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TV legend Betty White—who starred in The Golden Girls, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Hot in Cleveland and dozens (if not hundreds) of other film and television projects over the past 70 decades—has died at 99, just weeks before her 100th birthday.
“Even though Betty was about to be 100, I thought she would live forever,” White’s agent Jeff Witjas told People on Friday.
While best known for roles like The Golden Girls’ Rose Nylund and The Mary Tyler Moore Show’s man-hungry Sue Ann Nivens, White also appeared in several memorable ads during her career.
“Well, I’ve been in this business for 63 years,” White told Adweek in 2012. “When you have a career that long, you end up doing a little bit of everything. So yes, I’ve done commercials over time.”
Most notably, White starred in Snickers’ legendary 2010 Super Bowl ad, which featured her playing a football game where she’s told, “You’re playing like Betty White out there.” (Her response: “That’s not what your girlfriend says!”)
The appearance sparked a White renaissance, which included a successful Facebook effort to get her to host Saturday Night Live later that year.
“That came as a big surprise,” White told Adweek. “I turned down hosting Saturday Night Live three times earlier on. I am so California oriented that I thought I’d be like a fish out of water [in New York]. But they made me feel so welcome. I had a wonderful time.”
White first appeared in a TV spot several decades earlier for Panel-Ray heaters. “I sat in front of a mirror and brushed my hair while I talked about how wonderful the Panel-Ray heater was,” White told Adweek. “It was funny because I had very bad hair. To [feature] my hair in any kind of commercial was a laugh in and of itself.”
In one of her earliest commercials, White was featured in a trio of Richard Hudnut cosmetics spots that aired on an NBC Milton Berle special in 1959.
In 2012, White landed a TV and digital spokesperson gig for Tide Vivid White + Bright.
“Tide has been under my sink for decades. And of course the fact that the product is called Tide Vivid White and Bright and my name is White, well, it just seemed like a neat fit,” White told Adweek.
In 2019, White lent her voice and facial expressions to Smokey Bear for the mascot’s 75th birthday. In the spot, White, who was named an honorary forest ranger by the U.S. Forest Service in 2010, warns of the dangers of parking your car on tall, dry grass as hot exhaust pipes can start a wildfire.
Most recently, White teamed with Betty Crocker to celebrate their respective 100th birthdays.
A record breaking career
White was born on Jan. 17, 1922, in Oak Park, Ill. She had two short-lived marriages before her career began. In 1949, she co-hosted the daily variety radio show Hollywood on Television, which led to her first sitcom, Life With Elizabeth.
In 1961, she was a celebrity guest on Password and fell for host Allen Ludden. Their 18-year marriage lasted until his death in 1981 from stomach cancer.
White starred in The Mary Tyler Moore Show from 1973-1977 as Sue Ann Nivens—a role that won her two Emmys— and then played Rose Nyland on The Golden Girls from 1985-1992, which landed her another Emmy.
She also appeared in shows like Ally McBeal, That ’70s Show, Boston Legal and the TV Land sitcom Hot in Cleveland, which aired from 2010-2015, as well as movies like 2009’s The Proposal.
In 2018, White was honored by Guinness World Records as having the longest TV career ever by a female entertainer.
Yet White always tried to brush off accolades like “legendary” and “iconic.” As she told Adweek, “I don’t know if I am a legendary performer. I think I am an old performer who’s lucky to be working.”
