Page 95 - You - South Africa (February 2020)

YOU NEWS
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TOP: With fans and former co-staatars Ryan RReynoldds a dnd Sandra
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Bullock, who created a special birthday song for their icon.
ABOVE LEFT: Betty as a young actress. ABOVE RIGHT: Her star
on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. RIGHT: Over the years she’s
won seven Emmys and received a lifetime achievement award.
World Records.
South Africans first fell for her as the
“neighbourhood nymphomaniac” in the
Mary Tyler Moore Show but it was as the
deeply dippy Rose Nylund in the cult TV
series The Golden Girls that she wormed
her way forever into our hearts.
Betty originally auditioned for the role
of Blanche du Bois, the sex-mad one of
the Golden Girls quartet, but the part
went to raunchy Rue McClanahan and
Betty went on to immortalise wide-eyed
and witless Rose.
Betty, who was born in Illinois but
moved to California as a young girl, can’t
remember the name of the 1939 show in
which she made her screen debut but
she can recall wearing her high school
GALLO IMAGES/GETTYIMAGES, SHUTTERSTOCK/GREATSTOCK, INSTAGRAM/@BETTYMWHITE, NBC
graduation dress and dancing the Merry
Widow waltz.
Her first standout role was in 1955 in
the sitcom Life with Elizabeth, in which
she played an animal-loving optimist
e
– a role she says was more like h the real
Betty than any other she’s playeed.
She’s a passionate animal-lover
and believes she would’ve beeen a
zookeeper if she hadn’t becom me
an actress. Her social mediaac-
-
counts are filled with animal
videos, she makes a point of
visiting zoos wherever she
travels and supports various
animal rights groups.
She even turned down a role
ol
as Helen Hunt’s mother in the Oscar-
winning movie As Good as It Gets be-
cause Jack Nicholson’s character chucks
a small dog down the trash chute of an
apartment building. The director refused
to cut the scene, and cast Shirley Knight
in the role instead.
When it comes to love, Betty has had
three husbands: her first marriage lasted
less than a year and the second just two
years. But she lost her heart to actor and
game-show host Allen Ludden, whom
she met when she was a regular on the
game show Password.
They were married for 19 years until
Allen’s death of stomach cancer in 1981.
“I miss having someone to hold,” Betty
said after he died. “But if you’ve had the
best, who needs the rest?”
Asked how she felt about losing the
love of her life, she said, “There’s no for-
mula. Keep busy with your work and
your life. You can’t become a profession-
l
LE with her
LEFT: Betty
th third hus band and
e lov e of her
A
li life, Allen Lud-
d den . RIGHT:
A
A An imal-
ov
lo l c cu ving Betty
u
uddles
a a lion cub
a at
t Reid
t
P P Pa
ark Zoo
T
i i inn Tucson,
Ariz ona.
al mourner.Itdoesn’thelpyouorothers.
Keep the person in your heart all the
time. Replay the good times. Be grateful
for the years you had.”
O, WHAT’S the key to her
longevity – a vegan diet and
green tea? Not a chance. Vod-
ka and hot dogs “probably in
that order” are more up her
S alley, she cheerfully admits.
And her tips for a long life? “Enjoy life.
Accentuate the positive. 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.”
Any regrets? Yes, one big one – and it
involves a man. Entertainment Weekly
once asked her, “Is there one thing out
there that Betty White still wants to do?”
“Robert Redford,” she shot back, dead-
pan.
She’s a huge fan of the actor, who’s 14
years her junior – although she says if
they ever do get to meet she’ll probably
be so embarrassed she won’t know what
to do with herself.
Betty has bid farewell to all her fellow
Golden Girls: Estelle Getty (Sophia) died
in 2008, Bea Arthur (Dorothy) in 2009
and Rue in 2010. But the memories and
the reruns live on, as do collections of
some of the girls’ best lines.
Take this gem:
Rose: Gee, Sophia! You’re awfully cranky
today.
Sophia: Well, forgive me. But my arthritis
is acting up. And I realised today I haven’t
showered with a man in 22 years!
Dorothy: Ma, Pop’s been dead 27 years.
Sophia: What’s your point?
Dorothy: Ma, what are you saying?
Rose: Isn’t it obvious, Dorothy? She
showered with a dead man for five years.
Happy birthday, Betty. And thank you
for being a friend. S
SOURCES: METRO.CO.UK, GUARDIAN.CO.UK, CLOSERWEEKLY.COM,
PARADE.COM, MENTALFLOSS.COM, LATIMES.COM, FORBES.COM