God, love her!” the reporter was quoted as saying.
White was among the first female producers of the sitcom of the 1950s “Life With Elizabeth,” where she also played.
As a nonagenarian, she interacts with a younger crowd on Instagram.
“It’s incredible that I’m still in this business — and you are still putting up with me!” White stated during the 2018 Emmys.
In total, she was awarded five Emmys in primetime, and two awards for daytime, one for lifelong achievement, and one local Emmy from Los Angeles.
White, whose iconic halo of blonde hair and blue eyes were instantly recognizable for American viewers, embraced various characters on screen.
She played a 1950s housewife on “Elizabeth” to a man-hungry 1970s TV star who appeared on “Moore” to a doe-eyed 1980s “Golden Girl” retiree.
In her real life, she was fond of making fun of one-liners.
In an interview with late-night anchor David Letterman about her favorite activities, the veteran animal welfare activist replied: “(I like to) play with animals, mostly. And vodka’s kind of a hobby.”
Golden girl
Betty Marion White was born on the 17th of January 1922, in the suburbs of Chicago. The family relocated from Chicago to California in the Great Depression.
White claimed that her love for acting was rooted in the stage of her school, but she credited her mother — who was a mother and an executive from a lighting company — for being her comic model.
After a couple of months of modeling and an active stint with the American Women’s Voluntary Services during World War II, White transitioned into radio performing commercials, reading, and minor roles.
Her first TV appearance began in 1949 with”Hollywood on Television,” a variety program “Hollywood on Television.
“ A couple of years after she was the co-creator of “Life with Elizabeth.”
Through her early TV career that White became acquainted with Ludden the third and last husband who was the host of”Password,” the show that played games “Password,” on which she was frequently seen.
In actuality, she was an iconic game show character throughout the 60s and 70s before Moore arrived.
White was able to be awarded her two Emmys for her performance as Sue Ann Nivens from the sitcom newsroom.
The career lightning struck again in the mid-1980s, with “The Golden Girls,” which featured four older women living in the same house in Miami.
White played Rose Nylund, the ditzy and sometimes foolish Minnesota native who served as the foil for those more refined characters that were played by Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan, and Estelle Getty.
“Bea was not that fond of me,” White told HLN in an interview with HLN in 2011. “But I loved Bea and I admired her.”
White has won an additional Emmy for her role as Rose.
Late success in life
As White got older, she gained popularity over a whole new audience -young people who were glued to “Golden Girls” reruns -thanks to her sharp humor, and sometimes witty humorous wit.
Over the past 10 years she returned to the spotlight, appearing in the TV Land show “Hot in Cleveland” and hosting the prank with a hidden camera series “Off Their Rockers.”
She was even a guest on games shows with a revamped “To Tell The Truth,” and was the star of an advertising commercial for Snickers sweets bar.
In 2010, aged at 88, White became the oldest-ever host of the long-running comedy sketch program “Saturday Night Live” -the experience she described as “probably the most fun I’ve ever had, and the scariest.”
Despite her extensive television work, White only appeared in only a few films, such as “The Proposal” (2009) and the animated “The Lorax” (2012).
White explained her lengthy career as her being “blessed.”
As well as her numerous Emmys, White was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1995.
She has won 3 Screen Actors Guild awards, including a lifetime achievement award in 2011. In 2011 she won the Grammy for her audio edition of one of her books.
White as well as Ludden were married in 1963 until the time of his death in 1981.
The actress never got married again and did not have children of her own.