R.I.P. Betty White

[danfrank]

Looooovve Betty White yet I couldn't believe she won back-to-back Emmys over Rhoda's little sister (Julie Kavner as Brenda Morgenstern) in the mid-1970s. (That's how much of an awards show junkie I was even then.) Happy 2022!! Health, peace, and happiness for all of us,

I agree that Julie Kavner was fantastic on Rhoda (as was Nancy Walker as Rhoda’s mom); she finally won the Emmy for that role a couple of years later. The Emmy for supporting actress went to the Mary Tyler Moore show 6 years in a row with three different actresses (White, Valerie Harper, Cloris Leachman). The MTM streak was broken by Mary Kay Place in Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, also fantastic. I guess you could say this was the golden age for comedy supporting actresses. For me it was the golden age of television comedies, period.

[Jefforey Smith]

Looooovve Betty White yet I couldn't believe she won back-to-back Emmys over Rhoda's little sister (Julie Kavner as Brenda Morgenstern) in the mid-1970s. (That's how much of an awards show junkie I was even then.) Happy 2022!! Health, peace, and happiness for all of us,

[OscarGuy]

My first exposure to her was The Golden Girls, but I soon discovered her in The Mary Tyler Moore Show and between the two, it was pretty much the best time one could have. She will be missed although she really hadn't done much in the last few years. When she was trotted out for a career honor a year or two ago (by a group I can't remember right now), she looked frail and very much out of it. I didn't expect her to keep going as she did, but she did. She endured longer than I think any of us would have expected. I assume the 100th birthday event will now be a celebration of her life being less than 3 weeks away.

[Mister Tee]

Boy, Sonic sure called it about the year-end obit lists being finalized too early. Has there ever been a holiday period where so many huge names left us?

Like dan, my first exposure to Betty White was watching Password in the early 60s. She made a big impression there (and clearly made one on host Allen Ludden, as well). Her bigger triumphs, Mary Tyler Moore and Golden Girls, were still ahead, which is remarkable -- in an era when many women were viewed as washed up post-45, she had career-defining roles all the way up to her 70s.

Possibly even more amazing is the beloved level she achieved in this past decade. Few people in their 90s even leave the house much; she seemed to be everywhere, and rose to a point of what feels like universal love. Something I said here when Gene Wilder died: when all else is considered, it's people who made us laugh that we miss the most deeply. Betty White made many, many people laugh over many years, and, while there's gratitude for that, there's also a deep sadness it ever had to be extinguished.

[Big Magilla]

I just turned on the TV to MSNBC. The host and some unidentified bubblehead comedienne were laughing. I thought it was another piece on her upcoming 100th birthday. Then I looked at the scroll - "Betty White dies days before her 100th birthday".

https://amp.tmz.com/2021/12/31/betty-wh ... den-girls/

[danfrank]

Well, we thought she might live forever, but alas. As a kid I remember seeing her a lot on television, on game shows like Password. I remember her being a way better player than most of the other celebs. Her biggest impression on me came with her role on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, where she was just fantastically funny. She was the last surviving regular cast member of that beautiful show. I only occasionally watched Golden Girls (I know, take away my gay card), and of course that is the role for which she will be most remembered. I know she’s acted in the last couple of decades but she has mostly become this iconic personality, the spunky and spicy very old broad. She played it well. She was a good one, and I will miss her.

[Sabin]

That's why you gotta wait until the end of the year.