Paying Tribute to Betty White

Today would have marked the 100^th birthday of Betty White.

Alas, 17 days before her 100^th birthday, the beloved actress died at the remarkable age of 99.

White died on New Year’s Eve, apparently deciding that she didn’t want to deal with a new year.

So, on this date, we felt the need to celebrate the life of one of the world’s most famous celebrities.

The Early Years

Did you know that Betty White was equal parts Canadian, Danish, and Greek?

Her grandfathers had Danish and Greek heritages. Oddly, both her grandmothers were Canadian.

As for White, she was born in Oak Park, Illinois but was really a California girl.

When White was barely a year old, her parents moved to California and eventually ended up in Los Angeles.

In fact, White was such a local that she graduated from Beverly Hills High School! Other notables from this school include Pauly Shore, Gina Gershon, and Nic Cage! Random, huh?

Anyway, since White was already in the area, she thought she’d give Hollywood a try.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this decision involved how she settled on her career.

White worked as an aspiring writer and created a play wherein she performed. This gave her the acting bug.

The world would have been robbed of Betty White if not for that choice!

The Model No One Wanted

Here’s something that might rock your worldview. In her 20s, Ms. White was quite the looker! She found work as a model before World War II.

After serving her country nobly during the war, White returned to her Hollywood dream. However, an unexpected problem developed.

The new movie moguls decided that White wasn’t photogenic enough to star in movies. So, she turned to something from childhood.

During the Great Depression, her father had built crystal radios to sell or barter. Remembering these days fondly, White embarked on a radio career.

Most people in the industry believed that radio was a dying medium, at least as a form of national entertainment.

This allowed the actress to get gigs that weren’t available to her in television or movies…yet.

White’s hard work and dedication led to several paying radio gigs. She even did unpaid work at times to boost her reputation.

By 1949, her efforts paid dividends when Al Jarvis hired her as co-host of a radio variety show called Hollywood on Television. It was her big break and a career-making role.

Jarvis would exit in 1951, wherein Eddie Albert briefly replaced him. Yes, I mean the Green Acres guy.

However, this live show broadcasted more than 30 hours per week, most of it improvisational in nature. As a result, Albert felt overwhelmed and quit.

At this point, Betty White became the sole host of one of Hollywood’s most recognizable radio programs. She was 29.

Betty White in the 1950s

The newfound celebrity had the last laugh in 1954. She’d started hosting a local TV program for a company that found her plenty photogenic.

NBC noticed the rising sentiment toward the program and broadcast it nationally in 1954.

Only a few years after Hollywood rejected her, White now starred on a network television program…and its name was The Betty White Show.

Because she’d taken over from Al Jarvis and outlasted Eddie Albert, Ms. White claimed complete control of the series.

She demanded a female director and also hired tap dancer Arthur Duncan.

Duncan, a black man, faced an outcry over his presence, but Betty White eviscerated such loathsome critics with a simple reply: “I’m sorry, but, you know, he stays. Live with it.”

Betty White lived by example and was decades ahead of society regarding sexual and racial equality.

Notably, she also shielded Duncan from all the criticism. As a result, he only learned of the protests many years later.

Coincidentally or not, The Betty White Show ended soon after the protests. The entertainer chose to do the right thing at the cost of the TV show named after her.

Love and Celebrity

Alas, the talk show host wasn’t as successful in love for many years. Her first marriage didn’t last a year, although, in both their defense, it was the end of World War II.

White’s second marriage also ended after two years, making her twice divorced before she ever got her big break.

Friends, there aren’t many actresses from the 1950s who were divorced once, much less twice. It was often a career killer, but Betty White wouldn’t be denied.

After a remarkable decade as a variety entertainer in the 1950s, White’s wit made her a staple of celebrity game shows of the era.

During one such appearance, she met the host of Password, Allen Ludden. Less than two years later, they had married, and he proved the great love of her life.

Here’s the video of the episode they filmed after their honeymoon:

That’s a woman who is very much in love. Ludden’s wife had passed away at roughly the same time that he met the woman who would become his second wife. There’s a Hallmark movie in there somewhere.

Ludden was only five years and two months older than White, but their time together proved limited. He died in 1981 at the age of 63.

If you’re still mourning the loss of one of America’s most outstanding performers, please consider that.

She outlived her husband by 40 years. They’re together again now. It’s a happy thing.

Somewhere in the middle of all this, White had evolved into one of the premier talents of her generation.

She was once offered the job of Today Show lead anchor. Once she passed, the gig went to Barbara Walters. Yes, the legendary journalist was the Hollaback girl to Betty White.

The Sitcom Icon

Few of us are old enough to remember this version of Betty White. Instead, we recall her work in comedy films and possibly even sitcoms.

This recognition is another bit of lucky happenstance. A member of The Mary Tyler Moore Show’s staff felt they needed someone with a Betty White quality.

Do you know who had that in spades? Betty White. Yes, the actress didn’t even appear on the show until 1974.

Somehow, she managed to win two Emmys for her work before the series ended in 1977.

Around this time, White started appearing on The Carol Burnett Show, including a turn as a character named Ellen Harper-Jackson.

When Carol Burnett spun off her own character, Thelma Harper, into a standalone sitcom, White sometimes joined her.

The show was Mama’s Family, and while it wasn’t great, it also co-starred Rue McClanahan.

These two actresses would later form half the core of the series for which both are best known, The Golden Girls.

Yes, two of The Golden Girls have been working together since 1983! That series would start two years later, in 1985.

White offered a brilliant portrayal of naïve Rose, a Minnesotan with Norwegian roots and…so many anecdotes. Here she is corpsing her co-stars:

That’s what people look like when a 40-year practitioner in the art of improv comedy comes with us something as ridiculous as the Herring Circus.

The Last Act of Betty White’s Storied Career

Here’s something that will bake your noodle. When the new millennium started, Betty White was already 77 years old.

She spent what most would consider the twilight years as an ambassador for comedy and general creator of goodwill and positivity.

In 2009, she co-starred in The Proposal alongside Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock. It led to this viral video:

(Warning: There are MANY bleeped bad words.)

This role proved a creative renaissance for the entertainer. She started working more frequently as the World’s Funniest 90-year-old.

This led to perhaps the least likely career move of all for her. In 2010, she co-starred in Hot in Cleveland, the highest-rated show in TV Land history.

When the series began, White was 88. When it ended in 2015, she was an almost incomprehensible 93.

So, the people at TV Land who canceled this show ended Betty White’s career. I hope they’re proud.

Also, can you imagine still working in your job when you’re 93? For many people, that’s what they fear The Bad Place would be.

Here’s perhaps the most impressive part of Betty White’s career. I’ve just discussed radio and TV shows that she did in every decade from the 1940s through the 2010s!

She legitimately provided this planet with laughter for more than 70 years!

Today, on her birthday, please don’t be sad that she’s gone. Instead, be thankful that she gave so much for so long.

Here’s a top ten list she did on The David Letterman Show several years ago. It’ll remind you of Betty White’s brilliance.

Finally, I’ll leave you with this thought. An interviewer once asked Betty White what she hoped to hear when she got to Heaven.

Her simple reply was, “Come on in, Betty. Here’s Allen.” How romantic is that?!

Feature Image: (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

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