Obituary: Betty White

Actress and comedian Betty White has died just a couple of weeks before her 100th birthday.  She remained active until almost the end of her long life.   She was always a joy to watch, whether on her sitcom of the 1950s, whether she was on Password where she met her late husband, host Allen Ludden, whether she was on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, or whether she was on The Golden Girls.  She stole every scene she was in.

At that age, it shouldn't be a surprise at all she died, but it is still a shock all the same.

She was the last regular cast member of the MTM program, which ran on CBS from 1970 to 1977.  She played the man hungry Sue Ann Nivens.  

Four of the cast members--Betty White, Ed Asner, Cloris Leachman, and Gavin MacLeod--all died within the past year.

White was also a devoted animal lover involved with many charities, but she was not an animal "rights" crackpot.

From TMZ:

Betty got her start in radio in the '40s, making appearances on "Blondie," "The Great Gildersleeve," and "This is Your FBI." She eventually got her own radio program. In 1949, she began working on a TV variety show with Al Jarvis called "Hollywood on Television" -- which she later co-hosted -- before breaking out into more TV roles.

Her breakout comedic role came in 1973 when she played Sue Ann Nivens on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" ... which ran until 1977, and then she got her starring role in "The Betty White Show."

With 115 acting credits to her name, Betty had roles in productions like "Life with Elizabeth," "Date with the Angels," "The Love Boat," "Mama's Family," "The Golden Palace," "Ladies Man," "That '70s Show," "Higglytown Heroes," "Boston Legal," "The Bold and the Beautiful," "Pound Puppies," "Hot in Cleveland," and many, many, many other shows and films.

With her 1950s sitcom, narrator Jack Narz would often "break the fourth wall" with White.  It was a pretty good show, titled Life With Elizabeth, with a number of episodes available on DVD.  The kicker is White never changed all that much in her appearance over the years.  I am not alluding to cosmetic surgery, just that she never changed much at all.  Neither did Lillian Gish.  You always knew it was the same person.

She will be missed.

Here is a vintage episode of Password, right after White married Allen Ludden.  He was her third and last husband, and she was his second wife (his first wife died in 1961).  He died in 1981: