How did Betty White live out her last years during COVID? Did she have a long-running
feud with one of her "Golden Girls" co-stars? These are tragic details about Betty White.
The Great Depression devastated the livelihoods of millions of Americans, and its detrimental effects
were felt across society for many years after. In search of a better life for their daughter,
Betty White's parents moved from Illinois to California in the midst of the Depression,
but they faced financial hardships even after the move. Speaking with the Archive of American
Television, White discussed the impact of the economic crisis when growing up.
"My dad was still working for [electric company] Crouse-Hinds,
but nobody was making any money, and so to make added income he started making
radios ... and he would sell them as a side line. Well, of course it was the
middle of the Depression and nobody had any money, so he didn't sell a lot of radios."
The actor went on to explain that her father didn't make the
wisest financial decision when he decided to trade radios for dogs,
at one point ending up "with 20 dogs," whom the family struggled to feed.
Despite the difficulties she endured, her father's canine commitment
ultimately had a positive effect on White, as it instilled in her a love of animals.
Growing up in the male-dominated society of the 1920s and '30s, Betty White experienced
sexist discrimination. In fact, her initial childhood dream was to become a forest ranger,
but those dreams were shattered by patriarchal traditions. She told ABC News.
"But back then, girls were not allowed to become forest rangers
Shockingly, Forest History notes that it wasn't until 1978 that women could be forest rangers.
As reported by Time, White was finally made an honorary forest ranger in 2010.
In a moving speech, White said that though she might not have been an official forest ranger…
"I've been working for the cause for the last 89 years."
At the event, U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell somberly acknowledged the sexist
discrimination that had prevented White from fulfilling her ambition all those decades earlier.
"I’m sorry you couldn't join us before."
He continued to say,
"Judging from your great career, you would have made marvelous
contributions to our agency and to the cause of conservation across the United States."
Finally, Tidwell ended by saying,
"Betty, you are a role model for little girls, I think a role model for all of us,
never to give up on our dreams."
The significance of the award was not lost on White, who told ABC News,
"I was so pleased to look out and see all those women in their ranger uniforms."
Betty White was renowned for supporting progressive causes, and her career subsequently
suffered for her passionate convictions. In the 1950s, White snagged her eponymous variety show,
but her glittering fame abruptly came to a halt when she stood up for the rights
of the marginalized. When Black tap dancer Arthur Duncan appeared on her show in 1954,
there was a racist backlash resulting in calls for the talented performer to be fired.
White recounted the events in the documentary, "Betty White:
First Lady of Television" that she had three simple words for those people.
"Live with it."
The show was taken off the air that same year. While it remains a matter of dispute
whether Duncan's presence was the reason for "The Betty White Show's" premature
cancellation, the racist furor in which its termination was mired is undeniable.
White has suggested that her support of Duncan played a role in the show's end.
"All through the South, there was this whole ruckus. They
were going to take our show off the air if we didn't get rid of Arthur because he was Black."
In 1963, Betty White married for the third and final time,
but the relationship was initially blighted by tragedy. When White met Allen Ludden,
he was the host of the popular series "Password," but beneath the cheerful façade of the game show,
Ludden was suffering immeasurable heartache. White told the Archive of American Television,
"Just as 'Password' started, his wife was dying of cancer. So he would go from the hospital over,
do the show, and to do a new show takes a lot of concentration without certainly that.
And the week that I did 'Password' ... was the week she died."
Ludden's wife, Margaret, left behind three children, aged 9, 10, and 13 at the time.
White and Ludden bonded and wed sometime after. But his daughter,
Martha, did not take too kindly to White. As reported by Pop Crunch,
Martha reportedly harbored intense anger toward her new stepmom.
This alleged animosity wasn't easy on the beloved "Golden Girls" star,
as her new hubby and stepdaughter reportedly argued incessantly over White.
In 1981, Allen Ludden died of stomach cancer after slipping into a coma at the age of 62, as reported
by The New York Times. Betty White and Ludden had been married for almost 20 years, and the loss
devastated her. To make a tragic situation even sadder, White's mother died just four years later
when she first began her role as Rose on "The Golden Girls." as did co-star Bea Arthur's mom.
In what was perhaps a cathartic turn of events, White re-enacted her two bereavements on screen
when filming the episode "The Heart Attack." In the Season 1 episode,
Rose recalls the death of her husband, and it proved to be a particularly painful scene for
the actor to perform in the wake of both losses. Director Lex Passaris revealed to Closer Weekly,
"We were ready to shut down the show for as long as they needed,
but both ladies said, 'No. We need to work."
He continued,
"Rose tells a story about her husband Charlie's death, and Betty's basically
talking about Allen [Ludden]. Betty's voice kind of cracked and she took a breath and said to me,
'I'd give anything to have that year of my life back again.'"
When a loved one dies, many people wish that they could have just one more moment with the deceased,
one more hug, one more chance to say, "I love you." For Betty White,
this self-introspection was all the more tragic because she could have
enjoyed more time with Allen Ludden had she accepted his initial romantic gestures.
In an emotional interview on "Where Are They Now?" with Oprah Winfrey,
White revealed that she deeply regretted turning down Ludden's first marriage proposal,
lamenting that she could have had one more year with the love of her life.
"I spent a whole year, wasted a whole year that Allen and I could have had together, saying, 'No,
I wouldn't marry him. No, I won't. No, I won't leave California. No, I won't move to New York.
"I wasted a whole year we could have had together."
Much has been made of the supposed long-running feud between Betty White and her "Golden Girls"
co-star, Bea Arthur. In 2011, White addressed the rumors, claiming that Arthur intensely disliked
her and made her life difficult on set. White alleged, per The Village Voice,
"Bea had a reserve. She was not that fond of me. She found me a pain in
the neck sometimes. It was my positive attitude — and that made Bea mad sometimes.
Sometimes if I was happy, she'd be furious!"
Jim Colucci author of "Golden Girls Forever: An Unauthorized Biography,"
talked to Fox News about Arthur's allegedly difficult on-set behavior.
"If you were chewing gum on the set, she would try to have you fired."
Moreover, Arthur's son, Matthew Saks, revealed that his mother took issue
with White's willingness to chat with fans between takes. He told The Hollywood Reporter,
"I think my mom didn't dig that. ... Betty was able to do it and
it didn't seem to affect her. But it rubbed my mom the wrong way."
Additionally, Saks explained to the publication that part of Arthur's
dislike of White stemmed from her belief that her co-star wasn't a true thespian.
"I think she felt she was more of an actress than
Betty. Mom came from Broadway. Betty starred on a game show at one point."
A renowned animal welfare advocate throughout her life, Betty White enjoyed the company of
numerous pets. In fact, she told TV Guide in 2009 that her animal welfare work meant
more to her than acting. Sadly, a number of White's beloved pets died around this time,
leaving her with just her golden retriever, Pontiac. In 2008, she had to endure the loss
of three of her pets within the space of a couple of months. She told TV Guide,
"About a year ago, I lost my 16-and-a-half-year-old Shih Tzu,
my 10-year-old golden and my 11-year-old Himalayan
kitty all within two months of each other. I was absolutely devastated,"
In another tragic turn of events, White also outlived Pontiac, who died in 2017,
according to People. Poignantly, the actor's personal assistant told the
outlet that White decided to forgo adopting any other animals following her dog's death,
as she couldn't bear the thought of having to part ways. She didn't "want to leave them behind."
Speaking to Smithsonian Magazine,
White revealed that she always personally replied to fan mail about the loss of a pet.
"Because I know how it hurts. If they write to me about that loss, I can't not respond,
to give them a little word of comfort or sympathy or let them
know I certainly understand. I answer pet loss mail and I answer mail from widows."
As someone in her '90s, Betty White was at great risk throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Subsequently, like so many other clinically vulnerable people, she spent her final years
shielding alone in her house. While self-isolating was undoubtedly a wise decision to protect her
health, in May 2021, TMZ reported that White was feeling lonely and was looking forward
to finally being able to go outside and see her friends again. The outlet notes that she hadn't
been leaving the house and could only see her friends through the barrier of her windows.
Moreover, the only visitors White had were carers. At the start of the pandemic in 2020,
a representative for the actor told Today that nobody was permitted in except her helpers.
As reported by the New York Post, her final years were made increasingly challenging due to the fact
that she wasn't able to self-isolate where she wanted to — the Carmel, California house in which
she'd lived with late husband, Allen Ludden. For convenience, she had to spend her last
days in a Brentwood, Los Angeles home that she wasn't particularly fond of. An insider claimed,
"She never wanted to leave her home in Carmel, but was forced to for at-home
care. If she had it her way, Betty would've lived and died in that home [in Carmel].
It's the home she shared with her husband, it's where she felt more comfortable."
With the persistent threat of COVID-19, 2021 was a difficult year for so many people.
For Betty White and her devoted fans, the year ended on the saddest possible note.
White died on New Year's Eve, a mere 18 days before she would reach the milestone
of her 100th birthday. Her final Instagram post remains a tragic reminder of what can never be.
Just three days before she died, she posted a photo of her People magazine cover,
entitled "Betty White Turns 100!" The star wrote in part in the caption,
"My 100th birthday... I cannot believe it is coming up."
Following her death, White's agent told People that he truly "thought she would live forever."
However, despite looking far younger than her almost-centenarian self, White was reportedly
unwell for quite a while. White's long-time dress designers, Pol' Atteu and his husband
Patrik Simpson, revealed to Hollywood Life that her health had been faltering. Atteu said,
"I've known that her health was not great for some time, but it wasn't until October
that I knew how bad it was. In October, we had contacted her management about doing a gown for
her 100th birthday. We were told her health was failing and that a gown would not be needed."
The Golden Girl may be gone, but she will never be forgotten. Thank you for being a friend, Betty.