The Indomitable Betty White | Biography | Well, I Never - Stars

one of the most popular products in the 1950s and 1960s was the television between 1949 and 1969 the number of households in the u.s with at least one television set ballooned from less than 1 million to over 44 million by 1970 96 percent of homes across the country had at least one tv the television industry was like most everything else entirely dominated by men men produced directed and cast they took on award-winning roles they made the decisions and called the shots females were sidelined cast for their looks and rarely seen as capable of acting in a comedy little did the men in television studios know that one woman was about to do all she could to shake the system up the woman was of course none other than the incomparable betty white [Music] betty marion white was born on january 17 1922 in oak park illinois betty was the only child of christine tess and horus logan white when white was just over a year old the family relocated to alhambra california and then again to los angeles the great depression did not leave the white family unscathed and betty's father worked to make extra money by building and selling crystal radios since few people had cash horace white was known to trade his radios for other goods including dogs white attended horace mann elementary school in beverly hills before graduating from beverly hills high school in 1939 her family took frequent trips to the sierra nevada throughout her childhood sparking in betty a lifelong fascination with wildlife white initially dreamed of being a park ranger but had to reassess after learning that women were not allowed instead white pursued a secondary interest in writing crafting the script for a lead part in a graduation play which led to discovering an affinity for performing following her graduation white set out to find a place for herself in the world of acting and within months had made her first television appearance singing part of the merry widow with a classmate she also tried modelling and had just taken a job at the bliss hayden little theater when the u.s entered world war ii delaying her dreams to help her country white volunteered for the american women's voluntary services driving a px truck with military supplies to the bivwax in the hollywood hills and dancing with troops before they were shipped overseas it was here that she met her first husband dick barker of the us army air forces after the war the pair married and moved to ohio where barca owned a chicken farm unimpressed with the simple life betty pushed for a move back to la and they divorced within a year white got right back on the hollywood beat making the rounds to movie studios searching for roles she met and married hollywood agent lane allen but the couple divorced soon after disagreeing on betty's desire to pursue a career instead of having children she was turned down repeatedly for not being photogenic and shifted her sights to radio where her appearance wouldn't matter she landed a few jobs reading commercials doing bit parts and making crowd noises her willingness to do just about anything for little or no pay landed the actress her own radio show in 1949 the betty white show 49 proved a prosperous year for betty as she also began appearing as co-host with al jarvis on his live daily tv show hollywood on television after jarvis left the 1952 film star eddie albert took over hosting alongside white but he found it hard going and left six months later leaving betty to helm the show by herself it's believed this made her the first solo female talk show host it wasn't an easy gig five and a half hours of live ad-lib entertainment each week she would later say of her experience with hollywood on television it was like going to television college you don't get that kind of experience today television college earned her an emmy award for best actress on television in 1951 as if performing six days a week on live tv wasn't enough white also co-founded bandy productions in 1952 alongside george tibbles and don ferdison together they created new shows expanding on sketches and characters from hollywood on television white herself starred as the title character and her company's production of the comedy life with elizabeth which earned her an la emmy award the show was nationally syndicated making white one of the first female producers in hollywood in 1952 until 1954 white also hosted and produced her own daily show the betty white show on nbc she enjoyed creative control over the series and hired a female to direct white's show featured a black performer the extraordinary tap dancer arthur duncan for the first time in american variety television the move was not without criticism in jim crow era america and local stations threatened to boycott the show unless she removed duncan white's response was calm i'm sorry live with it she then proceeded to give duncan even more air time the betty white show ultimately became the victim of repeatedly changing time slot and was eventually cancelled following the end of life with elizabeth in 1955 white appeared in a series of sitcoms including date with the angels filmed on the same lottos i love lucy white and lucille ball quickly struck up a friendship and found a kinship in taking on creative control in the male dominated world of television the pair would continue to rely on each other throughout their careers and personal lives the 1960s brought white a long string of game show and talk show appearances jack pars the tonight show password what's my line to tell the truth i've got a secret match game pyramid the tonight show with johnny carson her humor and charm made her a favorite of audiences she married alan ludden host of password in 1963. she turned down another proposal though nbc had offered white an anchor job on their breakfast television show today white had no desire to leave california for blustery new york though and the job went to barbara walters instead white did accept what would become a 19-year run as hostess and commentator on the annual tournament of rose's parade broadcast on nbc in the early 1970s white produced and hosted the pet set highlighting celebrities and their pets she also took on membership of the board of directors of the morris animal foundation a position she would retain for most of her life in 1973 white was cast on the mary tyler moore show as the man hungry sue and nevins they're all gained white her second and third emmy awards and she would remember that as a highlight of her career despite hating the icky sweet femininity of her character the job also cost her the gig as parade host with nbc noting that she was now too closely identified with cbs white told people it was difficult watching someone else do my parade but she got the last laugh when she started a 10-year run as the hostess of macy's thanksgiving day parade betty's third and final husband alan ludden died from stomach cancer on june 9 1981 white firmly decided she was done with the marriage business telling larry king once you've had the best who needs the rest when asked by james lipton what she would like god to say to her when she arrived in heaven white answered come on in betty here's alan following the end of the mary tyler moore show white undertook a brief revival of the betty white show appeared on the carol burnett show and began guest starring in several mate for tv movies and mini series 1983 brought white a historical emmy win the first woman to win a daytime emmy award in the category of outstanding game show host for her work on nbc's just men after a brief stint on mama's family white landed what would be the best remembered role of her career sweet naive rosen island on nbc's the golden girls producers originally wanted white for the role of the sectionally ravenous blanche with rue mcclanahan as rose but the director of the pilot episode asked them to try switching roles the rest is history with white going on to be the only one of the series lead actresses to be nominated for an emmy all seven years that the golden girls aired white had a notoriously difficult relationship with her co-star b arthur on and off set but the actresses both went on to say their experience on the show was a positive one and that they had great respect for each other and their achievements made as an ensemble cast when b arthur passed away in 2009 white said i knew it would hurt i just didn't know it would hurt this much the golden girls ended in 1992 after arthur announced her decision to leave white mcclanahan and estelle getty reprised their roles in the golden palace spin-off but the series only lasted one season afterward white guest starred on several series such as suddenly susan the practice and yes dear all of which won her emmy nods in 2005 she began a recurring role in boston legal and in 2006 she joined the cast of the soap opera the bold and the beautiful white was introduced to a new generation when she starred opposite ryan reynolds and sandra bullock in the romantic comedy the proposal winning heart as a free-spirited grandmother they're all inspired a snickers art campaign starring white which won the top spot on the super bowl ad meter in 2010. the grassroots facebook campaign made betty white the oldest person to host saturday night live in 2010. the gig earned her yet another emmy the same year white took on the role of house caretaker elka ostrowski in tv lands hot in cleveland which ran for six seasons white also hosted and produced betty white off their rockers from 2012 to 2014 a hidden camera prank show where senior citizens played practical jokes on younger generations ever the animal lover white used her resurgence in fame to launch a clothing line with all proceeds going to various animal charities she nabbed the grammy in 2012 for best spoken word recording for if you ask me won the ucla jack benny award for comedy and was roasted by the new york friars club the television special betty white's 90th birthday party aired on nbc in 2012 and was so beloved they followed up with a 91st celebration in 2013. in december 2021 it was announced that a new documentary-style movie about her titled betty white a celebration would be released on her 100th birthday january 17 2022 the film features a cast of white's friends and colleagues including ryan reynolds tina fey lynn manuel miranda morgan freeman and carol burnett sadly betty white didn't live to see the premiere of the documentary or her 100th birthday passing away from natural causes in her sleep at her home in los angeles on december 31st 2020 white's death was met with an outpouring of sympathy and memories from around the world u.s president joe biden released a statement calling white a cultural icon who will be sorely missed over her almost 100 years on earth betty white won seven emmy awards and is the only woman to have received an emmy and performing comedic categories she was inducted into the television hall of fame has a star on the hollywood walk of fame and was presented with the screen actors guild life achievement award she was even made an honorary forest ranger by smokey bear himself in 2010 fulfilling her childhood dream as evidenced by polls she was regarded as one of the most popular and trusted celebrities among americans she served as zoo commissioner of the greater los angeles zoo association for eight years she raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for animal welfare charities and zoos she spoke out against racial injustice and lgbtqia plus rights she blazed a trail for the women who would follow her into television and she did it all with grace and kindness white's assistant who was with her when she passed told carol burnett that betty's last word was alan perhaps she was walking through the pearly gate to meet him once again thank you for watching with much more to come so take care and i'll see you next time with another story to make you say well i never [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Well, I Never | Stars

Views: 10,598

Keywords: well i never, well i never stars, Paul brodie, betty white, the life of betty white, betty white biography, biography, documentary, the life and times of betty white, betty white a celebration, the history of betty white

Id: bAc306693UY

Length: 16min 40sec (1000 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 10 2022