Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Names and faces
■ A photo of Betty White, with her dimpled smile, fills the cover of a coffee table book arriving ahead of her 100th birthday. The image evokes the genuine White, according to the book’s author, Ray Richmond, who dug into her life and career and concluded that she’s as warm and appealing as appearances would have it. But her willingness to play against type, whether as scheming Sue Ann on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” or naive Rose of “The Golden Girls,” proves how talented White is, said Richmond. That, coupled with an impressive work ethic, carried her from a cameo on television in its 1930s infancy to being the darling of “Saturday Night Live” in the 21st century, with a myriad of show business gigs along the way. “You could make a convincing case that Betty White is the most versatile and beloved entertainer in American history,” said Richmond, whose “Betty White: 100 Remarkable Moments in an Extraordinary Life” comes out Tuesday. Besides starring in sitcoms and making guest appearances in dozens of others, she was a reliably witty game show host and guest, parade emcee and soap opera actor (“The Bold and the Beautiful”). She dabbled in drama on the big screen (including as a senator in 1962’s “Advise & Consent”) and on TV (“Bones,” “Boston Legal”). Hosting “Saturday Night Live” in 2010 — at age 88 — earned her a fifth Emmy Award and a new generation of admirers. White, who will reach centenarian status Jan. 17, didn’t participate in the book. Richmond, a veteran entertainment reporter and critic, instead relied on research and interviews with her friends and colleagues, including Carol Burnett, Candice Bergen and Gavin MacLeod (Murray on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”). MacLeod, who died in May at age 90, wrote the book’s forward. Saluting White as a great performer and “national treasure,” he deemed her “one of the most caring and loving human beings I’ve ever known.”
■ U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts is upset that her beloved Mariah Carey Christmas album has gone missing, but she needn’t worry — she was promised a replacement courtesy of the f ive- time Grammy winner herself. “This is a PSA or a warning depending on how you choose to take it,” the Democrat said in a tweet last week. “Whomever ‘borrowed’ my #MariahCare Christmas vinyl, return it. You can leave it at my office door, no questions asked.” She quickly followed with another tweet saying she was “so heated” that she’d left off the ‘Y’ in Carey’s name. It wasn’t long before Carey tweeted back: “I’ll send you a new one!!” That caught Pressley by surprise. “Is this really THE one and only, the incomparable, iconic and legendary MariahCarey aka Mimi?” she tweeted.