Betty Marion White (born January 17, 1922) is an Emmy Award winning television actress with a career spanning over 50 years. White was born in Oak Park, Illinois, but was raised in Los Angeles, California.

Before embarking on her television career, Betty White also found work modeling as a 'glamour' model. White's early television roles included her portrayal of Elizabeth on Life With Elizabeth from 1953 to 1955 and as Vicki Angel on Date With the Angels from 1957 to 1958. She also had her own talk show briefly in 1954 with the original The Betty White Show (not to be confused with her 1970s sitcom of the same name).

White made many appearances on the hit game show Password, which she was a regular guest celebrity on from 1961 through 1975; it was through her early appearances on Password that she met the show's host, Allen Ludden, whom she married in 1963 (Ludden died in 1981. White's two previous marriages ended in divorce). In the 1970s and 80s, White appeared on the updated versions of Password on NBC -- Password Plus and Super Password.

White also made frequent game show appearances on What's My Line? (starting in 1955), To Tell the Truth (in 1961 and in 1990), Match Game (1973-1982) and Pyramid (starting in 1982). Both Password and Pyramid were created by White's friend, Bob Stewart. In 1983, White became the first woman to win an Emmy as outstanding game show host, for the NBC entry Just Men!

White played sardonic, sex-obsessed, gourmand "Sue Ann Nivens" on Mary Tyler Moore from 1973 to 1977. Following that show's end, she was given her own sitcom on CBS, The Betty White Show, during the 1977-78 season, where she co-starred with John Hillerman and (former Mary Tyler Moore co-star) Georgia Engel. From 1983 through 1985, she played "Ellen Harper Jackson" on the moderate hit show Mama's Family along with future Golden Girls co-star Rue McClanahan.

When Mama's Family was picked up in syndication after being canceled by NBC in 1985, White left the show and scored perhaps her most memorable role as the ditzy St. Olaf, Minnesota native "Rose Nylund" on The Golden Girls, a show about the lives of four widowed or divorced women in their 50s in Miami. The Golden Girls was immensely successful and ran from 1985 through 1992. White has won five Emmy Awards, three American Comedy Awards (including a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1990), and two Viewers for Quality Television Awards. She was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1995 and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame alongside the star of her late husband Allen Ludden. White is well known as a pet enthusiast and animal welfare activist.

Currently, White has a recurring role in ABC's Boston Legal. She plays the vicious, calculating, blackmailing gossip Catherine Piper.

White made an appearance on the Match Game panel of CBS's Gameshow Marathon, on the episode that aired June 22, 2006. She sat in the bottom-right seat on the panel just as she did on the '70s version of the show. White is a member of the Television Academy Hall of Fame and works with a number of animal organizations including the Los Angeles Zoo Commission, the Morris Animal Foundation, and Actors & Others for Animals.

=Emmy Awards=

• 1951 - Best Actress
• 1975 - Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series - "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" (Won)
• 1976 - Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series - "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" (Won)
• 1977 - Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series - "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" (Nominated)
• 1983 - Outstanding Host/Hostess in a Game or Audience Participation Show - "Just Men!" (Won)
• 1986 - Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series - "The Golden Girls" (Won)
• 1987 - Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series - "The Golden Girls" (Nominated)
• 1988 - Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series - "The Golden Girls" (Nominated)
• 1989 - Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series - "The Golden Girls" (Nominated)
• 1990 - Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series - "The Golden Girls" (Nominated)
• 1991 - Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series - "The Golden Girls" (Nominated)
• 1992 - Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series - "The Golden Girls" (Nominated)
• 1996 - Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series - "The John Larroquette Show" (Won)
• 1997 - Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series - "Suddenly Susan" (Nominated)
• 2003 - Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series - "Yes, Dear" (Nominated)
• 2004 - Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series - "The Practice" (Nominated)

TV Work

• Hollywood on Television (1949-1950)
• Life with Elizabeth (1953-1955) (also producer)
• The Betty White Show (1954)
• Make the Connection (1955-1956)
• Date with the Angels (1957-1958)
• The Betty White Show (1958)
• The Jack Paar Show (regular guest from 1959-1962)
• To Tell the Truth (panelist in 1961)
• Password (1961-1975) (regular panelist throughout run, but was sub-hostess in 1975.)
• What's My Line? (guest panelist)
• The Pet Set (1971-1972)
• Vanished (1971) (Cameo)
• Match Game/Match Game PM (1973-1982) (regular panelist throughout run)
• The Mary Tyler Moore Show (cast member from 1973-1977)
• Liar's Club (1976-1978) (regular panelist throughout run)
• The Betty White Show (1977-1978)
• With This Ring (1978)
• The Gossip Columnist (1979)
• The Best Place to Be (1979)
• Before and After (1979)
• Eunice (1982)
• Just Men! (1983)
• Mama's Family (cast member from 1983-1985 and in 1986)
• The Golden Girls (1985-1992)
• Santa Barbara (cast member in 1988)
• Another World (cast member in 1988)
• Chance of a Lifetime (1991)
• The Golden Palace (1992-1993)
• Bob (cast member in 1993)
• Maybe This Time (1995-1996)
• The Story of Santa Claus (1996)
• A Weekend in the Country (1996)
• Me & George (1998)
• The Lionhearts (1998-1999) (voice)
• Ladies Man (1999-2000)
• ''The Simpsons guest star " Impossible" (2000)
• The Origin of Donnie (2001) (voice)
• The Retrievers (2001)
• The Misadventures of Adam and Burt (2003)
• Stealing Christmas (2003)
• ''Malcolm in the Middle (c. 2002-2003)
• Complete Savages guest star "Man Without A Ball" & "Saving Old Lady Riley" (2004-2005)
• Boston Legal (2005-2006)
• Annie's Point (2005)
• Family Guy guest star "Peterotica" (2006)
• Gameshow Marathon (2006) - panelist on Match Game episode

Partial filmography

• Time to Kill (1945) (short subject)
• Advise and Consent (1962)
• A Different Approach (1978) (short subject)
• Hard Rain (1998)
• Holy Man (1998) (Cameo)
• Gaia Symphony II (1999) (documentary) (narrator)
• Lake Placid (1999)
• The Story of Us (1999)
• An Elephant's Tale (2000) (voice)
• Bringing Down the House (2003)
• The Third Wish (2005)

External links

• Archive of American Television Video Interview with Betty White ^*
• www.bettywhiteonline.com - Betty White Online

1922 births | American actors | American film actors | American television actors | Batman actors | Emmy Award winners | Game show hosts | Hollywood Walk of Fame | Living people | Match Game panelists | People from Illinois | People from Los Angeles | Vegans | Family Guy actors | Gameshow Marathon | game show panelists | What's My Line panelists | To Tell the Truth panelists

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