Fans, friends, and celebrities alike are mourning the loss of legendary actor Betty White,
after her agent broke the news that she tragically died on New Year's Eve. According to the Hollywood
Reporter, White died in her Los Angeles home unexpectedly, weeks before turning 100.
The actor spent eight decades working in Hollywood including iconic roles in "The Mary Tyler Moore
Show," "The Golden Girls," and "Hot in Cleveland." White's agent Jeff Witjas told People magazine,
"I will miss her terribly [...] I don't think Betty ever feared passing because she always
wanted to be with her most beloved husband Allen Ludden. She believed she would be with him again."
White confirmed just that back in 2012 in an interview with "CBS Sunday Morning."
The star told Katie Couric that her "mother had the most wonderful
outlook on death" that she adopted herself, explaining,
"She would always say, 'Nobody knows. People think they do — you can believe whatever you
want to believe what happens at that last moment — but nobody ever knows until it happens.'"
News of White's death came as a surprise to fans, and to her agent, who told People,
quote, "Even though Betty was about to be 100, I thought she would live forever." Now, details are
emerging about the cause of death for White, and whether or not her health had an impact.
According to her agent, the star died on New Year's Eve in her sleep,
seemingly of natural causes. He told People magazine that White, quote,
"died peacefully in her sleep at her home." White had spoken with the magazine in a piece published
just days prior as she looked forward to her 100th birthday, telling the outlet,
"I'm so lucky to be in such good health and feel so good at this age."
Back in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic first began, reps for White told Today that the actor
was "doing very well" as fans worried about the then-98-year-old. White's rep told the show,
"No one is permitted in except those who must. She owns literally thousands of
crossword puzzle books and is constantly doing them to keep her mind jumping."
Aside from crossword puzzles, more than 70 years of work,
and avoiding "anything green," as the actor told People, White has offered other tidbits into how
she stayed healthy in her 99 years of life. Back in 2014, White wrote an op-ed in Harper's Bazaar
detailing how she doesn't "eat anything special," but enjoys french fries,
hot dogs, and "vodka on the rocks." Then in 2018, the actor told Parade her secret
to longevity is to, quote, "accentuate the positive, not the negative." White continued,
"It sounds so trite, but a lot of people will pick out something to complain about,
rather than say, 'Hey, that was great!' It's not hard to find great stuff if you look."
While tributes have poured all over social media for Betty White,
with a lot of fans sharing memes about how she still wasn't old enough to die yet,
she's always joked about being one of the oldest entertainers in the film and television industry.
During an interview back in 2010, White told Parade that she was more
"90210" than the original "Beverly Hills 90210" gang. Or at least, she was there first. White
moved to Beverly Hills from Chicago when she was just 18 months old with her family. She joked,
"I don't think California was even a state yet. I'm pretty sure it was still a territory."
In that same interview, White — who the internet adopted as their best friend
thanks in large part to her "Golden Girls" fame — says that if there's one friendship
she's not interested in, it's the Facebook kind.
She said that social media sounded like "a huge waste of time" during her "Saturday
Night Live" monologue back in 2010, which SNL replayed one day after her death.
White's episode originally aired on Mother's Day that year after — ironically enough — a
Facebook page was launched to get her on the show.
White was definitely a legendary entertainer, and way ahead of her time.
The world is going to miss her wit and her wisdom and her undeniable charm.