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HONORING THE LIFE OF BETTY WHITE
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HON. TED LIEU
of california
in the house of representatives
Friday, January 28, 2022
Mr. LIEU. Madam Speaker, I rise to celebrate the life of Betty White, who passed away on December 31, 2021, at the age of 99, three weeks before what would have been her 100th birthday. A longtime resident of California's 33rd Congressional District, Betty was a Hollywood icon and a devoted animal welfare advocate whose career in theater, film, television, and radio spanned eight decades. In that time, she earned numerous awards and accolades and endeared herself to audiences across America and around the world.
Betty was born on January 17, 1922, in Oak Park, Illinois, to Horace and Tess White. The family moved to Beverly Hills when Betty was a child, and she graduated from Beverly Hills High School in 1939. Betty's entertainment career began as a recent graduate, when she took part in one of the first ever experimental television broadcasts. She put her career on pause because of World War II, when she served in the American Women's Voluntary Services, delivering supplies to soldiers stationed along the Santa Monica Mountains.
After the war, she dabbled in both radio and television, appearing in radio shows like Blondie and This is Your FBI and hosting the talk shows Hollywood on Television and The Betty White Show. She established herself as a force for justice on one of her eponymous shows, willing to stand up for what was right. After featuring Arthur Duncan, a Black tap dancer, on her nationally syndicated show, Betty received calls from television stations in the Jim Crow South to fire Duncan or risk being taken off the air. Rather than accede to racist demands, Betty invited him back three more times.
Though Betty had married twice before, it wasn't until her stints in the early 1960s on various game shows as a celebrity guest on To Tell the Truth, I've Got a Secret, and What's My Line? that she met her true love. After appearing on Password, she and host Allan Ludden got to know each other, and he eventually proposed. They married in 1963 and remained together until his death by stomach cancer in 1981. The couple had had no children of their own, but she helped raise Ludden's three sons and daughters from a previous marriage. Of Ludden, she said ``I'll never get over him'' and never remarried.
Betty played her best-known roles in the latter part of her career. She played Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show from 1973 to 1977 and Rose Nyland on The Golden Girls from 1985 to 1992. As Sue Ann, Betty was wily, crafty, and cunning behind her wide, beaming smile, which contrasted with Rose's naivete and innocence. Both roles helped her win Emmy Awards, of which she won eight in total: five Primetime, two Daytime, and a Los Angeles regional. She also won three American Comedy Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and a Grammy.
Appearances in a Super Bowl commercial for Snickers, 2009's romantic comedy The Proposal, and a guest host spot on Saturday Night Live reintroduced Betty to a new generation of film and television viewers, sparking a resurgence in her career that lasted well into her nineties. However, she repeatedly said over the years that show business was only a means to fund her other passion: animal welfare.
Betty grew up surrounded by animals, recounting how her family at one point owned 20 dogs. Such an upbringing cemented her love for all species at an early age. She produced and starred in The Pet Set, a syndicated talk show in which celebrity guests talked about their pets in the early 1970s. Betty also contributed and sat on the board of trustees of a host of animal welfare organizations, including the Morris Animal Foundation, Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association, the American Humane Association, and the Fund for Animals.
Betty's support for the Los Angeles Zoo and its foundation dated back to the zoo's opening in 1966. In 1974, she joined The Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association's Board of Trustees and hosted a television special alongside several celebrity friends, including Mary Tyler Moore, Jimmy Stewart, and Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley. In 2006, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa honored Betty with the title of
``Ambassador to the Animals,'' and the Los Angeles Chapter of the American Association of Zoo Keepers made her an honorary zookeeper in 2013. Throughout the years, Betty was seen at the zoo's charitable functions smiling alongside an assortment of animals, including pythons, owls, sloths, and giraffes.
Betty White's pioneering career brought laughter into the homes of millions and will continue to do so for generations to come. Her support for animal welfare over the years, which inspired thousands to carry on the torch of the cause after her death, also cannot be overstated. May her memory be a blessing.
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SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 168, No. 18
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