Betty White Was Always A Treasure

It shouldn’t be a surprise when a 99-year-old woman passes. And yet, it was shocking when Betty White passed away just 18 days from her 100th birthday. 

Ryan Reynolds said it best: 

“she managed to grow very old and somehow, not old enough. 

“We’ll miss you.” 

Beloved by all, Betty White entertained the masses for seven decades. She left a legacy unlike any other and lived a life few people could. Many know her from Golden Girls, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Hot In Cleveland, and her hosting stint on SNL. 

But there was so much more to Betty White. Here are some facts about her that you may not have known. 

She Won A Guinness World Record In 2018

Betty White has worked in television longer than anyone else in the industry. Her career began in 1939 when she and a classmate danced and sang songs from The Merry Widow on live TV. Her entertainment career stalled when World War II broke out. She worked in radio in 1949 and that’s when her career launched with her own show The Betty White Show. 

Betty’s career was at an all-time high in the 1970s when she joined the cast of The Mary Tyler Moore Show as Sue Ann Nivens, the “happy homemaker,” for which she won three Emmys. She later scored the role that she would be best known, Rose Nylund in Golden Girls. 

Betty would make guest appearances on shows until her career had a resurgence in 2009 with The Proposal, starring Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds. This would lead to her famous SNL hosting stint brought on by a Facebook campaign in 2010. She thanked Facebook during her monologue and said she: 

“didn’t know what Facebook was, and now that I do know what it is, I have to say, it sounds like a huge waste of time.”

Betty scored her last major role as Elka Ostrovsky in Hot in Cleveland that same year. 

She Didn’t Tolerate Racism

From 1952 to 1954, The Betty White Show (first television, second named for Betty) was a daily talk and variety show on NBC. She had complete creative control and even hired a female director (unheard of at the time). 

In a first for American variety shows at the time, Betty featured a black man, tap dancer Arthur Duncan, as a regular cast member. Jim Crow south threatened to boycott the series unless Duncan was removed. To which Betty replied: 

“I’m sorry. Live with it.”

She gave Duncan more air time. The series was quietly canceled by the end of the year. 

She Loved Junk Food

“I try to avoid anything green. I think it’s working.”

Betty White famously loved junk food. If you could picture Betty’s perfect meal it would be a hot dog, french fries, Red Vines, and vodka on ice. It’s hard to imagine health professionals supporting a diet quite as “devilish,” as Betty would put it, like that. 

And yet, she made it to 99. Can’t argue with the results. Pass the sodium. 

She Believed In True Love

Despite marrying twice before, Betty found the love of her life in television host and personality Allen Ludden. 

They had met on the game show Password, which Ludden worked on as a host and she was a celebrity guest. The pair married in 1963 after Ludden had twice proposed to her. He wore the engagement ring around his neck until she said yes. 

In 1981, Ludden died from stomach cancer. Though they never had children, Betty remained stepmother to Ludden’s three children from a previous marriage. 

In an interview with Larry King, when asked if she would remarry, she answered:

“Once you’ve had the best, who needs the rest?” 

In an interview with James Lipton of Inside The Actor’s Studio, when asked what she would like to hear once entering heaven she answered:

“Come on in Betty. Here’s Allen.” 

According to her personal assistant, who was with her when she died, her last word was:

“Allen”

The World Will Miss Betty White

Betty White was a cultural icon and widely beloved. She served her country in WWII in the American Women’s Voluntary Services. She stood up against racism at a time when it would have been easier for her not to. And she entertained us all for seven decades. 

Betty White died of natural causes in her home in Brentwood, Los Angeles at the age of 99.