“Forgotten Hollywood”- Thank You For Being a Friend…
December 31st, 2021“`Betty White was a pioneer of early television, with a career spanning eight decades. She was among the first women to exert control in front and behind the camera and the first woman to produce a sitcom, which she did in 1955s Life with Elizabeth. She is best known for her trio of performances on television; Sue Ann Nivens in The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Rose Nylund in The Golden Girls, and Elka Ostrovsky in Hot in Cleveland. She memorably tackled substantive issues, such as the HIV crises, on episodes of The Golden Girls. BETTY WHITE —>
“`Inspired by her idols Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy, she decided to pursue a career as an actress. White started her entertainment career in radio in the late 1930s and by 1939 had made her small screen debut crooning on an experimental channel in Los Angeles. After serving with the American Women’s Voluntary Service, which helped the Allied effort during World War II, she was a regular on Hollywood on Television, a daily five-hour live variety show, in 1949.
BETTY WHITE
“`White became a celebrity panelist on several game shows, including Match Game, To Tell the Truth, Tattletales, The Hollywood Squares and The $25,000 Pyramid. She married Password host Allen Ludden in 1963. For almost two decades, she co-hosted coverage of the Tournament of Roses Parade. NBC offered White a chance to co-anchor for the Today show. She turned it down and the work eventually went to Barbara Walters. White spent ten-years as the hostess of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade for CBS.
“`After wonderful success on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, White guest-starred on The Bold and the Beautiful, Boston Legal, The Carol Burnett Show and Saturday Night Live. A recurring role on Mama’s Family followed, along with future Golden Girls co-star Rue McClanahan. White reprised her Rose Nylund character in guest roles on the NBC shows, Empty Nest and Nurses, both set in Miami. On an episode of The John Larroquette Show, she was reunited with Estelle Getty and McClanahan (right with Bea Arthur). She also had recurring roles in The Bold and the Beautiful and Boston Legal.
“`Over the years, she claimed Lucille Ball, Liberace, Mary Tyler Moore, Grant Tinker and John Steinbeck as personal friends. However, the four-legged furry types were her favorite. White was a pet enthusiast and animal welfare advocate, who worked with organizations, including the Los Angeles Zoo Commission, The Morris Animal Foundation, African Wildlife Foundation, and Actors and Others for Animals. Her interest in animal welfare began in the early 1970s.
“`White worked longer in television than anyone else, earning her a Guinness World Record in 2018. She received eight Emmy Awards, three American Comedy Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards,and a Grammy Award. She earned a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame and was a 1985 Television Hall of Fame inductee. The Associated Press selected her Entertainer of the Year in 2010. A 2011 Reuters/Ipsos poll named her as the most popular and trusted celebrity in America with an 86% favorability rating.
“`Before White’s passing, it was announced that her milestone birthday would be celebrated on January 17, 2022 at American theatres with a screening of a new documentary-style movie celebrating White’s life and career titled… Betty White: 100 Years Young – A Birthday Celebration. People magazine features her as the cover story in the January 2022 newsstand publication to celebrate the anticipated milestone and it was released days before her death.
“`The eubillient Betty White was seventeen days shy of her 100th birthday. The password is GOLDEN. Let us draw the curtain on 2021…
Until next time> “never forget”
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