Profile of Betty White on Famous Like Me

White as Rose on The Golden Girls.

Betty Marion White (born January 17, 1922 in Oak Park, Illinois, but she was raised in Los Angeles, California) is a notable American television actress with a career spanning over 50 years.

White's early television roles included her portrayal of Elizabeth on Life With Elizabeth from 1953 to 1955 and as Vicki Angel on Date With the Angels from 1957 to 1958. She also had her own talk show briefly in 1954 with the original The Betty White Show.

White is perhaps better known for her appearances on the hit gameshow Password, in which she was a regular as a panelist from 1961 through 1975; it was through her early appearances on Password that she met the show's host, Allen Ludden, whom she married in 1963 and remained with until his death in 1981. In the 1970s and 80s, White appeared on the updated versions of Password on NBC -- Password Plus and Super Password.

White also made frequent game show appearances on What's My Line? (starting in 1955), To Tell the Truth (in 1961), Match Game (1973-1982) and Pyramid (starting in 1982). Both Password and Pyramid was created by White's friend, Bob Stewart.

In her later career, White played snotty, sex-obsessed, gourmand "Sue Ann Nivens" on The Mary Tyler Moore Show from 1973 to 1977. From 1983 through 1986, she played "Ellen Harper Jackson" on the moderate hit show Mama's Family along with future Golden Girls co-star Rue McClanahan. When Mama's Family was picked up in syndication after being canceled by NBC in 1985, White left the show and scored perhaps her most memorable role as the ditzy "Rose Nylund" on The Golden Girls, a show about the lives of four widowed or divorced senior citizens in Miami. The Golden Girls was immensely successful and ran from 1985 through 1992.

Overall, White has won five Emmy Awards, three American Comedy Awards (including a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1990), and two Viewers for Quality Television Awards. She was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1995 and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame alongside the star of her late husband Allen Ludden. White is well known as a pet enthusiast and animal-rights activist. She has narrated promotional videos for PETA and has been a vegan since the early 1990s.

Currently, White has a role in ABC's Boston Legal. She plays Alan Shore (James Spader)'s former nemesis, the vicious, calculating, blackmailing gossip Catherine Piper, who strangely does not have a Massachusetts or New England accent at all.

TV Work

• Hollywood on Television (1949-1950)
• Life with Elizabeth (1953-1955) (also producer)
• The Betty White Show (1954) (canceled after a couple of months)
• Make the Connection (1955-1956)
• Date with the Angels (1957-1958)
• The Betty White Show (1958) (canceled after 3 episodes)
• The Jack Paar Show (regular guest from 1959-1962)
• To Tell the Truth (panelist in 1961)
• Password (1961-1975) (regular panelist throughout run, but wass sub-hostess in 1975.)
• The Pet Set (1971-1972)
• Vanished (1971) (Cameo)

• Match Game (1973-1982) (regular panelist throughout run)

• The Mary Tyler Moore Show (cast member from 1973-1977)
• Match Game PM (1973-1981) (regular panelist throughout run)
• Liar's Club (1976-1978) (regular panelist throughout run)
• The Betty White Show (1977-1978)
• With This Ring (1978)
• The Gossip Columnist (1979)
• The Best Place to Be (1979)
• Before and After (1979)
• Eunice (1982)
• Just Men! (1983) (White won an Emmy for Outstanding Game Show Host for this series)
• Mama's Family (cast member from 1983-1985 and in 1986)
• The Golden Girls (1985-1992)
• Santa Barbara (cast member in 1988)
• Another World (cast member in 1988)
• Chance of a Lifetime (1991)
• The Golden Palace (1992-1993)
• Bob (cast member in 1993)
• Maybe This Time (1995-1996)
• The Story of Santa Claus (1996)
• A Weekend in the Country (1996)
• Me & George (1998) (canceled after a few episodes)
• The Lionhearts (1998-1999) (voice)
• Ladies Man (1999-2000)
• The Wild Thornberrys: The Origin of Donnie (2001) (voice)
• The Retrievers (2001)
• Return to the Batcave: The Misadventures of Adam and Burt (2003)
• Stealing Christmas (2003)
• Annie's Point (2005)

Filmography

• Time to Kill (1945) (short subject)
• Advise and Consent (1962)
• A Different Approach (1978) (short subject)
• Hard Rain (1998)
• Holy Man (1998) (Cameo)
• Gaia Symphony II (1999) (documentary) (narrator)
• Lake Placid (1999)
• The Story of Us (1999)
• Whispers: An Elephant's Tale (2000) (voice)
• Bringing Down the House (2003)
• The Third Wish (2005)

This content from Wikipedia is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Betty White