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Betty White

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Betty White
White at the 1988 Emmy Awards
Born
Betty Marion White

(1922-01-17)January 17, 1922
Oak Park, Illinois, U.S.
DiedDecember 31, 2021(2021-12-31) (aged 99)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Cause of deathProblems caused by a stroke
Other namesGerrie, Betty White Ludden[1]
EducationHorace Mann School
Alma materBeverly Hills High School
Occupation(s)Actress, comedian, writer
Years active1930–2021
TelevisionLife with Elizabeth
Date with the Angels
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
The Betty White Show
The Golden Girls
The Golden Palace
Boston Legal
Hot in Cleveland
Betty White's Off Their Rockers (host)
Spouse(s)Dick Barker (1945)
Lane Allen (1947–1949)
Allen Ludden (1963–1981; his death)
Children3 stepchildren

Betty Marion White (January 17, 1922 – December 31, 2021) was an American actress, comedian, presenter, singer, author, and television personality. She acted as Sue Ann Nivens in The Mary Tyler Moore Show and as Rose Nylund in the television sitcom The Golden Girls.[2] She also starred as Elka Ostrovsky, in the TV Land comedy Hot in Cleveland.[3]

White won seven Emmy Awards during her career. In 1983, she became the first woman to win a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host. White also holds the record for longest span between Emmy nominations for performances—her first was in 1951 and her most recent was in 2012, a span of 61 years—and became the oldest nominee as of 2013, aged 91. The actress is also the oldest winner of a competitive Grammy Award, which she won in 2012. She was host for the NBC entry Just Men!.[4]

In 2011 White began hosting a new program, Betty White's Off Their Rockers. In the program senior citizens play practical jokes on the younger generation.[5] A special Betty White's 90th Birthday Party was on NBC a day before the star's birthday on January 16, 2012. The show had appearances of many stars with whom White has worked over the years.[6]

Early life

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White was born in Oak Park, Illinois. She was of Greek, English, Welsh and Danish ancestry.[7][8][9] She was an only child of Horace White, a lighting company executive, and her mother was a homemaker.[10] White's family moved to Los Angeles, California during the Great Depression.[11][12] She attended Horace Mann School Beverly Hills and Beverly Hills High School. She hosted the February 10, 2014 episode of Raw.

Personal life

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White and Ludden in 1968.
White with President Obama in the Oval Office in June 2012.

In 1945, White married Dick Barker, a U.S. Army Air Corps pilot. The marriage was short-lived. In 1947, she married Lane Allen, a Hollywood agent. This marriage ended in divorce in 1949.

On June 14, 1963, White married television host and personality Allen Ludden (1917-1981). They met on his game show Password when she was a celebrity guest panelist in 1961.[13]

Allen Ludden died from stomach cancer[14][15] on June 9, 1981, in Los Angeles.[16] They had no children together, though she is stepmother to his three children from his first marriage. White did not remarry after Ludden's death.

White was a practicing member of the Unity Church.[17] She was also a registered Democrat.[18] She endorsed President Barack Obama in 2012 saying she "likes how he represents us".[19]

Death

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White died at her home in Los Angeles, California on December 31, 2021, at the age of 99.[20] She died 17 days before her 100th birthday.[21] The cause of death was problems caused by a stroke she had six days before her death.[22]

Awards

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White at the 1992 Emmy Awards

White was added to the Television Hall of Fame in 1995. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6747 Hollywood Boulevard alongside the star of her late husband Allen Ludden.

In 2010, the Screen Actors Guild honoured White with the Life Achievement Award. In 2010 she was chosen as the Associated Press's Entertainer of the Year.

Year Award Category Work Result
1951 Emmy Award Best Actress Life with Elizabeth Nominated
1952 Emmy Awards Best Actress Life with Elizabeth Won
1975 Emmy Awards Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series The Mary Tyler Moore Show Won
1976 Emmy Awards Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series The Mary Tyler Moore Show Won
1977 Emmy Awards Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series The Mary Tyler Moore Show Nominated
1983 Emmy Awards Outstanding Game Show Host Just Men! Won
1984 Emmy Awards Outstanding Game Show Host Just Men! Nominated
1986 Emmy Awards Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series The Golden Girls Won
1986 Golden Apple Award Female Star of the Year Won
1986 Golden Globes Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy The Golden Girls Nominated
1987 Emmy Awards Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series The Golden Girls Nominated
1987 Golden Globes Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy The Golden Girls Nominated
1987 American Comedy Awards Funniest Female Performer in a TV Series (Leading Role) Network, Cable or Syndication The Golden Girls Won
1987 Viewers for Quality Television Best Actress in a Quality Comedy Series The Golden Girls Won
1988 Emmy Awards Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series The Golden Girls Nominated
1988 Golden Globes Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy The Golden Girls Nominated
1988 Viewers for Quality Television Best Actress in a Quality Comedy Series The Golden Girls Won
1989 Emmy Awards Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series The Golden Girls Nominated
1989 Golden Globes Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy The Golden Girls Nominated
1990 Emmy Awards Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series The Golden Girls Nominated
1990 American Comedy Awards Funniest Female Performer in a TV Series (Leading Role) Network, Cable or Syndication The Golden Girls Nominated
1990 American Comedy Awards Lifetime Achievement Award in Comedy Won
1991 Emmy Awards Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series The Golden Girls Nominated
1992 Emmy Awards Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series The Golden Girls Nominated
1995 Walk of Fame Star on the Walk of Fame Won
1996 Emmy Awards Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series The John Larroquette Show Won
1997 Emmy Awards Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series Suddenly Susan Nominated
2000 American Comedy Awards Funniest Female Guest Appearance in a TV Series Ally McBeal Won
2003 Emmy Awards Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series The Practice Nominated
2003 TV Land Awards Quintessential Non-Traditional Family Won
2004 TV Land Awards Groundbreaking Show Won
2008 TV Land Awards Pop Culture Award Won
2009 Emmy Awards Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series My Name Is Earl Nominated
2009 Television Critics Association Career Achievement Award Won
2009 Disney Legends Disney Legends Won
2010 Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award Won
2010 MTV Movie Awards Best WTF Moment The Proposal Nominated
2010 MTV Movie Awards Best Comedic Performance The Proposal Nominated
2010 Teen Choice Award Best Dance (with Sandra Bullock) The Proposal Won
2010 Emmy Awards Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series Saturday Night Live Won
2010 New Now Next Awards Cause You're Hot Nominated
2011 People's Choice Awards Favorite TV Guest Star Community Nominated
2011 People's Choice Awards Favorite Web Celeb Nominated
2011 Screen Actors Guild Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series Hot in Cleveland Nominated
2011 Screen Actors Guild Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series Hot in Cleveland Won
2011 Gracie Allen Awards Best Actress in a Comedy Series Hot in Cleveland Won
2011 The Comedy Awards Best Actress in a TV Comedy Hot in Cleveland Nominated
2011 Emmy Awards Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Hot In Cleveland Nominated
2011 UCLA Jack Benny Award Comedian Won
2011 Grammy Awards Best Spoken Word Recording If You Ask Me (And You Won't) Won
2012 Screen Actors Guild Outstanding Performance by Female Actor in a Comedy Series Hot in Cleveland Won
2012 Screen Actors Guild Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie The Lost Valentine Nominated
2012 Emmy Awards Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program Betty White's Off Their Rockers Nominated

References

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  1. ↑ Archive of American Television interview for the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, 0:0:47-50
  2. ↑ "Golden Girl Rue McClanahan dies at 76". BBC News. June 3, 2010. Retrieved 2010-06-04.
  3. ↑ "The Hot In Cleveland Official Site Starring Betty White, Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves, and Wendie Malick". Retrieved August 11, 2011.
  4. ↑ "It's Evening in America". Vanity Fair. May 2012. Page 157.
  5. ↑ Roxborough, Scott (March 31, 2011). "Betty White to Host 'Off Their Rockers' for NBC". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 30, 2011.
  6. ↑ "Betty White turns 90 with star-studded celebrity bash – 01/16/2012 | Entertainment News from". OnTheRedCarpet.com. Retrieved 2012-01-17.
  7. ↑ Smolenyak Smolenyak, Megan (June 16, 2010). "Betty White: White-Hot in Cleveland or Not". The Huffington Post. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
  8. ↑ Scott, Walter (December 21, 1986). "Personality Parade". Pittsburgh Press. Retrieved January 11, 2014.[permanent dead link]
  9. ↑ Nolasco, Stephanie (May 5, 2010). "Betty White Draws Line With Nudity & Marijuana But Hopes For Beer Pong Rematch On 'SNL'". StarPulse. Archived from the original on November 21, 2010. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
  10. ↑ O'Dell, C. (1997). Women pioneers in television : biographies of fifteen industry leaders / by Cary O'Dell ; with a foreword by Sally Jessy Raphael. Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland & Company, c1997.
  11. ↑ Jacobs, Matthew (January 17, 2013). "Betty White's 91st Birthday: 10 Facts About America's Golden Girl". The Huffington Post. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
  12. ↑ Stated on Saturday Night Live, May 8, 2010
  13. ↑ White, Betty (1995). Here We Go Again: My Life In Television 1949–1995. New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0-684-80042-X.
  14. ↑ Betty White, interviewed on Inside the Actors Studio.
  15. ↑ "Betty White: Avoiding The Plague of Women Who Lunch". Archived from the original on 2016-03-09. Retrieved 2012-10-19.
  16. ↑ "Allen Ludden, TV Host, Is Dead; On 'College Bowl' and 'Password'". The New York Times. June 10, 1981. p. B6.
  17. ↑ White, Betty (2011). If You Ask Me (And of Course You Won't) (First ed.). Putnam Adult. pp. 110–112. ISBN 978-0-399-15753-0.
  18. ↑ White, Betty (2011). If You Ask Me (And of Course You Won't) (First ed.). Putnam Adult. p. 165. ISBN 978-0-399-15753-0.
  19. ↑ Brett Zongker (May 12, 2012). "Betty White reveals her presidential preference – Yahoo! News". News.yahoo.com. Archived from the original on October 20, 2013. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
  20. ↑ "Betty White Dead at 99". TMZ.com. TMZ. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  21. ↑ Silverman, Stephen M. (December 31, 2021). "Betty White Dies: The Golden Girls and Mary Tyler Moore Show Star Was 99". PEOPLE.com. Archived from the original on December 31, 2021. Retrieved 2021-12-31.
  22. ↑ Saad, Nardine (January 10, 2022). "Betty White's cause of death: Coroner blames stroke she suffered 6 days before dying". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on January 11, 2022. Retrieved January 10, 2022.

Other websites

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Betty White.
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