Happy Birthday Betty White: Golden Girls Actress Turns 97

BURBANK, CA - APRIL 26: Actress Betty White accepts Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award onstage during The 42nd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards at Warner Bros. Studios on April 26, 2015 in Burbank, California. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for NATAS)

Betty White is 97 years old today!

With a career that spans about 80 years, White has had prominent roles in television shows like “Hot and Cleveland” and “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.”

White was a pioneer in television.

An only child, White was born Betty Marion White Ludden on January 17, 1922, in Oak Park, Illinois,White has the longest television career of any female entertainer.

“I had no idea that I would still be around at this point,” White once admitted.

White’s family moved from Illinois to Los Angeles, during the Great Depression.

From there, she began her career.

She helped produce her 1950s sitcom “Life With Elizabeth”, in a time when there weren’t many women behind the scenes.

During her career, White has received eight Emmy Awards, three American Comedy Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards and a Grammy Award.

She also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, is a Television Hall of Fame inductee (class of 1995) and a Disney Legend (class of 2009).

The world remembers White for her role as Rose in the television series “Golden Girls,” where she co-starred alongside Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan, and Estelle Getty.

The theme song was the bomb dot com!

As impressive as her professional career is, her humanitarian work is equally as impressive.

Per her Wikipedia page, her interest in animal rights and welfare began in the early 1970s while she was both producing and hosting the syndicated series, The Pet Set, which spotlighted celebrities and their pets.

White is an advoacte for animals and has worked with the Los Angeles Zoo Commission and the African Wildlife Foundation. White is also the president emerita of the Morris Animal Foundation, where she has served as a trustee of the organization since 1971.

Staying busy has kept Betty White timeless.
What’s the secret to staying 97 years young? 

Apparently she’s still enjoying life by sticking to her favorite diet.

According to Radar, the veteran actress loves drinking martinis.

Per Radar Online:

White recently told Parade of the diet that helped her remain spry: vodka and hot dogs, “probably in that order.”

“Betty loves her Grey Goose!” the source added, noting the star sometimes appears as if she’s overindulged on the top-shelf vodka. “They’ve had to help her walk out because she’s had a little too much enjoyment.” 

White has not been spotted since was the 2018 Emmys in September, but Radar reports that she was spotted running errands yesterday before her big day today.

Happy Birthday Betty White!

 

 

 

 

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