Amy Love

Opinions Editor

aml7458@psu.edu

Just three weeks shy of her 100th birthday, beloved actress Betty White passed away on December 31, 2021. White had a long career in show business, which all started in 1949.

White was born on January 17, 1922. While growing up, she had dreams of being a forest ranger or a writer. Dreams can change, and they did for her when she fell in love with performing. She received the lead in her high school senior play that she herself wrote. 

Before she started her career as a performer, she served in American Women’s Voluntary Service in 1941. According to Amo Mamma, White met her first husband, Dick Berker, while serving. The marriage did not last long, White was married again in 1947 to Lane Allen. Her second marriage lasted two years, but divorce was filed when Allen wanted her to give up a career in show business. 

White did remarry again to the love of her life in 1963 and this was to Allen Ludden, a game show host for “Password.” She met him while being a celebrity guest on the show. 

Her career started much earlier than 1963. Her work began with a radio show, where eventually landed her own called “The Betty White Show.” 

After performing on the radio, White was co-hosting with Al Jarvis on the show “Hollywood on Television.” She co-hosted with him until he left, leaving her to host the show herself in 1952. While on this show, she was nominated for her very first Emmy as best actress. While still hosting, White created the sitcom “Life With Elizabeth,” where she was the star of the show. She earned her first Emmy for her role in this TV comedy.

She was considered to be a pioneering woman in television since she was co-founding a production company and was a co-creator on the show, a role only a few women were able to do at this time. 

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, White was seen on television on the regular, whether it be from hosting coverage or appearing on game shows. “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” brought her success to a new level, which allowed her to earn her second and third Emmy. 

Starting in 1985, White was casted to play Rose Nylund on hit show “The Golden Girls.” The show ran into 1992, and she won an Emmy for it in 1986. She was nominated six other times.

She continued to appear as cameos in various movies, had talk-show appearances. In fact, she won an Emmy for her guest appearance on “The John Larroquette Show.” After a fan-started campaign, White was included in sketches for “Saturday Night Live” and won another Emmy. 

White was known as the “First Lady of Television” and had one of longest careers for a female television entertainer , according to her Guiness World Record for it. 

As stated from a former co-star Ryan Reynolds in a tweet: “She was great at defying expectation. She managed to grow very old and somehow, not old enough. We’ll miss you.”