“Golden Girls” actress Betty White has died at the age of 99
We thought she would live forever. Betty White died three weeks short of her 100th birthday. White was best known in South Africa as the widowed Rose Nylund, a sweet, naive and ditzy Midwesterner, on the show “The Golden Girls”, which ran from 1985 to 1992 and was one of the top-rated series of its time.
White was an elderly anomaly who was a star in her 60s and a pop culture phenomenon in her 80s and 90s.
White said her longevity was a result of good health, good fortune and loving her work.
“It’s incredible that I’m still in this business and that you are still putting up with me,” White said in an appearance at the 2018 Emmy Awards ceremony, where she was honored for her long career. “It’s incredible that you can stay in a career this long and still have people put up with you. I wish they did that at home.”
“The Golden Girls” was a sitcom about four older women living together in Miami that featured an age demographic rarely highlighted on American television.
The Associated Press voted her entertainer of the year in 2010 and a 2011 Reuters/Ipsos poll found that White, then 89, was the most popular and trusted celebrity in America with an 86 percent favorability rating.
“Who would ever dream that I would not only be this healthy, but still be invited to work?” White said in a 2015 interview with Oprah Winfrey. “That’s the privilege … to still have jobs to do is such a privilege.”
White, who had no children, worked for animal causes. She once turned down a role in the movie “As Good as It Gets” because of a scene in which a dog was thrown in a garbage chute.
RIP Betty White
You’ve Earned It/YEI sends its sincerest condolences
to the family, friends and fans of Betty White
Recent YEI articles:
YEI has another secret for SA seniors! A treasure chest waiting to be explored!