{"id":21584,"date":"2013-05-14T00:00:24","date_gmt":"2013-05-14T07:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.todayifoundout.com\/?p=21584"},"modified":"2014-03-19T13:24:19","modified_gmt":"2014-03-19T20:24:19","slug":"betty-white-facts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.todayifoundout.com\/index.php\/2013\/05\/betty-white-facts\/","title":{"rendered":"12 Interesting Facts You Probably Didn’t Know About Betty White"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"beey-white\"<\/a>

Betty White – 1954<\/p><\/div>\n

Betty White is the grandmother we never had.\u00a0 Or wished we did.\u00a0 She is cooler than most people will ever be and at the age of 91, she seems poised to live forever.\u00a0 Betty’s professional entertainment career now spans an astonishing 74 years, having started in 1939. During that span, she has continually reinvented herself in Hollywood and despite being well passed the age most actresses and actors disappear into obscurity is still going strong.\u00a0 Without further ado, we give you 12 interesting facts about our sweet Betty, so you can show off your Betty White knowledge at the next party you attend.\u00a0 Just don\u2019t use them all at once.\u00a0 That might come off a bit creepy.<\/p>\n

1) White was one of the 1st<\/sup> female producers in Hollywood.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the 1950s, she produced her own television series called Life With Elizabeth<\/em> alongside George Tibbles, and was one of the first to have creative control both behind and in front of the camera.<\/p>\n

2) White and Rue McClanahan switched roles on The Golden Girls<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

White was originally considered for the role of the oversexed Blanche on The Golden Girls <\/em>and\u00a0 McClanahan was going to be Rose. The two were switched as the director thought it would be better for them to play different types of characters than the ones they had played previously; White played a Blanche-type character in Mary Tyler Moore<\/em> and McClanahan played a Rose type character in Maude<\/em>. \u00a0\u00a0<\/em>Despite being the oldest of The Golden Girls<\/em> in real life, White is <\/em> the only surviving character out of the four women who starred i<\/em>n that show, following the death of Rue McClanahan in June of 2010.<\/p>\n

3) She lists her occupation on her resume as ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVIST first, not actress.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

White once said she has to continue working \u2018so she can afford to keep doing her charity work!<\/em>\u2019\u00a0 White is passionate about animals.\u00a0 She has volunteered her time and money to many charities for four decades, including the Los Angeles Zoo.\u00a0 In 1997, White even turned down the role of Helen Hunt\u2019s mother in As Good As it Gets<\/em><\/a>, because she didn\u2019t agree with the treatment of the dog in the film.\u00a0 Her love for furry creatures, particularly dogs, began when her father, who was a traveling salesman and electrical engineer, built kennels in their backyard, sometimes caring for as many as 15 dogs at a time.<\/p>\n

4)<\/strong> \u2018Betty\u2019 is not short for anything.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s her real name.\u00a0 Her parents gave her the name Betty out of fear that she would be called a derivative of Elizabeth, such as Liz, Beth or Lizzie.\u00a0 So, Betty it is.<\/p>\n

5) She tweets.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I tweet<\/a>, you tweet, and now, so does Betty White<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0Some of our grandmothers have never even logged on to the internet, but Betty now knows her way around twitter.\u00a0 She tweets everything from plugs for TV appearances to messages to other celebs, including her third tweet ever to @RyanSeacrest:\u00a0 \u2018My show airs tomorrow and I hear we\u2019re on in the same timeslot\u2026I\u2019ve always wanted to share a night with you.\u2019\u00a0<\/em> She certainly knows how to keep things interesting.\u00a0 She also racked up 118,000 followers in the first 24 hours\u00a0of creating an account.\u00a0 Don\u2019t confuse @BettyMWhite with @BettyFckinWhite, the latter of which\u00a0existed first and parodies the actress.\u00a0 If you\u2019re not on twitter, to each his own, just know that Betty White has you beaten in the social media department.<\/p>\n

6) She pours herself a pre-dinner cocktail.<\/strong><\/p>\n

White says a drink at night is relaxing, and she also makes time for a weekly poker night.\u00a0 She’s a fan of hot dogs, and she won\u2019t pass up French fries, though she did pass on the offer to do Broadway, saying the idea of Broadway performances just doesn\u2019t sound appealing.\u00a0 What else does White love?\u00a0 Snakes!<\/p>\n

\"white-and-husband\"<\/a>

White and Husband Allen Ludden<\/p><\/div>\n

7) She’s no stranger to weddings.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Betty was married 3 times to Dick Barker (pilot in the U.S. Army Air Corps), Lane Allen (a Hollywood agent), and finally Allen Ludden.\u00a0 She often appeared as a regular on game shows, including the show Password<\/em> in 1961, where she met her third husband Allen Ludden.\u00a0 The phrase \u2018third time\u2019s a charm\u2019 turned out to be true in their case, as they remained married from 1963 until Ludden died from stomach cancer in 1981. White called Ludden the love of her life.\u00a0 (Her first two marriages were short-lived, with the second lasting two years and the first ending after a mere five months.)<\/p>\n

8) White holds the distinct honor of being the OLDEST person to host Saturday Night Live<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

She didn\u2019t want to do\u00a0the show\u00a0at first, calling it challenging.\u00a0 It all started with a funny ad for a candy bar during the 2010 Super Bowl, which led to a Facebook campaign in support of White\u2019s appearance on SNL.\u00a0 She turned producer Lorne Michaels down three times before accepting the popular hosting gig.\u00a0 She was 88 at the time, beating out Miskel Spillman who was 80 when she hosted the show in 1977 after winning the “Anyone Can Host” contest SNL was running at the time. White said SNL was the \u2018scariest thing she\u2019s ever done<\/em>,\u2019 despite previously having hosted a live ad-lib show six days per week for five and a half years, Hollywood on Television<\/em>, starting in 1949.\u00a0 White is loving her newfound success, and believes she is the \u2018luckiest woman on two feet.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a09) She won\u2019t be watching an episode of Jersey Shore anytime soon.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

White has made it known in recent years that she is no fan of reality TV.\u00a0 She hasn\u2019t elaborated why, but it is safe to assume that her background in producing and writing conflicts with the fame that some random people with no talent are finding by merely taping their lives and, often, acting like morons.\u00a0 Ironically, White now hosts something of a reality TV show, Betty White’s Off Their Rockers<\/em> where old people prank the young.<\/p>\n

10) She has gone under the knife.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

You wouldn\u2019t think that sweet Betty would care to slow down the aging process, but she has admitted to some surgery prior to The Golden Girls<\/em>.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Ironically,\u00a0the show was about growing old and embracing it.<\/p>\n

11) White has no biological children of her own.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Her third husband, Allen Ludden, did have 3 children, and White says she is blessed to still have her stepchildren in her life.<\/p>\n

12) White is the oldest person to have been nominated for an Emmy<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>She currently holds the record as the oldest person to be nominated for an Emmy, nominated at the age of 90 in 2012 for “Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program” for Betty White’s Off Their Rockers<\/em>.\u00a0 She also holds the record for the longest span between her first Emmy nomination (for actual performances) and her last (with 16 in between) at 61 years (first in 1951 and the most recent to date in 2012).<\/p>\n

If you liked this Fact list, you might also enjoy:<\/p>\n