Betty White

Betty White

Betty Marion White (January 17, 1922 – December 31, 2021) was an American actress and comedian. A pioneer of early television with a career spanning almost seven decades, she was noted for her vast body of work in entertainment and for being one of the first women to work both in front of and behind the camera. She produced and starred in the sitcom Life with Elizabeth (1953–1955), making her the first woman to produce a sitcom.After moving from radio to television, White became a staple panelist of American game shows such as Password, Match Game, Tattletales, To Tell the Truth, The Hollywood Squares, and The $25,000 Pyramid. Dubbed "the first lady of game shows", she became the first woman to receive the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host for the show Just Men! in 1983. She then became more widely known for her appearances on The Bold and the Beautiful, Boston Legal, and The Carol Burnett Show. White's biggest roles include Sue Ann Nivens on the CBS sitcom The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1973–1977), Rose Nylund on the NBC sitcom The Golden Girls (1985–1992), and Elka Ostrovsky on the TV Land sitcom Hot in Cleveland (2010–2015). She had a late career resurgence when she starred in the romantic comedy film The Proposal (2009) and hosted Saturday Night Live the following year, garnering her a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series. The 2018 documentary Betty White: First Lady of Television detailed her life and career.For her lengthy work in radio, television, and film, White twice earned the Guinness World Record for the longest TV career by a female entertainer in both 2014 and 2018. She received various awards and nominations, including five Primetime Emmy Awards, two Daytime Emmy Awards, and a Regional Emmy Award, as well as three American Comedy Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and a Grammy Award. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and was a 1995 Television Hall of Fame inductee.

Update this biography »
Complete biography of Betty White »