The brilliantly adaptive life of Betty White
There is a woman who charmed television viewers from the late 1940s, and radio programs ten years prior. When she first appeared on television and radio, her put-on sheepishness helped her get away with criticizing culture with disarming charm. Her style was uniquely her own: when she said something important, the joke was always on her.
You might recognize some of her early characters: the flighty Sue Ann Nevins, on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, the pretentious Ellen Harper-Jackson, on Mama’s Family, the tragic Ann Douglas, on The Bold and the Beautiful, and of course, Rose Nylund, on the Golden Girls. I speak, of course, about the late Betty White, who entered immortality a few days ago, on New Year’s Eve 2021.
Already beloved for her work in radio and a sit-com called Life with Elizabeth, there was this new idea for a talk show in the 1950s: The Betty White Show, which was supposed to be the pinnacle of her career, but the show was canceled in the first season… twice. But she made a come-back in the Mary Tyler Moore show and in many other supporting roles between the 60s and 80s.
Another Betty White Show in the late 1970s — this time, a sit-com — might have provided a nice capstone to her career, but it too was short-lived. But she came back again in a long-running show about seniors talking about sex and various…
