Betty White, actress, comedian and American icon is dead.
She died at the age of 99. She was to turn 100 in a few weeks, January 17.
According to TMZ, law enforcement sources said she died in her home at about 9 a.m. on Friday.
A trailblazer and pioneer in media, Betty had the longest running career for any woman in TV prior to her death — starring in multiple shows over the past 8 decades, starting way back in 1939.
She is perhaps most famous for her lead role as Rose Nylund in “The Golden Girls,” which ran from 1985 to 1992. She’d been in TONS of other big hits throughout her life though.
Betty got her start in radio in the ’40s, making appearances on “Blondie,” “The Great Gildersleeve,” and “This is Your FBI.”
She eventually got her own radio program.
In 1949, she began working on a TV variety show with Al Jarvis called “Hollywood on Television” — which she later co-hosted — before breaking out into more TV roles.
Her breakout comedic role came in 1973 when she played Sue Ann Nivens on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” … which ran until 1977, and then she got her starring role in “The Betty White Show.”
With 115 acting credits to her name, Betty had roles in productions like “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 many, many, many other shows and films.
Betty won 5 Primetime Emmy Awards — including 2 for ‘Mary Tyler Moore,’ 1 for “Golden Girls” and 1 for her 1975 ‘SNL’ appearance along with Screen Actors Guild Awards, American Comedy Awards and even a 2012 Grammy.
She was nominated for several Golden Globes and honoured with lots of Lifetime Achievement Awards and celebrations by several organisations.
According to TMZ, “the last time we got Betty on camera, she was teasing the launch of her Facebook page back in 2012.”
“Betty had been extra cautious during the pandemic, mostly chilling at home and passing the time by reading, watching TV and doing crossword puzzles,” TMZ reported.
