BETTY WHITE
HOLLYWOOD’S FAVORITE GOLDEN GIRL OPENS UP IN A REVEALING INTERVIEW ABOUT HER LIFE, LOVES AND RECORD-BREAKING CAREER
The beloved Golden Girl dishes on her career, romantic life and much more in a new tell-all interview.
eing the subject of the upcoming PBS docuBmentary
Betty White: First Lady of Television has its perks. “We previewed the film for Betty in January for her 96th birthday,” co-director Steven J. Boettcher tells Closer. “It was at her party with 400 of her closest friends,” he adds. Her verdict? “When it was over, she asked, ‘Does it have too much Betty White?’” Boettcher reveals of the star’s deadpan quip. “It was so cute!”
Fans of the endearing entertainer will have to wait until Aug. 21 to see the film, made over the past 10 years with exclusive access to the first woman to produce and star in a national TV show (1952’s Life With Elizabeth). And though she has the longest career in the history of TV, Betty doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. “She told me, ‘I’m going to be in the saddle forever,’ ” Boettcher reveals. “She loves working; she loves the challenge. She’s someone that we’re all better off for that she’s lived this long.”
QUEEN OF COMEDY
Betty’s ability to deliver a line and garner big laughs earned her six Emmy awards throughout her acclaimed career. “I got an award for everything: inhaling, exhaling,” she jokes of her countless accolades. “I’ve been so spoiled rotten.
I’m the luckiest old broad on two feet. Truly! I’ve always been working at something.”
Her dedication to staying busy even led her to the true love of her life, Allen Ludden. The two met in 1961 when she guested on his popular game show Password. The then-twicedivorced Betty was cautious to pursue the relationship too seriously at first, however, which is her biggest regret in life. “I wasted a whole year we could have been together,” she laments, though she finally said “I do” in 1963.
After Allen passed in 1981 at the age of 63, Betty never remarried. “She said there was one love and that was it,” her friend Tom Sullivan tells Closer. Explains Betty, “As well as lovers, Allen and I were each other’s critic, editor, fan and friend. Once you’ve had the best, who needs the rest?”
Landing her role as Rose Nylund on The Golden Girls in 1985 helped heal her broken heart. “It was really, truly one of the best experiences of my life. We were so close,” she says of her castmates on the hit show, Rue McClanahan, Bea Arthur and Estelle Getty. “It started the first read-through for the pilot,” Betty reveals. “It was like batting a tennis ball over the net. It was so exciting to be with four people with that chemistry. It was like we had been working together forever! I still get goose bumps thinking about it.”
Another big thrill for Betty has been her longtime love of animals. “It started in the womb,” she jokes of her obsession, and to this day she’s a tireless advocate for the Los Angeles Zoo, the Morris Animal Foundation and other organizations. “My work with animals [is my fountain of youth],” she says.
Her heart endears her to everyone. “We spent a great deal of time with her [on this project] and she never said a bad word about anyone,” Boettcher says. “Through her career, every cast and crew member loved working with her. She’d remember every one of their names, their kids and, most importantly, the names of their pets!”
It’s hard not to smile hearing that, and that’s exactly the legacy Betty wants to leave behind. “Warmly,” she says of how she’d like to be remembered. “I hope people remember something funny. I hope they remember a laugh.” — Ron Kelly,
with reporting by Katie Bruno