The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Golden Girls are two of White's best sitcom roles. She was a favorite on the game show circuit and was one of the first female television producers.
Betty White was born in Oak Park, Illinois in 1922, but her parents didn't want her to be called Elizabeth because they didn't want her to be called Liza. White began writing and performing in high school after the family moved to Los Angeles during the Great Depression. White tried out for several movie studios, but they decided she wasn't attractive. She took whatever work she could get, even though she played bit parts in radio dramas.
Three months after graduating high school in 1939, she landed a gig on television. She and her classmates sang a few songs and danced a waltz, just as NBC launched in New York and LA. White can't remember the name of the program that 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 It was the beginning of a career that spanned the entire history of television.
That career would have to wait. White put her career on hold to volunteer during WWII, driving a truck by day to deliver army supplies and performing at dances intended to give soldiers a rousing send-off. After divorcing Dick Barker four months after she left Hollywood to live on his chicken farm, she returned to her career. She married an agent, Lane Allen, two years later, but divorced him in 1949 after he pushed her to give up her career.
After a few years of radio work, White co-hosted a live, six-day-a-week TV variety show called Hollywood On Television, and when her co-host left, she hosted solo. She became one of the first female producers on television because of her success, and she co-created the sitcom Life With Elizabeth. The show was a hit and she got a nomination in the first-ever Best Actress category.
White was a staple on television, not just in comedy. She hosted the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade for ten years. She did sketches with other people. She was nicknamed the "First Lady of Game Shows" for her frequent appearances on shows like What's My Line?, To Tell the Truth, and Match Game. She met her third husband on the latter show. White and his wife stayed together until he died of cancer in 1981.
Mary Tyler Moore was looking for an actress to play a guest on her sitcom. Sue Ann Nivens made a joke about WJM's "Happy Homemaker" being sweet as pie on camera and a hard-driving maneater off. Moore said they needed someone who could play sickeningly sweet like Betty White. Moore cast White, who gave the already popular series a shot in the arm, and went from guest to series regular.
The Betty White Show lasted one season. She was the first woman to win an Outstanding Game Show Host award. She got another defining role in 1985.
The producers of The Golden Girls, about four friends who move in together after finding themselves widowed or divorced, offered White the role of sexpot Blanche, figuring her experience on Mary Tyler Moore made her a natural. Rue McClanahan was cast as scatterbrained Rose, based on her role on Maude. The pilot's director suggested that the two actresses swap roles, since neither was thrilled about being typecast. White was nominated for an Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series every year the show was on the air.
White had no intention of slowing down even after he turned 80. She hosted Saturday Night Live in 2010 at the age of 88, thanks to a Facebook campaign. She joked, "Now that I know what Facebook is, it sounds like a huge waste of time."
She was cast in the pilot of Hot In Cleveland and stayed on for the entire 6 year run. She produced Betty White's Off Their Rockers, a hidden-camera show in which senior citizens played practical jokes.
White devoted his time to animal rights during his career on screen, working with the Morris Animal Foundation, the African Wildlife Foundation, and serving on the board of directors of the Los Angeles Zoo since 1974. She received the Humane Award from the American Veterinary Medical Association. She turned down a role in the movie As Good As It Gets to protest a scene where Jack Nicholson throws a dog down a garbage chute.
White was the most enduring performer on television.
