These series of blogs will shed light on Funky Fab Chicks and today we shine the spotlight on the soon to be 89 year old and sole survivor of the Golden Girls, Betty White. My personal connection with Betty White is that while living in Chappaqua, N.Y. in the 1970s, Ms. White and her late husband Allen Lunden lived down the street from my house. Very nice people and an asset to the community. But I digress.
Betty White, born in Oak Park, Illinois on January 17, 1922. She's of English, Welsh, Greek and Danish descent. She was raised in Beverly Hills, California and started out modeling. Betty White started out in show business on radio shows like Blondie, and The Great Gildersleeve. She then went into television starring in the sitcom My Life With Elizabeth which garnished her, her first Emmy Award (the first of many).
I don't know if she was the first, but around the 1950's she had a talk show entitled The Betty White Show. During the 1960s and 1970s she appeared in numerous game shows including Password which was hosted by her husband Allen Lunden and Match Game hosted by Gene Rayburn. My mother and I were big fans of both shows. Does anyone remember watching them? Did you ever notice a little of her Golden Girls character, Rose in the way she answered her questions? These were really good times when television brought families together for hours of watching gameshows that sparked conversations and laughter in the home.
In 1973, Betty had recurring appearances on the Mary Tyler Moore Show portraying Sue Ann Nivens, The Happy Homemaker. An arrogant, man-hungry, hostess of a cooking show who had a big crush on news director Lou Grant (Mary's Boss). She's a funny and talented comedianne. Sue Ann is described as "sickeningly sweet" and Betty White received two back-to-back Emmy Awards for her portrayal of the character.
In the 1980s, she played Ellen Harper on the Carol Burnett show and later on Mama's Family. She was sister to Eunice (portrayed by Carol Burnett) and daughter to Mama (played by Vicki Lawrence). Once again she played a sweet woman with a scorpion's sting. She resented grow up in the south. She got rid of her southern accent and was what we'd now call a "poser" in high society. Eunice and Ellen would bicker constantly and their dialogue was pricelessly funny.
In the 1990s she played Rose Nyland on Golden Girls, a naive woman from the midwest who was loved and protected by her more streetwise friends Dorothy and Blanche, and Sophia, Dorothy's mother. She also made numerous television appearances, receiving Emmy's for many of her appearances. Does anyone know where Rose was from?
In 2000, She was on the TV soap opera The Bold and The Beautiful in a recurring role. She has so many credits that I'm soliciting wikipedia's help in the next paragraph.
WIKIPEDIA'S ENTRY (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betty_White)
White had a recurring role in ABC's Boston Legal from 2005 to 2008 as the calculating, blackmailing gossip-monger Catherine Piper, a role she originally portrayed as a guest star on The Practice in 2004.[3]
White appeared as a roaster on the Comedy Central Roast of William Shatner in 2006. On May 19, 2008, White appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, taking part in the host's Mary Tyler Moore Show reunion special alongside every surviving cast member of the series.
She was honored at the Sixth Annual TV Land Awards with the Pop Culture Award on June 8, 2008. She accepted it along with co-stars Bea Arthur and Rue McClanahan.
White returned to Password in its latest incarnation, Million Dollar Password, on June 12, 2008, (episode #3), participating in the Million Dollar challenge at the end of the show. Her quick correct responses helped the contestant win $100,000. White returned to the show again on December 28, 2008 (episode #9), helping the contestants win $25,000 each. White has made a number of appearances in skits on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, playing the part of an Exxon representative, a Girl Scout, an accountant with a briefcase full of cocaine, a nurse who just got her medical license from El Salvador, a newspaper delivery girl, a prison guard, and an Apple representative.
BETTY WHITE, TODAY
Now, in 2010, at 88 years old, Betty White is starring in a new sitcom-Hot In Cleveland shown on Nickelodeon's TV Land. It has already been nominated for Emmy awards. She started a clothing line earlier this year and she just finished a calendar that will be sold next year in 2011. The proceeds will go to animal rights awareness.
What a career!!! Now do you see why I started with Betty White? Not only is she 50+ but, at 88 years old, she's still going! She's an inspiration to all of us.
I would like to also give kudos to my aunt Rachel in Florida. She's in her 90s and also very active. Ten or so years ago, she was walking 5 miles a day. Her doctor told her that her legs couldn't withstand the 5 miles a day so he said she had to lower her mileage to 2 miles a day. She still walks everyday!
I write this to remind all of us that the 3rd quarter of our lives can be vital, productive, vibrant and adventuresome. But you know that already or you wouldn't be reading this blog right now!! So, hats off to you! Hats off to me! Hats off to Betty White and Aunt Rachel and most of all come back for the next blog entry and stay Funky, Fab!!
Betty White, born in Oak Park, Illinois on January 17, 1922. She's of English, Welsh, Greek and Danish descent. She was raised in Beverly Hills, California and started out modeling. Betty White started out in show business on radio shows like Blondie, and The Great Gildersleeve. She then went into television starring in the sitcom My Life With Elizabeth which garnished her, her first Emmy Award (the first of many). I don't know if she was the first, but around the 1950's she had a talk show entitled The Betty White Show. During the 1960s and 1970s she appeared in numerous game shows including Password which was hosted by her husband Allen Lunden and Match Game hosted by Gene Rayburn. My mother and I were big fans of both shows. Does anyone remember watching them? Did you ever notice a little of her Golden Girls character, Rose in the way she answered her questions? These were really good times when television brought families together for hours of watching gameshows that sparked conversations and laughter in the home.
In 1973, Betty had recurring appearances on the Mary Tyler Moore Show portraying Sue Ann Nivens, The Happy Homemaker. An arrogant, man-hungry, hostess of a cooking show who had a big crush on news director Lou Grant (Mary's Boss). She's a funny and talented comedianne. Sue Ann is described as "sickeningly sweet" and Betty White received two back-to-back Emmy Awards for her portrayal of the character.
In the 1980s, she played Ellen Harper on the Carol Burnett show and later on Mama's Family. She was sister to Eunice (portrayed by Carol Burnett) and daughter to Mama (played by Vicki Lawrence). Once again she played a sweet woman with a scorpion's sting. She resented grow up in the south. She got rid of her southern accent and was what we'd now call a "poser" in high society. Eunice and Ellen would bicker constantly and their dialogue was pricelessly funny.
In the 1990s she played Rose Nyland on Golden Girls, a naive woman from the midwest who was loved and protected by her more streetwise friends Dorothy and Blanche, and Sophia, Dorothy's mother. She also made numerous television appearances, receiving Emmy's for many of her appearances. Does anyone know where Rose was from?
In 2000, She was on the TV soap opera The Bold and The Beautiful in a recurring role. She has so many credits that I'm soliciting wikipedia's help in the next paragraph.
WIKIPEDIA'S ENTRY (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betty_White)
White had a recurring role in ABC's Boston Legal from 2005 to 2008 as the calculating, blackmailing gossip-monger Catherine Piper, a role she originally portrayed as a guest star on The Practice in 2004.[3]
White appeared as a roaster on the Comedy Central Roast of William Shatner in 2006. On May 19, 2008, White appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, taking part in the host's Mary Tyler Moore Show reunion special alongside every surviving cast member of the series.
She was honored at the Sixth Annual TV Land Awards with the Pop Culture Award on June 8, 2008. She accepted it along with co-stars Bea Arthur and Rue McClanahan.
White returned to Password in its latest incarnation, Million Dollar Password, on June 12, 2008, (episode #3), participating in the Million Dollar challenge at the end of the show. Her quick correct responses helped the contestant win $100,000. White returned to the show again on December 28, 2008 (episode #9), helping the contestants win $25,000 each. White has made a number of appearances in skits on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, playing the part of an Exxon representative, a Girl Scout, an accountant with a briefcase full of cocaine, a nurse who just got her medical license from El Salvador, a newspaper delivery girl, a prison guard, and an Apple representative.
BETTY WHITE, TODAY
Now, in 2010, at 88 years old, Betty White is starring in a new sitcom-Hot In Cleveland shown on Nickelodeon's TV Land. It has already been nominated for Emmy awards. She started a clothing line earlier this year and she just finished a calendar that will be sold next year in 2011. The proceeds will go to animal rights awareness.
What a career!!! Now do you see why I started with Betty White? Not only is she 50+ but, at 88 years old, she's still going! She's an inspiration to all of us.
I would like to also give kudos to my aunt Rachel in Florida. She's in her 90s and also very active. Ten or so years ago, she was walking 5 miles a day. Her doctor told her that her legs couldn't withstand the 5 miles a day so he said she had to lower her mileage to 2 miles a day. She still walks everyday!
I write this to remind all of us that the 3rd quarter of our lives can be vital, productive, vibrant and adventuresome. But you know that already or you wouldn't be reading this blog right now!! So, hats off to you! Hats off to me! Hats off to Betty White and Aunt Rachel and most of all come back for the next blog entry and stay Funky, Fab!!
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