Betty White, photographed on May 31, 2009, at age 87, played about every role in Hollywood. That year, she played an aging, truth telling, off–the–wall grandmother in the rom-com called “The Proposal.”
(Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)
Betty White, a television pioneer and Emmy-winning actress whose long career, often in comedic roles, took flight again in her late 80s, has died.
White, who was the last surviving star of television’s “The Golden Girls,” died overnight in Brentwood, her friend and agent Jeff Witjas told the Washington Post. She was 99.
For decades, White had been best known for the characters she played in a pair of long-running TV series — the conniving “happy homemaker” Sue Ann Nivens on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” in the 1970s and daffy Rose Nylund on “The Golden Girls” in the 1980s and early 1990s. She received Emmy Awards for both roles.
(CBS)
Cast members of the “Mary Tyler Moore Show” pose with their Emmys backstage at the awards ceremony on May 18, 1976. From left are, Ed Asner, Betty White, Mary Tyler Moore and Ted Knight.
(Reed Saxon / Associated Press)
(ABC Photo Archives)
American actor Betty White sits in a canvas chair, with her name written on the back, in a backyard garden in 1956.
(Hulton Archive / Getty Images)
Actor Betty White is shown on March 22, 1954.
(Graphic House / Getty Images)
Betty White sits on a television for her special “Betty White at Home,” which aired on May 6, 1957.
(ABC Photo Archives)
Alec Baldwin kisses the hand of Betty White, left, as Kate McKinnon, center, watches onstage at the 70th Emmy Awards at Microsoft Theater on Sept. 17, 2018, in Los Angeles.
(Kevin Winter / Getty Images)
Betty White, right, appears in a skit on “Saturday Night Live” in 2010 with Ana Gasteyer, left, and Molly Shannon.
(Dana Edelson / NBC Universal)
Actress Betty White poses next to a wax figure in her likeness during an unveiling at Madame Tussauds in Hollywood on June 4, 2012.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
Betty White, left, accepts the Life Achievement Award from Sandra Bullock at the 16th Screen Actors Guild Awards on Jan. 23, 2010, in Los Angeles.
(Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)
“The Golden Girls” cast: Rue McClanahan, from left, Estelle Getty, Bea Arthur and Betty White.
(ABC Photo Archives)
Betty White in a scene from the NBC comedy “Off Their Rockers,” which aired for two years.
(NBC)
Zooey Deschanel, left, and Betty White at the Emmy Awards at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on September 18, 2011, in Los Angeles.
(Associated Press)
Wendie Malick, from left, Jane Leeves, Valerie Bertinelli and Betty White accept a People’s Choice Award for favorite cable TV comedy for “Hot in Cleveland” on Jan. 11, 2012, in Los Angeles.
(Chris Pizzello / Associated Press)
Actress Betty White arrives at the premiere of Touchstone Pictures’ “You Again” at the El Capitan Theatre on Sept. 22, 2010, in Los Angeles.
(Kevin Winter / Getty Images)
Former cast members of the “Mary Tyler Moore Show” are reunited for the Museum of Television and Radio’s ninth Television Festival in Los Angeles on March 21, 1992. From left are Gavin MacLeod, Valerie Harper, Cloris Leachman, Betty White and Ed Asner.
(Craig Fujii / Associated Press)
Actress Betty White performs onstage at a ceremony to honor Morgan Freeman as the recipient of the 39th AFI Life Achievement Award at Sony Pictures Studios on June 9, 2011, in Culver City.
(Kevin Winter / Getty Images)
Betty White poses with the Life Achievement Award in the press room at the 16th Screen Actors Guild Awards at the Shrine Auditorium on Jan. 23, 2010, in Los Angeles.
(Frazer Harrison / Getty Images)
Actress Betty White, left and Ellen DeGeneres attend the 41st Annual People’s Choice Awards at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on Jan. 7, 2015, in Los Angeles.
(Christopher Polk / Getty Images)
Ellen DeGeneres, left, and Betty White speak onstage at the 41st People’s Choice Awards at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on Jan. 7, 2015, in Los Angeles.
(Kevin Winter / Getty Images)
Betty White attends the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Assn.’s 44th Beastly Ball at Los Angeles Zoo on June 14, 2014.
(Angela Weiss / Getty Images)
Wendie Malick, from left, Valerie Bertinelli, Betty White and Jane Leeves take a selfie on March 27, 2015, in Studio City. TV Land dedicated a plaque in honor of their sitcom “Hot In Cleveland” on Stage 19 at CBS Studio Center.
(Joshua Blanchard / Getty Images)
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