History Creator / BettyWhite

* White's career since the end of ''The Golden Palace'' in 1993 has been playing against her image as Rose. Thus, when she shows up today, expect her to be a RacistGrandma or some other subversion of Rose's affable ditziness.

* GameShowHost: Of ''Just Men!'', for which she won her only daytime Emmy despite Creator/{{NBC}} canning it after 13 weeks. Due to the way the Emmy nomination period worked at the time, she was actually nominated for it a second time. Also, she was married to ''Series/{{Password}}'' host Allen Ludden until his death. She's also made appearances on [[Series/TheTonightShow Jimmy Fallon's mini-revival]] of ''Password'', her ''90th Birthday Celebration'' special featured an edition hosted by [[Series/TheSoup Joel [=McHale=]]], and her Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2015 Daytime Emmys was preceded by an edition of ''Password Plus'' hosted by Creator/TomBergeron.
* HappilyMarried: Apparently was to her third husband, Allen Ludden. In an interview with Larry King on February 1, 2014, she was asked when she would remarry. Her reply was thus: "Once you've had the best, who needs the rest?"

* SelfDeprecation: She's frequently made jokes at her own expense. When she was on Jimmy Kimmel, he asked her about first moving to Hollywood, and she mentioned that she wasn't sure if California was a state yet at the time.
* SerialSpouse: She was married three times throughout her life. While her first two marriages to Dick Barker and Lane Allen ended in divorce, her third marriage to Allen Ludden lasted until his death in 1981. She had not been publicly linked with anyone since.

* SignatureStyle: Not so much her, just the people around her. Since Hollywood doesn't exactly value age, most writers aren't sure what to do with her, so a few of her appearances have her play a sweet old lady saying crass and bizarre things (such as her appearances on ''Series/TheLateLateShow'' and ''Saturday Night Live'').
* TheShowMustGoOn: She was to have [[https://www.fathomevents.com/events/Betty-White-100-Years-Young an 100th birthday event]] released in theaters on January 17, 2022. However, she died on December 31, 2021. Despite this, Fathom Events, who hosted the event, plans to hold it as scheduled.

->''"A lot of people really find Betty White inspiring — I mean, she's been working as an actor in an industry for more than six decades in a business that doesn't exactly value getting older. There's a lot to admire. Me, I find Betty White annoying. I'm sorry, it's true. Betty, you make me feel bad about myself, you make me feel like a slacker."''
-->-- '''Creator/SandraBullock'''

The grand dame of American TV comedy,[[note]]The only reason we haven't referred to her as "Queen" is because she's American; if she was British, we'd use that title, rest assured![[/note]] Betty Marion White Ludden (January 17, 1922 – December 31, 2021) began her eight-decade-long entertainment industry career in 1939. She got in on the ground floor of the newfangled medium of television, with her first Website/IMDb credit for TV dating to 1949. By 1953, she had her first starring role, as the title character in the sitcom ''Series/LifeWithElizabeth''; even before then, she had earned the first of her 21 career UsefulNotes/EmmyAward nominations in 1951.

The grand dame of American TV comedy,[[note]]The only reason we haven't referred to her as "Queen" is because she's American; if she was British, we'd use that title, rest assured![[/note]] Betty Marion White Ludden (January 17, 1922 – December 31, 2021) worked in the entertainment industry since 1939 when she began her career on the radio. She then got in on the ground floor of the newfangled medium of television, with her first Website/IMDb credit for TV dating to 1949. By 1953, she had her first starring role (the sitcom ''Series/LifeWithElizabeth''). First nominated for an Emmy in 1951, she was nominated a further 20 times and had won seven times.

She passed away on December 31, 2021, less than three weeks from her 100th birthday; a celebratory documentary titled ''Betty White: 100 Years Young - A Birthday Celebration'' was planned for the latter.

She had her own clothing line, and T-shirts with her face on them are [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff huge in Tokyo]]. She was also known for being a huge animal rights activist and regularly worked with various charities, such as the American Humane Association.

The grand dame of American TV comedy,[[note]]The only reason we haven't referred to her as "Queen" is because she's American; if she was British, we'd use that title, rest assured![[/note]] Betty Marion White Ludden (January 17, 1922 – December 31, 2021) worked in the entertainment industry since 1939 when she began her career on the radio. She then got in on the ground floor of the newfangled medium of television, with her first Website/IMDb credit for TV dating to 1949. By 1953, she had her first starring role (the sitcom ''Series/LifeWithElizabeth''). First nominated for an Emmy in 1951, she was nominated a further 20 times and so far has won seven times.

The grand dame of American TV comedy,[[note]]The only reason we haven't referred to her as "Queen" is because she's American; if she was British, we'd use that title, rest assured![[/note]] Betty Marion White Ludden (January 17, 1922 – December 30, 2021) worked in the entertainment industry since 1939 when she began her career on the radio. She then got in on the ground floor of the newfangled medium of television, with her first Website/IMDb credit for TV dating to 1949. By 1953, she had her first starring role (the sitcom ''Series/LifeWithElizabeth''). First nominated for an Emmy in 1951, she was nominated a further 20 times and so far has won seven times.

She passed away on December 30, 2021, less than three weeks from her 100th birthday; a celebratory documentary titled ''Betty White: 100 Years Young - A Birthday Celebration'' was planned for the latter.

She passed away on December 30, 2021, less than three weeks from her 100th birthday; a celebratory documentary titled ''Betty White: 100 Years Young - A Birthday Celebration'', was planned for the latter.

The grand dame of American TV comedy,[[note]]The only reason we haven't referred to her as "Queen" is because she's American. If she was British, we'd use that title, rest assured![[/note]] Betty Marion White Ludden (January 17, 1922 – December 31, 2021) worked in the entertainment industry since 1939 when she began her career on the radio. She then got in on the ground floor of the newfangled medium of television, with her first Website/IMDb credit for TV dating to 1949. By 1953, she had her first starring role (the sitcom ''Series/LifeWithElizabeth''). First nominated for an Emmy in 1951, she was nominated a further 20 times and so far has won seven times.

She passed away on December 31, 2021, less than three weeks from her 100th birthday; a celebratory documentary titled ''Betty White: 100 Years Young - A Birthday Celebration'', was planned for the latter.

* HappilyMarried: Apparently to her third husband, Allen Ludden. In an interview with Larry King on February 1st, 2014, she was asked when she would remarry. Her reply was thus: "Once you've had the best, who needs the rest?"

* RacistGrandma: She sometimes plays them. In ''Series/{{Everwood}}'', among other places, though that specific example was only latently racist.

She passed away on December 31, 2021, less than three weeks from her 100th birthday.

James Corden once joked that she was "older than sliced-bread[[note]]The first automatically sliced commercial loaves were produced on July 6, 1928, in Chillicothe, Missouri, using a machine invented by Otto Rohwedder, an Iowa-born, Missouri-based jeweler.[[/note]] ''and'' Mickey Mouse"[[note]]Mickey Mouse first appeared in ''Steamboat Willie'' on November 18, 1928.[[/note]]. For those of you interested, ''both'' of those facts are ''literally true''.

The grand dame of American TV comedy,[[note]]The only reason we haven't referred to her as "Queen" is because she's American. If she was British, we'd use that title, rest assured![[/note]] Betty Marion White (January 17, 1922 - December 31, 2021) worked in the entertainment industry since 1939, when she began her career on the radio. She then got in on the ground floor of the newfangled medium of television, with her first Website/IMDb credit for TV dating to 1949. By 1953, she had her first starring role (the sitcom ''Series/LifeWithElizabeth''). First nominated for an Emmy in 1951, she was nominated a further 20 times and so far has won seven times.

White underwent something of a late-career renaissance since 2009, when she had a supporting role in the successful romantic comedy ''Film/TheProposal'' starring Creator/SandraBullock. The following year she appeared (along with fellow TV veteran Creator/AbeVigoda) in a popular [[SuperBowlSpecial Super Bowl ad]] for Snickers candy, which in turn inspired a semi-ironic Website/{{Facebook}} campaign to get her to host the long-running sketch show ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' during its 35th season. The campaign was a big hit, and Creator/LorneMichaels indeed brought her on the show, making White the oldest host in its history at age 88 and a half (and beat out the only non-celebrity host — Miskel Spillman, who was 80 at the time, helmed the 1977 Christmas show after winning the "Anyone Can Host" contest in Season 3). She also had numerous high-profile guest appearances, like a recurring professor on ''Series/{{Community}}'', and received the Screen Actors Guild's Life Achievement Award in 2010. She contributed to Creator/TVLand's NetworkDecay by starring in ''Series/HotInCleveland'', although that's hardly a bad thing. In 2012, she began hosting a new prank show on NBC, ''Betty White's Off Their Rockers'', featuring old people pranking youngsters. In August of 2015 [[http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/28/entertainment/betty-white-bones-feat/index.html she announced]] that she would guest-star in an episode of ''Series/{{Bones}}''.

She had her own clothing line, and t-shirts with her face on them are [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff huge in Tokyo]]. She's also known for being a huge animal rights activist, and regularly works with various charities, such as the American Humane Association.

* AdamWesting: On her guest appearance on ''Series/UglyBetty''
* BitingTheHandHumor: When she hosted on ''[[Series/SaturdayNightLive SNL]]'' (which, really, is a [[SelfDeprecation trademark gag on SNL nowadays]]), she mentioned that her first TV show was broadcast live, because they didn't know how to record TV yet. She's not sure what their excuse at ''SNL'' is.[[note]]''[[DontExplainTheJoke SNL]]''[[DontExplainTheJoke 's excuse for doing their show live is because they want the comedy and memorable moments to be unexpected.]][[/note]] The petition to have her host was on Facebook. So of course Betty decided to call Facebook "a huge waste of time."
* CoolOldLady: Extremely affable and incredibly funny on top of doing a lot of humanitarian work, they don't come much cooler than Betty!

* GameShowHost: Of ''Just Men!'', for which she won her only daytime Emmy despite Creator/{{NBC}} canning it after 13 weeks. Due to the way the Emmy nomination period worked at the time, she was actually nominated for it a second time. Also, she was married to ''Series/{{Password}}'' host Allen Ludden until his death. She's also made appearances on [[Series/TheTonightShow Jimmy Fallon's mini-revival]] of ''Password'', her ''90th Birthday Celebration'' special featured an edition hosted by [[Series/TheSoup Joel [=McHale=]]], and her Lifetime Achievment Award at the 2015 Daytime Emmys was preceded by an edition of ''Password Plus'' hosted by Creator/TomBergeron.
* HappilyMarried: Apparently to her third husband, Allen Ludden. In an Interview with Larry King on February 1st, 2014, she was asked when she would remarry. Her reply was thus: "Once you've had the best, who needs the rest?"
* OlderThanTheyLook: 99 years old, but could still pass for her late 60s.

* SerialSpouse: She was married three times throughout her life. While her first two marriages to Dick Barker and Lane Allen ended in divorce, her third marriage to Allen Ludden lasted until his death in 1981. She has not been publicly linked with anyone since, her widowhood going on for four decades now.

The grand dame of American TV comedy,[[note]]The only reason we haven't referred to her as "Queen" is because she's American. If she was British, we'd use that title, rest assured![[/note]] Betty Marion White (born January 17, 1922 in Oak Park, Illinois) has been at work in the entertainment industry since 1939, when she began her career on the radio. She then got in on the ground floor of the newfangled medium of television, with her first Website/IMDb credit for TV dating to 1949. By 1953, she had her first starring role (the sitcom ''Series/LifeWithElizabeth''). First nominated for an Emmy in 1951, she was nominated a further 20 times and so far has won seven times.

White is notable for the number of times she has rebuilt her career based on playing against her previous image:

White has undergone something of a late-career renaissance since 2009, when she had a supporting role in the successful romantic comedy ''Film/TheProposal'' starring Creator/SandraBullock. The following year she appeared (along with fellow TV veteran Creator/AbeVigoda) in a popular [[SuperBowlSpecial Super Bowl ad]] for Snickers candy, which in turn inspired a semi-ironic Website/{{Facebook}} campaign to get her to host the long-running sketch show ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' during its 35th season. The campaign was a big hit, and Creator/LorneMichaels indeed brought her on the show, making White the oldest host in its history at age 88 and a half (and beat out the only non-celebrity host — Miskel Spillman, who was 80 at the time, helmed the 1977 Christmas show after winning the "Anyone Can Host" contest in Season 3). She also had numerous high-profile guest appearances, like a recurring professor on ''Series/{{Community}}'', and received the Screen Actors Guild's Life Achievement Award in 2010. She contributed to Creator/TVLand's NetworkDecay by starring in ''Series/HotInCleveland'', although that's hardly a bad thing. In 2012, she began hosting a new prank show on NBC, ''Betty White's Off Their Rockers'', featuring old people pranking youngsters. In August of 2015 [[http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/28/entertainment/betty-white-bones-feat/index.html she announced]] that she would guest-star in an episode of ''Series/{{Bones}}''.

She has her own clothing line, and t-shirts with her face on them are [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff huge in Tokyo]]. She's also known for being a huge animal rights activist, and regularly works with various charities, such as the American Humane Association.

Despite her very old age, she still makes appearances on film and television.

Sadly, Betty White died on December 31, 2021, less than three weeks from her 100th birthday.

James Corden once joked that she is "older than sliced-bread[[note]]The first automatically sliced commercial loaves were produced on July 6, 1928, in Chillicothe, Missouri, using a machine invented by Otto Rohwedder, an Iowa-born, Missouri-based jeweler.[[/note]] ''and'' Mickey Mouse"[[note]]Mickey Mouse first appeared in ''Steamboat Willie'' on November 18, 1928.[[/note]]. For those of you interested, ''both'' of those facts are ''literally true''.

* [[LastOfHisKind Last of Her Kind]]: The last surviving cast member of ''Series/TheGoldenGirls'' with the death of Creator/RueMcClanahan in 2010, and the last surviving cast member of ''Series/TheMaryTylerMooreShow'' with the death of Creator/EdAsner in 2021. In ''both'' cases, she was the ''oldest'' member of the cast.

White has undergone something of a late-career renaissance since 2009. That year, she had a supporting role in the successful romantic comedy ''Film/TheProposal'' starring Creator/SandraBullock. She appeared in a famous Snickers ad for the 2010 Super Bowl (which also happened to include Abe Vigoda), which inspired an originally semi-ironic Website/{{Facebook}} campaign to get her to host the long-running sketch show ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' during Season 35. The campaign was a big hit, and Lorne Michaels brought her on the show, making White the oldest host in the show's history at age 88 and a half (and beat out the only non-celebrity host — Miskel Spillman, who was 80 at the time, helmed the 1977 Christmas show after winning the "Anyone Can Host" contest in Season 3). She also had numerous high-profile guest appearances, like a recurring professor on ''Series/{{Community}}'', and received the Screen Actors Guild's Life Achievement Award in 2010. She contributed to Creator/TVLand's NetworkDecay by starring in ''Series/HotInCleveland'', although that's hardly a bad thing. In 2012, she began hosting a new prank show on NBC, ''Betty White's Off Their Rockers'', featuring old people pranking youngsters. In August of 2015 [[http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/28/entertainment/betty-white-bones-feat/index.html she announced]] that she would guest-star in an episode of ''Series/{{Bones}}''.

White has undergone something of a late-career renaissance since 2009. In 2009, she had a supporting role in the successful romantic comedy ''Film/TheProposal'' starring Creator/SandraBullock. She appeared in a famous Snickers ad for the 2010 Super Bowl (which also happened to include Abe Vigoda), which inspired an originally semi-ironic Website/{{Facebook}} campaign to get her to host the long-running sketch show ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' during Season 35. The campaign was a big hit, and Lorne Michaels brought her on the show, making White the oldest host in the show's history at age 88 and a half (and beat out the only non-celebrity host — Miskel Spillman, who was 80 at the time, helmed the 1977 Christmas show after winning the "Anyone Can Host" contest in Season 3). She also had numerous high-profile guest appearances, like a recurring professor on ''Series/{{Community}}'', and received the Screen Actors Guild's Life Achievement Award in 2010. She contributed to Creator/TVLand's NetworkDecay by starring in ''Series/HotInCleveland'', although that's hardly a bad thing. In 2012, she began hosting a new prank show on NBC, ''Betty White's Off Their Rockers'', featuring old people pranking youngsters. In August of 2015 [[http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/28/entertainment/betty-white-bones-feat/index.html she announced]] that she would guest-star in an episode of ''Series/{{Bones}}''.

The grand dame of American TV comedy[[note]]The only reason we haven't referred to her as "Queen" is because she's American. If she was British, we'd use that title, rest assured![[/note]], Betty Marion White (born January 17, 1922 in Oak Park, Illinois) has been at work in the entertainment industry since 1939, when she began her career on the radio. She then got in on the ground floor of the newfangled medium of television, with her first Website/IMDb credit for TV dating to 1949. By 1953, she had her first starring role (the sitcom ''Series/LifeWithElizabeth''). First nominated for an Emmy in 1951, she was nominated a further 20 times and so far has won seven times.

Despite her very old age, she still makes appearances on film and television. White is the last surviving cast member of ''both'' of her most famous TV shows, ''Series/TheGoldenGirls'' (since 2010) and ''Series/TheMaryTylerMooreShow'' (since 2021).

Despite her very old age, she still makes appearances on film and television.

James Corden once joked that she is "older than sliced-bread[[note]]The first automatically sliced commercial loaves were produced on July 6, 1928, in Chillicothe, Missouri, using a machine invented by Otto Rohwedder, an Iowa-born, Missouri-based jeweler.[[/note]] ''and'' Mickey Mouse"[[note]]Mickey Mouse first appeared in ''Steamboat Willie'' on November 18, 1928.[[/note]]. For those of you interested, ''both'' of those facts are ''true''.

She has her own clothing line, and t-shirts with her face on them are [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff huge in Tokyo]]. She's also known for being a huge animal rights activist, and regularly works with various charities, such as the American Humane Association. She is also perfect in every way[[note]]''Anyone who says differently is wrong, just so you are aware. Yes, this includes you over there! Yes, '''you'''''.[[/note]] and is also the Queen where American TV is concerned.

Despite being ''incredibly old'', she's still going, folks.

Despite being ''incredibly old'', she's still going, folks.[[note]]She's still not the oldest living actor: Norman Lloyd is going strong at 106 as of 2021![[/note]]

* GameShowHost: Of ''Just Men!'', for which she won her only daytime Emmy despite Creator/{{NBC}} canning it after 13 weeks. Due to the way the Emmy nomination period worked at the time, she was actually nominated for it a second time. Also, she was married to ''Series/{{Password}}'' host Allen Ludden until his death. She's also made appearances on [[Series/TheTonightShow Jimmy Fallon's mini-revival]] of ''Password'', her ''90th Birthday Celebration'' special featured an edition hosted by [[Series/TheSoup Joel [=McHale=]]], and her Lifetime Achievment Award at the 2015 Daytime Emmys was preceded by an edition of ''Password Plus'' hosted by [[Series/TheHollywoodSquares Tom]] [[Series/AmericasFunniestHomeVideos Bergeron]].

The grand dame of American TV comedy[[note]]The only reason we haven't referred to her as "Queen" is because she's American. If she was British, we'd use that title, rest assured![[/note]], Betty Marion White (born January 17, 1922 in Oak Park, Illinois) is currently 99 years old and has been at work in the entertainment industry since 1939, when she began her career on the radio. She then got in on the ground floor of the newfangled medium of television, with her first Website/IMDb credit for TV dating to 1949. By 1953, she had her first starring role (the sitcom ''Series/LifeWithElizabeth''). First nominated for an Emmy in 1951, she was nominated a further 20 times and so far has won seven times.

James Corden once joked that she is "older than sliced-bread[[note]]The first automatically sliced commercial loaves were produced on July 6, 1928, in Chillicothe, Missouri, using a machine invented by Otto Rohwedder, an Iowa-born, Missouri-based jeweler.[[/note]] ''and'' Mickey Mouse"[[note]]Mickey Mouse first appeared in ''Steamboat Willie'' on November 18, 1928.[[/note]]. For those of you interested, ''both'' of those facts are ''true.''

Despite being ''incredibly old'', she's still going, folks.[[note]]She's still not the oldest living actor: Norman Lloyd is going strong at 105 as of 2020![[/note]]

* OlderThanTheyLook: 98 years old, but could still pass for her late 60s.

The grand dame of American TV comedy[[note]]The only reason we haven't referred to her as "Queen" is because she's American. If she was British, we'd use that title, rest assured![[/note]], Betty Marion White (born January 17, 1922 in Oak Park, Illinois) is currently 98 years old and has been at work in the entertainment industry since 1939, when she began her career on the radio. She then got in on the ground floor of the newfangled medium of television, with her first Website/IMDb credit for TV dating to 1949. By 1953, she had her first starring role (the sitcom ''Series/LifeWithElizabeth''). First nominated for an Emmy in 1951, she was nominated a further 20 times and so far has won seven times.

* SesameStreetCred: She starred as Mrs. Claus in a ChristmasSpecial of the creator/PBSKids series ''Series/TheNoddyShop''.