RIP Betty White

[rckymtn22]

Sad news, just short of 100.

[riderpride]

That was one hell of a career. Amazing sense of humor through the end.

RIP Betty

[La_Tigre]

Mffeeerr, two weeks from her 100th celebration. 

[Ford2112]

She had a good run. She remained funny and relevant.  RIP

[Paladin865]

A classy lady, who lived a great life

[inter4alia]

Epic run! 

[Goodfortune]

Amazing career! RIP

[OrangePaw]

Will be missed.  RIP

[Dozerhead]

One of the few times that a celebrity passing really affected me. What an amazing lady.

[Huckleberry]

Humble and immensely talented are two increasingly rare collaborations.  She was truly special to generations!

[Fuzz]

Golden Girls star, 'national treasure' Betty White dies just short of her 100th birthday

Legendary US actor Betty White has died, less than three weeks before her 100th birthday.

"Even though Betty was about to be 100, I thought she would live forever,"  her agent Jeff Witjas said.

"She meant the world to me as a friend. She was the most positive person I've ever known."

Witjas said White had been staying close to her Los Angeles home during the pandemic, but had no diagnosed illness. 

White launched her TV career in daytime talk shows when the medium was still in its infancy, and endured well into the age of cable and streaming.

Debuting on radio in the 1930s, White was a television star in her 60s with Emmy-winning roles on sitcoms The Golden Girls and The Mary Tyler Moore Show, before becoming a pop culture phenomenon in her 80s and 90s.

Playing on her imminent likeability, White was still starring in a TV sitcom, Hot in Cleveland, at age 92 until it was cancelled in 2014. 

People magazine in the US this week published an interview with White, who said she had been looking forward to celebrating her birthday on January 17.

In it, she described herself as a "cockeyed optimist".

"I got it from my mum, and that never changed," White said.

"I always find the positive."

She said her longevity was a result of good health, good fortune and loving her work.

"It's incredible that I'm still in this business and that you are still putting up with me," she said at the 2018 Emmy Awards ceremony.

"It's incredible that you can stay in a career this long and still have people put up with you. I wish they did that at home."

White was planning to celebrate her 100th birthday with an event featuring a host of US stars including Ryan Reynolds, Tina Fey, Robert Redford, Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman. 

Tributes poured in from celebrities including Reynolds, who starred alongside her in the comedy The Proposal.

A film honouring White will be released on her birthday as planned, featuring in more than 900 theatres across the US on January 17. 

"Our film will provide a way for all who loved her to celebrate her life — and experience what made her such a national treasure," producers Steve Boettcher and Mike Trinklein said in a statement. 

A pioneer on television

Betty Marion White was born on January 17, 1922, in Oak Park Illinois, and her family moved to Los Angeles during the Great Depression, where she attended Beverly Hills High School

White started her entertainment career in radio in the late 1930s and by 1939 had made her TV debut singing on an experimental channel in Los Angeles.

After serving in the American Women's Voluntary Service, which helped the US effort during World War II, she was a regular on Hollywood on Television, a daily five-hour live variety show, in 1949.

A few years later she became a pioneering woman in television by co-founding a production company and serving as a co-creator, producer and star of the 1950s sitcom Life With Elizabeth.

Through the 1960s and early '70s White was seen regularly on television, hosting coverage of the annual Tournament of Rose Parade and appearing on game shows such as Match Game and Password. 

She married Password host Allen Ludden, her third and final husband, in 1963.

"I had always said on The Tonight Show and everywhere else that I would never get married again," she said in 1963.

"But Allen outnumbered me. He started in and even the children got in the act. And I surrendered — willingly."

White, who had no children, was passionate about animal rights. She once turned down a role in the movie As Good as It Gets because of a scene in which a dog was thrown in a garbage chute.

White reached a new level of success on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, playing the host of a home-making television show, the snide, lusty Sue Ann Nivens. She won best-supporting actress Emmys for the role in 1975 and 1976.

She won another Emmy in 1986 for The Golden Girls, a sitcom about four older women living together in Miami that featured an age demographic rarely highlighted on American television.

White also was nominated for an Emmy six other times for her portrayal of the widowed Rose Nylund, a sweet, naive and ditzy Midwesterner, on the show, which ran from 1985 to 1992 and was one of the top-rated series of its time.

America's most trusted celebrity

By 2009 she was becoming ubiquitous with more frequent television appearances and a role in the Sandra Bullock film The Proposal. 

But in 2010, White's stardom erupted. 

In a Snickers commercial that premiered during the Super Bowl telecast, she impersonated an energy-sapped young man getting tackled in a football game.

"Mike, you're playing like Betty White out there," one player jeered.

White, flat on the ground and covered in mud, fired back. 

 "That's not what your girlfriend said!"

 

A young fan started a Facebook campaign to have White host Saturday Night Live and she ended up appearing in every sketch on the show and winning yet another Emmy for it.

The Associated Press voted her entertainer of the year in 2010 and Reuters found White was the most popular and trusted celebrity in America in 2011, with an 86 per cent favourability rating.

"It's ridiculous," White said of the honour.

"They haven't caught on to me, and I hope they never do."

Mourners gather around the Hollywood Walk of Fame star of actor Betty White. (Reuters: David Swanson)

Hot In Cleveland premiered in June 2010, starring Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves and Wendie Malick as three veterans of show business who move to Cleveland to escape the youth obsession of Hollywood.

They move into the home of an elderly Polish widow — a character, played by White, who was only meant to appear in the pilot episode.

But White stole the show, and the salty Elka Ostrovsky became a key part of the series and it was an immediate hit.

White's witty and brassy demeanour came in handy as host of Betty White's Off Their Rockers, a hidden-camera show in which elderly actors pulled pranks on younger people.

"Who would ever dream that I would not only be this healthy, but still be invited to work?" White said in a 2015 interview with Oprah Winfrey.

"That's the privilege … to still have jobs to do is such a privilege."

White was a role model for how to age joyously.

"Don't try to be young," she said.

"Just open your mind. Stay interested in stuff. There are so many things I won't live long enough to find out about, but I'm still curious about them."

When asked in 2011 how she had managed to be universally loved during her decades-spanning career, she summed up with a dimpled smile: "I just make it my business to get along with people so I can have fun. It's that simple."

Betty White accepts the legend award at the TV Land Awards at the Saban Theatre in April 2015. (AP: Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)

[slowsmoke]

I always knew she was special, but the tributes are amazing. An incredible life. 

[SigmundChurchill]

Not sure why this isn't in the article, but in 1954 she defied pressure from the Jim Crow-era south to remove a black man (Arthur Duncan) from her variety show.

Her response was to INCREASE his air time.

May she RIP.

[tuff]

A national treasure here in the states. She hosted SNL at the age of 88 and appeared in every skit. More than all she appeared to be a genuinely nice person. 

Rest in Peace Ms. White

[cigcars]

On 1/1/2022 at 12:55 AM, Fuzz said:

Golden Girls star, 'national treasure' Betty White dies just short of her 100th birthday

Legendary US actor Betty White has died, less than three weeks before her 100th birthday.

"Even though Betty was about to be 100, I thought she would live forever,"  her agent Jeff Witjas said.

"She meant the world to me as a friend. She was the most positive person I've ever known."

Witjas said White had been staying close to her Los Angeles home during the pandemic, but had no diagnosed illness. 

White launched her TV career in daytime talk shows when the medium was still in its infancy, and endured well into the age of cable and streaming.

Debuting on radio in the 1930s, White was a television star in her 60s with Emmy-winning roles on sitcoms The Golden Girls and The Mary Tyler Moore Show, before becoming a pop culture phenomenon in her 80s and 90s.

Playing on her imminent likeability, White was still starring in a TV sitcom, Hot in Cleveland, at age 92 until it was cancelled in 2014. 

People magazine in the US this week published an interview with White, who said she had been looking forward to celebrating her birthday on January 17.

In it, she described herself as a "cockeyed optimist".

"I got it from my mum, and that never changed," White said.

"I always find the positive."

She said her longevity was a result of good health, good fortune and loving her work.

"It's incredible that I'm still in this business and that you are still putting up with me," she said at the 2018 Emmy Awards ceremony.

"It's incredible that you can stay in a career this long and still have people put up with you. I wish they did that at home."

White was planning to celebrate her 100th birthday with an event featuring a host of US stars including Ryan Reynolds, Tina Fey, Robert Redford, Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman. 

Tributes poured in from celebrities including Reynolds, who starred alongside her in the comedy The Proposal.

A film honouring White will be released on her birthday as planned, featuring in more than 900 theatres across the US on January 17. 

"Our film will provide a way for all who loved her to celebrate her life — and experience what made her such a national treasure," producers Steve Boettcher and Mike Trinklein said in a statement. 

A pioneer on television

Betty Marion White was born on January 17, 1922, in Oak Park Illinois, and her family moved to Los Angeles during the Great Depression, where she attended Beverly Hills High School

White started her entertainment career in radio in the late 1930s and by 1939 had made her TV debut singing on an experimental channel in Los Angeles.

After serving in the American Women's Voluntary Service, which helped the US effort during World War II, she was a regular on Hollywood on Television, a daily five-hour live variety show, in 1949.

A few years later she became a pioneering woman in television by co-founding a production company and serving as a co-creator, producer and star of the 1950s sitcom Life With Elizabeth.

Through the 1960s and early '70s White was seen regularly on television, hosting coverage of the annual Tournament of Rose Parade and appearing on game shows such as Match Game and Password. 

She married Password host Allen Ludden, her third and final husband, in 1963.

"I had always said on The Tonight Show and everywhere else that I would never get married again," she said in 1963.

"But Allen outnumbered me. He started in and even the children got in the act. And I surrendered — willingly."

White, who had no children, was passionate about animal rights. She once turned down a role in the movie As Good as It Gets because of a scene in which a dog was thrown in a garbage chute.

White reached a new level of success on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, playing the host of a home-making television show, the snide, lusty Sue Ann Nivens. She won best-supporting actress Emmys for the role in 1975 and 1976.

She won another Emmy in 1986 for The Golden Girls, a sitcom about four older women living together in Miami that featured an age demographic rarely highlighted on American television.

White also was nominated for an Emmy six other times for her portrayal of the widowed Rose Nylund, a sweet, naive and ditzy Midwesterner, on the show, which ran from 1985 to 1992 and was one of the top-rated series of its time.

America's most trusted celebrity

By 2009 she was becoming ubiquitous with more frequent television appearances and a role in the Sandra Bullock film The Proposal. 

But in 2010, White's stardom erupted. 

In a Snickers commercial that premiered during the Super Bowl telecast, she impersonated an energy-sapped young man getting tackled in a football game.

"Mike, you're playing like Betty White out there," one player jeered.

White, flat on the ground and covered in mud, fired back. 

 "That's not what your girlfriend said!"

 

A young fan started a Facebook campaign to have White host Saturday Night Live and she ended up appearing in every sketch on the show and winning yet another Emmy for it.

The Associated Press voted her entertainer of the year in 2010 and Reuters found White was the most popular and trusted celebrity in America in 2011, with an 86 per cent favourability rating.

"It's ridiculous," White said of the honour.

"They haven't caught on to me, and I hope they never do."

Mourners gather around the Hollywood Walk of Fame star of actor Betty White. (Reuters: David Swanson)

Hot In Cleveland premiered in June 2010, starring Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves and Wendie Malick as three veterans of show business who move to Cleveland to escape the youth obsession of Hollywood.

They move into the home of an elderly Polish widow — a character, played by White, who was only meant to appear in the pilot episode.

But White stole the show, and the salty Elka Ostrovsky became a key part of the series and it was an immediate hit.

White's witty and brassy demeanour came in handy as host of Betty White's Off Their Rockers, a hidden-camera show in which elderly actors pulled pranks on younger people.

"Who would ever dream that I would not only be this healthy, but still be invited to work?" White said in a 2015 interview with Oprah Winfrey.

"That's the privilege … to still have jobs to do is such a privilege."

White was a role model for how to age joyously.

"Don't try to be young," she said.

"Just open your mind. Stay interested in stuff. There are so many things I won't live long enough to find out about, but I'm still curious about them."

When asked in 2011 how she had managed to be universally loved during her decades-spanning career, she summed up with a dimpled smile: "I just make it my business to get along with people so I can have fun. It's that simple."

Betty White accepts the legend award at the TV Land Awards at the Saban Theatre in April 2015. (AP: Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)

 

[cigcars]

    *Was truly saddened and broken hearted to hear the news. Well - at least now she'll be re-united with the love of her life, Alan Ludden of "Password" fame in Heaven 

[cigcars]

[Fosgate]

I was in high school when the golden girls was out. I remember enjoying that show despite it being intended for an entirely different age group far older than me. It was great to see the internet lobby for her to come back just a few short years ago. What a class act woman. 

[Chas.Alpha]

Way cool tribute! The MTM show was popular in our living room, since it was set in our back yard (Mpls, Mn.) What a great lady! 😢

[Fosgate]

I finally found the video. It's the closing skit for her Saturday Night Live appearance in 2013 in which there was a huge Facebook campaign to have her host the show. I don't recall ever laughing so hard watching SNL since watching it in the 1970's and I certainly have not since. I remember she capped the night off with this little number while friends and I were laughing so hard. 

https://www.facebook.com/825054571/videos/10159375025704572/