by Nathaniel R
One of the most beloved actors, no... make that one of the most beloved people, period, has died. We must unfortunately say goodbye to the Emmy-winning legend Betty White. The longest lived of The Golden Girls was just three weeks shy of her Centennial when she passed away.
Betty White was more than just The Golden Girls though that sitcom rightfully leads any discussion of her career. That's what happens when you spend eight years of your life perfecting the same character, the dim but utterly loveable/hilarious Rose Nylund, and the show housing her morphs from risky bet (a sitcom about sexually active lively old ladies in youth-obsessed prudish America?) to surprise smash (the Golden Girls spent six of its seven seasons among the 10 most-watched programs on air) to immortal favourite within your life time. People talk about The Golden Girls so often nearly 30 years after it went off the air that it truly feels as if it never did. It did. But, in a very real way Betty White did not...
In fact, according to the Guiness Book of World Records, Betty White had the longest female entertainer career ever, across radio (beginning at age 17), stage, film, and tv where she spent the bulk of that storied career.
Her first television appearance came in 1949 when she was 27 years old. She bounced between guest roles, supporting characters, and leading funnywoman jobs for the rest of her career. She led two sitcoms in the 1950s Life with Elizabeth (1952-1955) and Date with the Angels (1957-1958) and also hosted a syndicated short-lived talk/variety show The Betty White Show (1954) which is most famous today (given its very short run) because Betty refused to back down when Southern stations threatened to boycott the show since she had hired a black performer, Arthur Duncan as a recurring guest.
Betty White in 1952, her first brush with stardom.
Betty in her film debut as a Senator in Advise and Consent (1962)
as Sue Ann Nivens on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show"
As Rose Nylund on "The Golden Girls"
As Elka Ostrovsky on "Hot in Cleveland"
After her first decade of success she spent the next decade mostly as a guest on game shows and talk shows aside from a few one off acting gigs including a rare feature film Otto Preminger's Advise and Consent (1962).
Her career got much bigger star in middle age when she returned to the limelight in her 50s playing the lusty Sue Ann Nivens on the classic sitcom The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1973-1977). She won two Emmys and became a national treasure. Afterwards she had enough clout to lead a solo sitcom again The Betty White Show (1977-1978) though it lasted just one season. Several TV movies and recurring guest roles (The Love Boat, Mama's Family) killed the time waiting for her next Emmy-winning classic role, Rose Nylund, which arrived via The Golden Girls (1985-1992) and its spinoffs Empty Nest (1989-1992) and The Golden Palace (1992-1993).
You Again (2010) was her final feature film appearance though she did voice work for movies afterwards
After The Golden Girls, her final TV regular gig was on the sitcom Hot in Cleveland (2010-2015). She would also win two more Emmys merely by playing herself on both The John Laroquette Show and Saturday Night Live. The latter was particularly noteworthy as she was the oldest all time Host of SNL, doing the show at 88.
She will be greatly missed but she leaves a rich legacy of entertainment behind including the twin brilliant sitcom pillars of The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Golden Girls. And if you ever find they're not enough, she even left us a memoir 10 years ago "If You Ask Me (And Of Course You Won't)" filled with quips to remember her by. Always ready for a salty gag, a laugh at her own character's expense, or a silly physical bit, she probably wouldn't want people to cry on this inevitable day but to celebrate given that she left us on a holiday. She spent 80 professional years working to deliver the gift of laughter. And what a gift.