Betty White, a beloved actress of America, died the morning of Dec. 31. She was mainly known for her role in “Golden Girls,” an American sitcom she starred in, in 1949 (Picture/Wikimedia Commons).
The adored ‘Golden Girls’ actress and comedian Betty White died December 31, 2021. She just missed her 100th birthday, Jan. 13. The American icon died at the age of 99, having fulfilled a life filled with lots of acting and lots of love.
Early life
Betty White was born on January 17, 1922, in Oak Park, Illinois. She did not have any siblings and moved to Los Angeles due to her parents’ work during the Great Depression. White had initially wished to become a writer or a forest ranger but decided to pursue acting after starring in a high school senior play that she wrote. Due to her interest in acting, she chose not to go to college and perform on the radio instead.
Love Life
Before the start of her acting career, Betty White had two marriages. One with Dick Barker, whom she divorced, and another with Lane Allen, whom she said to be the ‘love of her life’. Unfortunately, Allen died of stomach cancer in 1987. PEOPLE reports that even though White seemed okay on the outside, she struggled to accept her husband’s death. “If one more person said, ‘Oh, you’re so strong,’ I would have decked them,” she said.
Actress Vicki Lawrence even revealed that White’s last words before dying were “Allen.”
Her career
White’s media career began during the 1940s. After performing on the radio, White got her show called The Betty White Show. She became the host of it with Al Jarvis but led the display by herself after Jarvis left. After she was nominated for an Emmy Award as best actress on television, White decided to pursue TV roles.
In 1973, at the beginning of her acting career, she played Sue Ann Nivens on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and then had a starring role in “The Betty White Show.”
TMZ reports that White had 115 acting credits, a few of the most memorable ones being her roles in productions such as “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 much more.
After White’s death, there were rumors about whether or not COVID-19 had anything to do with the cause of her death. In response, White’s agent denied them and reported that White died of natural causes.
Her death still does not seem real to many people, including her loved ones. “Even though Betty was about to be 100, I thought she would live forever,” said Jeff Witjas, the agent and close friend of White, in an article with PEOPLE.
White’s death affects her fans as much as it does her close ones. In the memory of her, fans stop by near the gate of her house and leave belongings such as flowers to pay their respects to her. Her Walk of Fame has attracted a significant number of people, who leave candles, flowers, stuffed animals and more before saying their last goodbye.
