Names and faces
■ True to form, Betty White had something impish to say about her birthday Sunday. “Since I am turning 99, I can stay up as late as I want without asking permission!” she told The Associated Press in an email. White’s low-key plans included feeding a pair of ducks that regularly visit her Los Angeles-area home. Her birthday meal was to be a hot dog and French fries brought in — along with a bouquet of roses — by her longtime friend and agent, Jeff Witjas. The actor’s TV credits stretch from 1949’s “Hollywood on Television” to a 2019 voice role in “Forky Asks a Question,” with “The Golden Girls” and “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” among the enduring highlights. In January alone, White is on screen in reruns including “The Golden Girls” and “Hot in Cleveland”; the 2009 Sandra Bullock movie “The Proposal,” and the 2018 documentary “Betty White: First Lady of Television,” about her life and career. White’s devotion to animals will be on display next month with the DVD and digital release of “Betty White’s Pet Set,” a 1970s series in which she visited with celebrity guests and their pets as well as wild animals. Her work, always marked by top-drawer comedic timing, has earned her five Emmy Awards, including a 2010 trophy for a guest-host appearance on “Saturday Night Live.” A native of Oak Park, Ill., White was married to game show host and producer Allen Ludden from 1963 until his death in 1981.
■ Prince William is encouraging everyone in Britain to follow the example of Queen Elizabeth II, his grandmother, in being vaccinated against covid-19 as authorities battle unsubstantiated fears about vaccine safety. The secondin-line to the throne spoke about the queen and her husband, Prince Philip, during a video call with National Health Service staff and volunteers that was released late Saturday. The medics told William that some members of the public are reluctant to get any of the coronavirus vaccines authorized by regulators. “My grandparents have had the vaccine and I am very proud of them for doing that,” William said. “It is really important that everyone gets the vaccine when they are told to.” The queen, 94, last week disclosed that she and Philip, 99, had received the first dose of vaccine. The disclosure was meant to end speculation about the matter and to boost confidence in the shots as the health service seeks to give the first dose of vaccine to everyone older than 70 by the middle of February. British authorities have made vaccinating older people their first priority because they are most at risk of dying from covid-19. The United Kingdom has recorded more than 3.4 million confirmed cases and almost 90,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. The government plans to soon begin a trial of round-the-clock injections at some vaccination sites.