17/07/2021
Why Mama Rose?
Honorary mention đ
The only child of father Horace, an electrical engineer lighting company exec, and mother Tess, she was born on January 17, 1922 in Oak Park, Illinois, moving with her family to California when she was still barely walking.
She would grow up to become a singer, dancer, talk-show host, actress, become known as First Lady of Game Shows, author several books, work to protect animals, steal our hearts as Rose Nyland, and generally be considered one of the most beloved human beings on the planet and I will fight you if you say otherwise.
In today's installment of Brief Biographies of Badass Bi***es:
Meet Betty White.
Betty Marion Whiteâs parents moved her from Alhambra, California to Los Angeles during the Great Depression. With everyone struggling to make anything resembling a steady income, her father would build radios and sell them wherever he could, sometimes trading them for other goods, including the occasional household dog. Her parents were both huge animal lovers, so this wasnât the worst thing.
White loved the several Pekingese her family had as pets, especially her favorite, Bandit. She also felt the most at home in the outdoors. Her family would take her on vacations up into the mountains of Sierra Nevada, and White has said that when she was little, she wanted to just move up there and live forever.
She attended Horace Mann Middle school before attending and graduating from Beverly Hills High School in 1939.
She had considered becoming a park ranger, but because the level of s**ttiness that we enjoyed from the patriarchy was even higher then, she was informed that women werenât allowed to be park rangers because, s**t, I donât know, apparently we might be too sexy for the raccoons, or our menstrual flows would attract bears or some damn thing.
So she focused her attention on another activity she loved, which was writing. She had written and starred in a graduation play for Horace Mann, and already knew she loved to perform from appearing in a couple episodes of a locally produced radio show called âEmpire Builders.â In one show, she plays a âcrippled orphanâ and in the other she plays an abandoned baby, both roles have her charming an adult into adopting her.
Upon the completion of high school, White made the decision to pursue a career as an actress. Inspired by actors like popular screen couple, Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald, she started exploring different aspects of show business, pretty much down for anything that involved being a performer.
White found work as a model for a bit, and also landed her first paid acting job with the Bliss Hayden Little Theatre. But when World War II began later in 1939, she put her acting goals on hold and signed up with the American Womenâs Voluntary Services, getting assigned to transport military supplies to the temporary army camps outside of Hollywood.
But it turns out that didnât stop her from being the entertainer she was born to be. After her shift, White would perform songs and dances for the troops before being transferred to another station or deployed overseas.
After wartime, White married a dude she had met while volunteering. She moved to Ohio where her new husband owned a chicken farm. She realized that she had made the wrong call and noped out in less than a year, heading back to LA to reengage with her career as an entertainer.
White started seeking acting jobs again. But she was constantly turned down after being told that she wasnât âphotogenic" enough (how dare theyâŚ).
So, after getting the news that she basically âhad a face for radio,â she went that route, making about five bucks a spot playing bit parts, reading radio advertisements, and creating âcrowd noises.â
She knew if she kept putting herself out there, she would eventually get to the next level, so she sang on shows for no pay and appeared on radio game shows. She started getting spots on bigger shows, and she was such a hit that she was finally given her own show: The Betty White Show.
In 1947, she met and married her second future ex-husband, a Hollywood talent agent. She noped the f**k out of wrong marriage #2 within two years after he pressured White to give up her career to become a f**king housewife because apparently he didnât know who she was.
After meeting the newly-free-again-from-patriarchal-f**kery White, radio disc jockey Dick Haynes was taken by Whiteâs wit and didnât seem to think she wasnât pretty enough to be on TV. He asked her if sheâd work on a television special with him, to which she said hell yeah.
In 1949, White began appearing on his live television variety show âHollywood on Television.â People loved her, and in 1951, White was nominated for her first Emmy Award as "Best Actress" on television, the new Emmy category designated for women.
Jarvis bailed from the show in 1952, and White began hosting the show herself, adlibbing, occasionally singing, and generally being THE entertainment for a show that ran six days a week over the next four years.
That same year, White co-founded Bandy Productions with writer George Tibbles and producer Don Fedderson. They created the television comedy âLife with Elizabeth,â starring White as the title character. The show was originally a live production on KCOP-TV in 1951 and won White a Los Angeles Emmy Award.
White became one of the few women with full creative control of a television show both in front of the camera and behind the scenes. The show was syndicated from 1952 to 1955, allowing White to become one of the few women in television with full creative control in front of and behind the camera.
In 1954, while still running her sitcom, White produced her own daily variety and show, âThe Betty White Show.â Having full creative control over the production, she was able to hire a female director.
White got to deal with blowback from racist dips**ts when she added Black performer, Arthur Duncan, as a regular cast member. The crying from bigots increased as the show was expanded nationally by NBC because people are f**king ridiculous.
Whiteâs reaction: "I'm sorry. Live with it." She turned around and gave Duncan more airtime because f**k you if you donât like it.
While initially enjoying success, the show repeatedly changed time slots and viewership went down. By the end of the year, NBC cancelled the show altogether.
When âLife with Elizabethâ had run its course, she co-starred in a sitcom, âDate with the Angelsâ from 1957 to 1958. With White playing the role of Vicki Angel, the show was SUPPOSED to focus on Vicki's daydreaming tendencies. But their sponsor wasnât down with the fantasy elements, and pressured to have them eliminated, which totally pi**ed off White.
"I can honestly say that was the only time I have ever wanted to get out of a show," White would recall.
And the show ended up being a flop. ABC wouldn't allow White out of her contractual agreement, so over the remaining thirteen weeks in their deal, she rebooted her old talk/variety show, âThe Betty White Show,â â officially the third incarnation of a show with that name now - which aired until her contract was fulfilled.
It was around this time that she and comedy legend Lucille Ball struck up a friendship over their accomplishments in taking on the male dominated television business of the '50s. They would remain close friends and confidantes until Ballâs death in 1989.
Starting in the 1950s, she began her 19-year reign as hostess and commentator on the annual Rose Parade, and throughout the 1960s, she could be regularly found on gameshows such as âWhat's My Line?â, âTo Tell the Truth,â and âPassword.â She had one very well-received feature film debut in the 1962 drama, âAdvise & Consent.â She also became a staple on a number of late-night talk shows.
White was offered a job as an anchor on NBCâs new show, âThe Today Show,â but she didnât want to move to New York, so Barbara Walters got the job instead.
On June 14, 1963, White married television host Allen Ludden, whom she had met when she was a celebrity guest on âPassword.â Over the years, they would appear together on gameshows, playing off each other spectacularly.
After his death from cancer in 1981, White would be asked now and again if she would ever remarry.
In an interview with Larry King, when asked this question, White replied by saying "Once you've had the best, who needs the rest?â
White became actively involved in animal welfare in the early 1970s as she both produced and hosted the syndicated series, âThe Pet Set,â which spotlighted celebrities and their pets. She began using her platform to advocate for animals, working with organizations including but not limited to the Los Angeles Zoo Commission, The Morris Animal Foundation, African Wildlife Foundation, and Actors & Others for Animals.
White, a regular contributor of her own funds, has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to various animal charities that we know about, but probably even more that we donât.
1973 saw White on âThe Mary Tyler Moore Show,â as the sweet but man-obsessed Sue Ann Nivens, which garnered White her second and third Emmy Awards. The script for that character, which was only supposed to be a one episode run, described Sue Ann Nivens as âan icky sweet Betty White type,â but hadnât actually intended to cast White herself. And because Nivens, aside from her âon air personality,â was so polar opposite of White on so many levels, people absolutely went bonkers for her in that role.
White considering playing Sue Ann, who had a 45 episode run, a highlight of her career but has described Nivens as the very definition of feminine passivity.
And due to her huge success on âMary Tyler Moore,â White was replaced as commentator hostess of the Tournament of Roses Parade as NBC felt that she identified too heavily with their rival network CBS' now. White said that it was difficult "watching someone else do my parade,â but that blow was softened after she began her ten-year run as hostess of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade for CBS.
In 1977, White was offered her own sitcom on CBS, âThe Betty White Show,â which would be her fourth self-titled show now. Sadly, it was canceled the following year.
White appeared on âThe Tonight Show with Johnny Carson,â in TV movies and mini-series, as well as appearing several times on âThe Carol Burnett Show,â and as a recurring character on the sitcom âMamaâs Family.â
And in 1985, White scored her second signature role and the biggest hit of her career as sweet St. Olaf native, Rose Nylund, on âThe Golden Girls,â a show centering around the lives of four widowed or divorced women who shared a home in Miami and also starred Bea Arthur, Estelle Getty, and Rue McClanahan.
White was supposed to play Blanche, and Rue McClanahan was initially offered the role of Rose.
But the director of the pilot suggested that since they had played similar roles in the past, they should switch roles (Thank you, directorâŚI canât even imagine what the reverse would have looked like.)
When White wasnât sold on her ability to play Rose, the show's creator took her aside and told her not to play Rose as stupid but as someone "terminally naive, a person who always believed the first explanation of something."
Playing Rose won White one Emmy Award, for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series, for the first season of âThe Golden Girlsâ and was nominated in that category every year of the show's run.
After âThe Golden Girlsâ ended in 1992, White took regular or recurring roles in shows, notably âThe Bold and the Beautifulâ and âBoston Legal.â She won an Emmy in 1996 for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series, appearing as herself on an episode of The John Larroquette Show. She also appeared several times on âThe Tonight Show with Jay Lenoâ and âThe Late Late Show with Craig Fergusonâ as well as the most recent incarnation of the gameshow âPassword.â
She continued her advocacy for animals, and beginning in 2007, White would appear as a spokesperson in commercials for PetMed Express.
In 2009, White was named president emeritus of the Morris Animal Foundation, an organization where she has served as a trustee since 1971.
That same year, Snickers candy bar had a new campaign's slogan: "You're not you when you're hungry". White appeared, alongside Abe Vigoda, in the company's 2010 Super Bowl commercial.
There was something about seeing Betty White as an adorable, elderly, mouthy as***le (âThatâs not what your girlfriend saysâŚâ) playing football that made people go wild, and the commercial won the top spot on the Super Bowl Ad Meter.
A social media grassroots campaign titled "Betty White to Host SNL (Please)" began on Facebook almost immediately after her Super Bowl commercial aired. When the group was approaching 500,000 members, NBC brought joy to the masses when they announced that White would in fact host Saturday Night Live on May 8, 2010. Her appearance made her, at age 88, the oldest person to host the show.
White, during her opening monologue, thanked Facebook and joked that she "didn't know what Facebook was, and now that I do know what it is, I have to say, it sounds like a huge waste of time.â
The appearance earned her the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series, her seventh Emmy win overall.
Later that year, the USDA Forest Service made Betty White an honorary forest ranger, fulfilling her lifelong dream. By the time she received this honor, more than one-third of Forest Service employees were women.
In an interview around that time, White discussed her view on LGBTQI+ rights. White used the example of her friend, Liberace, who she always knew was gay and who she sometimes accompanied to premieres.
"If a couple has been together all that time â and there are gay relationships that are more solid than some heterosexual ones â I think it's fine if they want to get married. I don't know how people can get so anti-something. Mind your own business, take care of your affairs, and don't worry about other people so much"
Whiteâs next role would be that of Elka Ostrovsky in the sitcom âHot in Cleveland."
White was only meant to appear in the pilot of the show but would be asked to stay on for the entire series, because just like in her stint on âThe Mary Tyler Moore Show,â she rocked everyoneâs socks off. That role in âHot,â which ran for six seasons, garnered her a nomination for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. She later received a SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series, both in 2011 and 2012, and received a third nomination as well.
In 2017, White was way belatedly invited to become a member of The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, making her the oldest new member at 95 years old.
White has continued to take roles and make appearances as she sees fit as she nears the century mark. A more recent one was when, in 2019, she provided the voice of Bitey White, a toy tiger that was named after her.
âI'm a sucker for animals, so the tiger was perfect!"
At 99 years old at the time of this writing, living with her golden retriever named Pontiac, and enjoying feeding the two ducks who come to visit her every day, White has no intention of hanging it up.
âRetirement is not in my vocabulary. They arenât going to get rid of me that way.â
Blessed with good health and having almost no one allowed in her home that doesnât need to be there is how she credits surviving through the Covid-19 pandemic, though her assistant says that âThe virus is afraid of Betty!â
Enjoying the longest television career of any other woman in history, White credits just enjoying life and accentuating the positive over the negative for her longevity.
..oh, and vodka and hot dogs, âprobably in that order.â
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