Agency Report
Actress Betty White, who made US television audience laugh for more than seven decades, starring on popular sitcoms “The Golden Girls” and “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” has died, US media reported Friday. She was 99.
The pioneering Emmy-winning comedienne enjoyed one of the longest careers in showbiz history: she began regularly appearing on television in 1949 and had a voice role in “Toy Story 4” in 2019.
“Even though Betty was about to be 100, I thought she would live forever,” her agent Jeff Witjas told People magazine in a statement.
“I will miss her terribly and so will the animal world that she loved so much.
“I don’t think Betty ever feared passing because she always wanted to be with her most beloved husband Allen Ludden. She believed she would be with him again.”
TMZ, citing law enforcement sources, said she died at her home on Friday. The cause of death was not immediately revealed.
The news sparked an outpouring of tributes, with President Joe Biden calling her “a lovely lady.”
“Ninety-nine years old —- as my mother would say, God love her!” he told reporters.
White was one of the first woman producers on the 1950s sitcom “Life With Elizabeth,” in which she also starred.
Then, as a nonagenarian, she interacted with much younger fans on Instagram.
“It’s incredible that I’m still in this business — and you are still putting up with me!” White said at the 2018 Emmys.
In all, she won five primetime Emmys, two daytime awards including one for lifetime achievement and a regional Emmy in Los Angeles.
White, whose signature halo of white-blonde hair and clear blue eyes were instantly recognizable to American viewers, adopted a variety of on-screen personas.
She went from playing a 1950s housewife on “Elizabeth” to a man-hungry 1970s TV personality on “Moore” to a doe-eyed 1980s “Golden Girl” retiree.
In real life, she loved delivering irreverent one-liners.
When asked by late night host David Letterman about her favorite pastimes, the long-time animal welfare advocate replied: “(I like to) play with animals, mostly. And vodka’s kind of a hobby.
