Sure, Mary Tyler Moore went around the world with her smile – but her co-star who steals the show, the legendary Betty White, is the one who stole our hearts for a long time.
The Illinois-born and raised Cali teenager entered the showbiz three months after graduating from Beverly Hills High in 1939, while on an “experimental” TV show, she said in an interview with the Television Academy.
Since then – from pioneering work in the 1950s (she was the first woman to produce a sitcom!) Until her discovery in the 1970s as the nymphomaniac Sue Ann Nivens in “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” to the innocent lady Rose Nylund of the years 80 on “The Golden Girls” – Betty has always been a sure bet.
We know the truth – but we know she realized that she is a legitimate icon of pop culture?
“My self-centered response is – of course, I am the center of the storm!”, White once told The Post with a laugh. “This is a joke. I am very grateful to be working, and it starts from the beginning. When you start, you are very grateful to have a job … and it carries that feeling throughout your career. At least I have.”
Now, considering that January 17th marks the beloved Betty’s 99th birthday, we decided to give her a socially distant party. In honor of this important occasion, we are taking a look at some of the best bon mots of this brazen vodka lover with more than 80 years of entertainment.
First, take a look at White revealing details never heard before about her first professional performance: a TV production of “The Merry Widow” – for which she received an incredible $ 37 in 1939.
“When we started on television, there was that magic box in the corner of the room and, ‘Oh, my God – look what you’re doing!'”, She said.
However, White would not make his debut on the lead sitcom until almost twelve years later, in the groundbreaking “Life With Elizabeth”, which had 65 episodes from 1952 to 1955.
“Putting it on the air at that time was not so competitive … They were kind of hungry for programming,” she told The Post in 2018. “I think I was switching to something else, so I’m not sure if [the show] it could have continued, but it was a wonderful starting point. “
When asked about technical advances since the beginning of the boob tube era, White told The Post: “When you’re in the middle of it all, you don’t just stand by and watch it unfold, you’re living it. Although I saw everything, everything was happening while I was working, so nothing stands out. We just tweak and move on. “
A selection of Betty’s best bites on a variety of topics
About aging and retirement
- “Retirement is not in my vocabulary. They won’t get rid of me that way. “
- On survival in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic: “I am blessed with incredible health”. In addition, White’s representative assured the public: “Nobody [is] allowed in [her home] except those who must ”be there, noting that she has“ helpers who are great ”. The representative added: “The virus is afraid of Betty!”
- “The end result is … I don’t think, ‘Oh, I’m 90, I better do this or I better do that.’ I’m just Betty. I’m the same Betty as always. Take it or leave it. “
- Her secret to a long, happy and healthy life is the aforementioned vodka – and the hot dogs, “probably in that order”.
- Finally, “don’t take yourself too seriously,” she advised a few days before her big birthday. “You can lie to others – not that I lied – but you cannot lie to yourself … turning 99 is no different than turning 98.”
Her love for animals
- “Animals don’t lie. Animals do not criticize. If animals have temperamental days, they handle them better than humans. “
- “I am not interested in animal rights – I am only in animal welfare and health. I have worked with the Morris Animal Foundation since the 1970s. We are a healthcare organization. We fund health campaign studies for dogs, cats, lizards and wild animals. I worked with the Los Angeles Zoo for almost the same time. “
Sexual preferences
- “I don’t care who sleeps. If a couple has been together all this time – and there are gay relationships that are more solid than some heterosexuals – I think it’s okay if they want to get married. I don’t know how people can be so anti-something. “
- “I just make it a point to get along with people so I can have fun. It’s that simple.”
- “Well, I mean, if a joke or humor is obscene, it has to be funny enough to justify it. You can’t just be obscene or obscene just for that – it has to be funny. “
- “Animal lover that I am, but I’m not a cougar.”
In gratitude
- “I was changing channels the other night and I came across something,” she told the Post. “I don’t know what program it was, but they had a TV on and I was on that TV! I am very grateful that people have tolerated me for so long. “
- “I am the luckiest girl on two feet, I will tell you that. They say that when a woman is over 40 she doesn’t get any good roles, so I’m blessed. “
- “I can’t stand people who start wonderfully in show business and abuse it. Lindsay Lohan and Charlie Sheen, for example, although there are many others as well. They are the most blessed people in the world and they don’t appreciate it. ”
- “I have no regrets at all. None.”