Inside Betty White’s career in TV and movies – see how Golden Girls star took over Hollywood as an actress and producer
Betty White has sadly passed away just weeks before she was able to celebrate her 100th birthday.
Considered to be one of Hollywood’s most beloved icons, she had many years in the business as she started her career back in the thirties on the radio.
Here’s a look at the Golden Girls star through the years, as she’s fondly remembered.
1949
At the age of 27, Betty scored her first TV role as Girl Friday at KLAC, a local Los Angeles station.
She caught the attention of DJ Al Jarvis, who was launching Hollywood on Television and needed an assistant.
She became indispensable after that but was only paid $50.
“I had no way of knowing that my lifelong love affair with television had just begun,” she wrote in her 1995 memoir, Here We Go Again: My Life in Television.
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1951
Just a few years later, Betty took over as Jarvis’ co-host on Hollywood On Television.
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But when he left that same year, she took over and the show was turned into the sitcom Life With Elizabeth, which she starred in and produced.
That’s when she got nominated for her first Primetime Emmy Award.
At the time, it was rare for a woman to be a producer, but she went above and beyond and co-founded her own company, Bandy Productions.
She was considered one of the first female producers in Hollywood.
1961
By 1961, Betty met her third husband, TV personality, Allen Ludden.
She also racked up her credits on television as she appeared in numerous programs and game shows.
1963
Betty tied the knot with Allen two years after meeting.
The actress was previously married to US Army pilot Dick Barker for one year in 1945.
In 1947, she married Hollywood agent Lane Allen and they were together for just two years.
“I had 18 wonderful years with Allen Ludden,” she said in an interview with Piers Morgan in 2012. “The first two were… rehearsals.”
1970
By 1970, Betty became a regular on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. She played Sue Ann Nivens, a role she calls one of her proudest.
“I think it’s a toss-up between Sue Ann and Rose,” she told Cleveland Magazine in 2010, talking about her character in Golden Girls.
“It’s such a privilege when you get that kind of writing.”
1976
Betty’s success came to a peak when she won her very first Primetime Emmy Award for her role on The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
Betty and Mary became very close and remained friends until the latter passed away in 2017.
1981
In 1981, Betty lost the love of her life when her husband passed away after a battle with stomach cancer.
Despite the two never having any kids, Betty was a stepmother to his three kids.
She never remarried, telling the New York Daily News, “Once you’ve had the best, who needs the rest?”
1985
Betty found fame with a new generation in 1985 when Golden Girls debuted.
She played the iconic Rose Nylund alongside Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan, and Estelle Getty.
The series became an instant success and revolved around four women, who were retired and living together in Miami.
“I think we were just trying to tell it like it is,” Betty once said of the show.
“I think older women still have a full life. Maybe the writers don’t address it these days, but it doesn’t change the fact.”
She won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series in 1986 and went on to be nominated every year until 1992.
1994
By 1992, Golden Girls ended when Bea – who played Dorothy – wanted to leave the show.
The rest of the cast was given a spin-off series called The Golden Palace, but it wasn’t as successful and ended after one season.
2000
After the end of the Golden Girls, Betty continued to rack up her TV credits.
She starred in a series of TV shows, such as Suddenly Susan, The Practice, and Everwood.
She also had a guest-starring role in Ally McBeal, for which she won an American Comedy Award for Funniest Female Guest Appearance in a TV series.
She then had a recurring role on The Bold and the Beautiful as Ann Douglas, the mother of the show’s matriarch Stephanie Forrester. She made 22 appearances on the soap opera between 2006 to 2009.
2008
Betty reunited with Bea and Rue for the TV Land Awards in 2008 to accept the Pop Culture Award.
Two years after the reunion, Rue – who played Blanche – passed away from a reported stroke.
“Rue was a close and dear friend. I treasure our relationship,” Betty said in a statement at the time.
“It hurts more than I ever thought it would if that’s even possible.”
She went on to appear in movies such as The Proposal, alongside Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock.
2010
By 2010, people recognized Betty as an icon.
She was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Screen Actors Guild Awards.
“I should be presenting an award to you for the privilege of working in this wonderful business all this time. And you still can’t get rid of me!” she said in her acceptance speech.
“I was only 88 last Sunday, so I’ve got lots more stuff to do.”
She then appeared in a Snickers commercial during the Super Bowl and later became the oldest ever star to guest-host Saturday Night Live.
She won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for the SNL appearance.
She also starred in the sitcom Hot in Cleveland.
2012
Betty made history by celebrating her 90th birthday with a huge bash.
There was also a taped TV special called Betty White’s 90th Birthday: A Tribute to America’s Golden Girl, which was attended by Mary Tyler Moore, Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, Ellen DeGeneres, and Hugh Jackman.
2021
In the last few years, Betty has kept a low profile as she enjoyed her life.
Unfortunately, on December 31, 2021, Betty passed away in her home.
Her agent and friend Jeff Witjas said in a statement to PEOPLE: “Even though Betty was about to be 100, I thought she would live forever.
“I will miss her terribly and so will the animal world that she loved so much. I don’t think Betty ever feared passing because she always wanted to be with her most beloved husband Allen Ludden. She believed she would be with him again.”
She passed just a few weeks shy of her 100th birthday, which she was going to celebrate with a one-day-only theatrical and star-studded event.
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