Betty White

If you are reading this, then there is no need to do a bio on Betty White. I am simply going to talk about my history with this incredible individual. All I knew was that my Mom loved her. In the early seventies she would talk about how in love she was with Allen Ludden. And I would see Betty on all of her game show appearances: Password, Tattletales, Match Game. She even hosted one in the late seventies called “The Better Sex.” And Mom also watched her on “The Pet Set.” Betty’s love of animals was encapsulated by this charming syndicated program. But neither Mom nor Dad watched Mary Tyler Moore. It was on Saturday night’s and they went out. Dad would have hated the show anyway. Mary and Grant Tinker were friends with White and Ludden. When they needed to create the character of Sue Ann, they wanted someone like Betty. Sardonic and sweet. Well, they went with the real thing and two Emmys later Betty’s acting career was reborn. After the brilliant finale of MTM, Betty teamed with Georgia Engel in “Betty White Show,” which had her playing an actress starring in a police woman style action show. The director of the series was her ex-husband played by John Hillerman. This led to some acerbic banter that by now was trademarked by White. However, paired with the declining “Maude” it lasted half a season. Years passed and she continued on game shows, variety shows (the Carol Burnett episode with Steve Martin was great) and TV movies. When NBC decided to reboot Mama’s Family, Betty was a regular along with Rue McLanahan. Two years later, Betty and Rue got the parts of Blanche and Rose respectively. Rue was to channel to vacant Vivian from her work with Bea Arthur in “Maude.” Well, the producers got smart and switched the roles leading to two of the most iconic casting decisions in sitcom history. And if things weren’t strange enough….they worked with Maude herself, Bea Arthur. By this time, Mom was watching MTM reruns. She and Dad loved to watched Golden Girls on Saturday Night. That and Murder She Wrote. The night Betty won an Emmy for Best Actress in Comedy…I was enchanted. As I was studying acting at the time I realized that this woman…who I considered a “personality, game show panelist, talk show guest”…was actually one of the finest thespians on the tube. Why? If you watch Rose and watch Sue Ann you completely BELIEVE each character. There is no Betty White “type” anymore. That, my friends, is acting. Think about it. So I shared my Mom’s joy when Betty became a movie star, an icon. I never thought this would happen in the age of youth above all. You see, Betty and my Mom were the same age. And Betty reminded me of Mom…Mom is a cross between Rose and Sue Ann….so as I witnessed Betty’s rise in pop culture, I was also experiencing my Mom’s decline in cognition and health. So in a way, Betty was keeping my Mom alive in spirit. I could still show her a picture of White and Mom would say…”Betty!” When Betty’s one time cameo on “Hot in Cleveland” became a regular role, I was even more excited. Even her character in that series had some of my Mom. Just like my Mom’s sister, Betty passed weeks from turning 100. My Mom is still going strong and I will pull up a Youtube video of Betty and watch my Mom smile. When Betty hosted SNL….which I felt lost golden opportunities for the sake of cheap dirty jokes….she mentioned she was an “LA girl.” That may have been why she feuded with Bea Arthur. Betty didn’t get on well with divas. I wonder if that’s because she was a diva herself. But when one looks at her long history in TV…actually quite historic as a woman…one can wonder why she and Lucille Ball were hardly in the same room. When one looks at her track record Lucy almost seems like an afterthought. Sure, that’s sacriligous to say but Betty’s gumption was pretty damn impressive. She was either extremely humble or just that damn talented. One wonders what would have happened if her acting in the 60’s hadn’t been relegated to a role in Preminger’s “Advise and Consent” and one episode of “Petticoat Junction.” We’ll never know. Betty, thanks for being a friend. From Mom and me both.