Betty White was an actress, comedian, and producer from the United States. She was a television pioneer with an eight-decade career, known for her many television appearances in sitcoms, sketch comedy, and game shows. She created and starred in the sitcom Life with Elizabeth, making her the first woman to do so.
2021 concluded as a year of emotional losses. Betty White, a comedy classic best known for her role in The Golden Girls, died on December 31, 2021. Here's everything we know about what happened with Betty White's death.
Who Is Betty White?
Betty White was born on January 17, 1922. Her real name is Betty Marion White. White became a regular panelist on American game shows such as Password, Match Game, Tattletales, To Tell the Truth, The Hollywood Squares, and The $25,000 Pyramid after transitioning from radio to television.
In 1983, she was dubbed “the first lady of game shows” after being the first woman to win the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host for the show Just Men!
White set the Guinness World Record for the longest TV career by a female entertainer in both 2014 and 2018 for her extensive work in radio, television, and movies. She was honored with seven Emmy Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and a Grammy Award. In 1995, she was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and inducted into the Television Hall of Fame.
How Did Betty White Die?
White died of a stroke on December 25, 2021. She died in her sleep at her home in Los Angeles' Brentwood district on December 31, at the age of 99.
Her cause of death is listed as cerebrovascular accident on her death certificate, which is the medical word for a stroke. When the news of her death initially broke, the Los Angeles Police Department tweeted that its early investigation had revealed a “natural cause of death, and there is no evidence of foul play.”
Jeff Witjas, her longtime agent, verified to ABC News that she died of natural causes. “She died peacefully in her own bed.” That's all there is to it,” Witjas told ABC News.
How Did Betty White Rise to Fame?
She rose to prominence after making guest and recurring appearances on episodes like The Carol Burnett Show, Mama's Family, The Bold and the Beautiful, and Boston Legal.
Sue Ann Nivens on the CBS comedy The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1973-1977), Rose Nylund on the NBC sitcom The Golden Girls (1985-1992), and Elka Ostrovsky on the TV Land sitcom Hot in Cleveland (2010-2015) were among White's most notable appearances.
She experienced a late-career comeback when she starred in the romantic comedy The Proposal (2009) and hosted Saturday Night Live the following year, earning her a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series. Betty White: First Lady of Television, a 2018 documentary, chronicled her life and career.
Betty White's career began when she was eight years old, in the 1930s. In the decades since, she's become a fixture on game shows, as well as an Emmy-winning guest star on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. She is most recognized for her performance as the innocent Rose Nylund on The Golden Girls, which lasted seven seasons and earned her yet another Emmy.
Betty White enjoyed a comeback in the 2000s and 2010s after keeping active with guest appearances on numerous television shows. Her standout performance in The Proposal prompted a campaign to have her host Saturday Night Live.
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The petition was successful, and White is now the show's oldest host aged 88. She subsequently returned to comedy, this time on TV Land's Hot in Cleveland, and established her own clothing line and calendar. Betty White: First Lady of Television, a PBS documentary on her, aired in 2018.
How Old Was Betty White When She Died?
Betty White, ironically, has been making recent headlines even before her death. She had been prepared to celebrate her 100th birthday on January 17, 2022. Unfortunately, Grandma died just a few weeks before the big day, at the age of 99.
In fact, a film has been made to commemorate White's impending centennial. Betty White: 100 Years Young will star White as well as Ryan Reynolds, Tina Fey, Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, Carol Burnett, and Jimmy Kimmel.
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On January 17, the film was scheduled to open in 900 select cinemas. Producers stated shortly after her death that the film event would go ahead as scheduled.
“We will go forward with our plans to show the film on January 17 in the hopes that our film will provide a way for all who loved her to celebrate her life—and experience what made her such a national treasure,” film producers Steve Boettcher and Mike Trinklein said in a statement to CNN.
