Betty White died today.
The eight-time Emmy winner held the record for the longest TV career of ANY entertainer — making her debut in 1939 when the medium was just an experiment and going on to appear as an actress, host and in-demand guest well into her 90s.
She’ll be best remembered for her scene-stealing roles in two pioneering sitcoms — as the promiscuous cooking show host Sue Ann Nivens on the The Mary Tyler Moore Show in the 1970s and sweet-natured simpleton Rose Nylund on The Golden Girls in the 80s.
Several more short-lived sitcoms followed in the late 90s, but as White travelled through her 70s and 80s, she carved out a prolific career guest starring on everything from Noddy to 30 Rock.
But she also made the best the greatest role of her twilight years: being Betty White.
In this week’s cover story, White told PEOPLE,
“I’m so lucky to be in such good health and feel so good at this age. It’s amazing.”
Later in life, White again became a sought-after personality on talk and game shows. Thezenithe of this period came in 2010, when White’s fans began a Facebook campaign called
“Betty White to Host SNL (Please)“
With almost half-a-million people signing on, she became the oldest person to ever host the show at 88 and won her seventh Emmy for the performance.
She followed that up with six seasons on TV Land sitcom Hot in Cleveland, and hardly slowed down as she hit her 90s — hosting prank show Betty White’s Off Their Rockers and Betty White’s Smartest Animals in America, where she was able to tap into her lifelong love of animals.
White told the NY Post at age 96.
“I’m just grateful to be working and that starts at the beginning.
When you start out you’re so grateful to have a job … and you carry that feeling through your whole career. At least I have.”
Betty White was 99 and would have turned 100 on Jan. 17, 2022.
Betty White has died at age 99. https://t.co/vbkrBwyj9U
— TMZ (@TMZ) December 31, 2021
Excuse me while I honor my fellow Capricorn queen and watch #GoldenGirls and every other amazing show Betty White blessed her presence with. pic.twitter.com/6pQMO75rqN
— Chasity Cooper🍷🥂 (@chasityscooper) December 31, 2021
