60 Fun Facts About Betty White

Betty White was born in 1922 in Oak Park, a suburb of which US city?

Her family moved to California when she was one, first to Alhambra and then to Los Angeles during the Depression.

Which character did White play on The Golden Girls?

She was nominated for the lead-actress comedy Emmy in every one of the show's seven seasons and won for the first.

Her Golden Girls character came from the fictional farming town of St. Olaf in which state?

The character was Norwegian American and told endless nonsense stories about the town, which the other three women dreaded.

On The Mary Tyler Moore Show, White's character Sue Ann Nivens hosted which fictional TV program?

The running joke was that Sue Ann's on-air perkiness masked an aggressive, cynical personality off camera.

Sue Ann Nivens's cooking show aired on the fictional station WJM-TV in which city?

Themed episodes included 'A Salute to Fruit' and 'What's All This Fuss About Famine?'

Hot in Cleveland was the first original scripted series on which channel?

The channel had only ever rerun other sitcoms before it; the show ran six seasons and 128 episodes.

How much of Hot in Cleveland was White originally supposed to appear in?

Her performance landed so well that she was asked to stay for the entire run, from 2010 to 2015.

By the final season of Hot in Cleveland, what office did Elka hold?

Elka was elected to a city council seat in season five before moving up when the previous mayor died.

White starred alongside Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds in which 2009 romantic comedy?

The film kicked off the late-career resurgence that ran through her Super Bowl ad and SNL hosting gig.

How old was White when she hosted Saturday Night Live in May 2010, becoming its oldest host ever?

The previous record-holder was Miskel Spillman, an 80-year-old contest winner who hosted in 1977; a Facebook campaign of nearly half a million people got White the job.

White appeared in which candy bar's 'You're not you when you're hungry' 2010 Super Bowl ad?

The spot topped the Super Bowl Ad Meter and directly triggered the Facebook campaign to get her onto SNL.

Which veteran actor appeared alongside White in her famous 2010 Super Bowl candy commercial?

He was best known as Fish on Barney Miller and Tessio in The Godfather, and was in his late eighties at the time.

Which game show host did White marry in 1963?

He proposed at least twice before she said yes, and they stayed married until his death in 1981; asked why she never remarried she said, 'Once you've had the best, who needs the rest?'

White met her third husband in 1961 while appearing as a celebrity guest on which game show?

She kept appearing on the show's later versions too, right up to Million Dollar Password in 2008.

For which NBC show did White become the first woman to win the Daytime Emmy for game show host?

The volume of her game show work earned her the nickname 'the First Lady of Game Shows'.

With Life with Elizabeth (1953–55), White became the first woman to do what for a sitcom?

She co-produced and owned the show at 28 while still living with her parents, and had full creative control in front of and behind the camera.

Roughly how many hours a day was Betty White's live, solo Los Angeles variety show after 1952?

It ran six days a week for four straight years, all ad-libbed, and she sang at least a couple of songs in every broadcast.

Which Los Angeles radio personality was White's co-host on Hollywood on Television from 1949?

The show started life as Make Believe Ballroom on KFWB before moving to KLAC-TV.

Which Black tap dancer did Southern stations demand Betty White drop from her show in 1954?

White answered 'I'm sorry. Live with it' and gave him more airtime; the two reunited on television 63 years later.

In her 1962 feature film debut, Advise & Consent, White played what?

Her character, Kansas Senator Elizabeth Ames Adams, was seen as a nod to real-life senator Margaret Chase Smith.

Which NBC anchor job did White turn down to stay out of New York, and who eventually got it?

She stayed in Los Angeles and instead spent nineteen years hosting NBC's Rose Parade broadcast.

After NBC dropped her from Tournament of Roses coverage in 1975, White spent ten years hosting which event for CBS?

NBC felt she was too closely identified with a rival network's sitcom; she admitted it was hard 'watching someone else do my parade'.

Which Golden Girls role was White originally offered before the pilot's director suggested a swap?

Rue McClanahan had been offered White's eventual part; the two switched because each had played similar types before, on Mary Tyler Moore and Maude respectively.

Which Golden Girls co-star admitted she was "not that fond" of White, annoyed by her relentless positivity?

Despite the friction, White said of her 2009 death, 'I knew it would hurt, I just didn't know it would hurt this much.'

White, McClanahan and Getty carried their characters into which one-season spin-off set at a Miami hotel?

Three of the four leads carried on in the spin-off, set at a Miami hotel, after the fourth chose to leave the original show.

White won a guest-actress Emmy playing herself in a Sunset Boulevard parody on which sitcom?

In the episode a diva-like White forces the host to help write her memoir, and he ends up in drag as one of her former co-stars.

In 2006 White joined which soap opera as Ann Douglas, long-lost mother of Stephanie Forrester?

She made 22 appearances in the role opposite Susan Flannery.

On Boston Legal, White played a blackmailing gossip named what?

She first played the character as a guest star on The Practice in 2004 before the recurring run from 2005 to 2008.

In Toy Story 4, White voiced a toy named Bitey White. What kind of animal was it?

The other toys in her scene were named after and voiced by Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks; White said the animal was perfect since she was 'a sucker for animals'.

Guinness World Records recognized White in both 2014 and 2018 for what?

Her first Emmy nomination came in 1951 and her last in 2014, a span of more than 60 years.

As a girl White wanted a job that women were barred from at the time. What was it?

The USDA Forest Service finally made her an honorary one in 2010, with Smokey Bear on hand.

White won a Grammy for Best Spoken Word Recording for the audio version of which of her books?

The 2011 bestseller carried the parenthetical subtitle '(And of Course You Won't)'.

Which sitting president sent a message for the NBC special celebrating White's 90th birthday in 2012?

The special aired the day before her birthday and featured stars she had worked with across six decades.

White died on December 31, 2021, at what age?

She had suffered a stroke on Christmas Day and died in her sleep at home in Brentwood, Los Angeles.

The film Betty White: A Celebration went ahead in US theaters after her death, on what date?

The date would have been her 100th birthday; producers confirmed the pre-filmed tribute would proceed as scheduled.

White was president emerita of which veterinary research charity, having been a trustee since 1971?

Her animal-welfare work began while producing and hosting The Pet Set in the early 1970s.

Which institution honored White with a bronze plaque and named her 'Ambassador to the Animals'?

She sat on the board of its association from 1974 and once donated nearly $100,000 to it in a single month.

Which 2011 Hallmark Hall of Fame film starring White drew the franchise's best rating in years?

It won its prime-time slot outright on the night of January 30, 2011, according to Nielsen.

Which school gave White an honorary degree and a white doctor's coat at a veterinary gala in 2011?

The ceremony was the centennial gala of the state's veterinary medical association in Yakima.

At 95, White became the oldest new member of which organization in 2017?

The invitation came after 70 years in the industry, only eight of them with any real film presence.

Betty White's 2011 'I'm Still Hot' remix with Luciana topped which Billboard chart?

It was made for a campaign by a life-settlement company, and the video premiered two weeks after the digital release.

White's first husband, a pilot she met during the war, took her to live on a chicken farm in which state?

She did not enjoy the simpler life; they went back to Los Angeles and divorced within a year.

Which Nobel-winning novelist gave Betty White's husband a draft of his acceptance speech as a birthday present?

White wrote about the friendship in her 2011 book; her husband had attended the same school as the writer's future wife.

White co-wrote the book The Leading Lady with blind musician Tom Sullivan. What was it about?

The dog retired to live with White; the pair later co-wrote a novel, Together, as well.

White's character Ellen Harper-Jackson originated in sketches on which 1970s variety show?

Rue McClanahan was also in the Mama's Family cast, two years before the two were reunited in Miami.

What happened on Betty White's Off Their Rockers, the show she hosted and produced from 2012 to 2014?

It earned her three Emmy nominations, on top of a Grammy and a Friars Club roast in the same stretch.

Which Mary Tyler Moore Show co-star joined White's 1977 sitcom The Betty White Show?

Scheduled against Monday Night Football, it lasted a single season; John Hillerman also co-starred.

In which year did the US Postal Service unveil a Forever stamp featuring White?

The stamp shows her portrait with the words 'Forever USA' underneath.

White and which other actress are the only performers to have won Emmys in all three comedy acting categories?

White completed the set with lead (Golden Girls), supporting (Mary Tyler Moore) and guest (SNL, 2010) wins.

In her first radio jobs, reading commercials and doing crowd noises, what did White earn per show?

Movie studios had turned her down as 'not photogenic', so she went to radio, where it did not matter.

A 2011 poll named Betty White America's most trusted celebrity, ahead of Denzel Washington, Sandra Bullock and whom?

The Reuters/Ipsos poll came a year after the Associated Press named her Entertainer of the Year.

Which 1957–58 ABC sitcom did White call the only show she ever wanted to get out of?

The sponsor killed the daydream premise, ratings tanked, and ABC made her fill the remaining thirteen weeks with a revived talk show instead.

White appeared in which comedy-horror film about a giant crocodile loose in the Maine backwoods?

The film was set at fictional Black Lake, Maine, and written by David E. Kelley, who later gave her Boston Legal.

What did White's father build and barter during the Great Depression, sometimes trading them for dogs?

He was a lighting company executive who needed extra money; hardly anyone had cash, so he swapped them for goods.

During World War II, White volunteered with the American Women's Voluntary Services doing what?

She drove a PX truck of military supplies to the Hollywood Hills and appeared at events for troops about to ship out.

White's maternal grandfather came from which country?

Her paternal grandfather was Danish, both grandmothers were Canadians of English descent, and there was Welsh ancestry too.

Where did White graduate from in 1939?

A month after graduating she sang songs from The Merry Widow on an experimental TV broadcast, when television was still being invented.

In 2009, White and her three Golden Girls co-stars all received which honor together?

The Golden Girls had been produced by Touchstone Television, a Disney company.

What did the Screen Actors Guild present to White in January 2010?

It was presented at the Shrine Auditorium; the following year she won a SAG award for Hot in Cleveland as well.

How big was the Facebook group campaigning for White to host SNL when NBC agreed in March 2010?

The grassroots 'Betty White to Host SNL (Please)' group started in January 2010 on the back of her Snickers Super Bowl ad; she hosted that May at 88.