We have now bid farewell to the final Golden Girl
Betty White, TV’s eternal Golden Girl has passed away at the age of 99, just 17 days away from her 100th birthday.
In a statement to PEOPLE, Betty White’s agent and close friend Jeff Witas said that even though the veteran star was going to be 100 soon, he expected her to live forever. He added that the actress died peacefully in her sleep early this morning.
Her career
White, who was born on January 17, 1922, began her career at eight years in 1930 and later became a theatre artist. She did various radio shows and reading commercials later. She then went on to star on shows like Blondie, The Great Gildersleeve, and This Is Your FBI. She was then offered her own radio show called The Betty White Show in 1949.
However, White got to display her comedy chaps on The Mary Tyler Moor Show in the ’70s, The Golden Girls in the ’80s, and many other sitcoms and movies since then. The actress was wickedly funny in all her interviews as well, and was always a “cockeyed optimist,” which she believes was a trait passed by her mother. She had also spoken about being lucky that she is in such good health and feels so good at her age. “I try to avoid anything green. I think it’s working,” she joked.
The tributes
An outpouring of tributes came for White came from various celebrities and political figures, including US President Joe Biden. Movie stars like Reese Witherspoon, Sandra Bullock, and Ryan Reynolds also gave tributes. Reynolds in particular, had been a close friend of White since starring together in 2009’s The Proposal, and often referred to her as his ex-girlfriend.
We will miss you, Betty White. Rest in paradise.
Not many days before, we lost another gem of the entertainment industry, Jean-Marc Vallée.