Betty White^†

She appeared on an experimental TV broadcast in 1939, before most Americans had ever seen a television set. By 1953 she was producing Life with Elizabeth, making her one of the first women to produce her own sitcom. The Mary Tyler Moore Show's writers handed her the role of Sue Ann Nivens in 1973, a deliberately irritating character that earned her two Emmys. The real landmark came in 1985 when The Golden Girls turned four women over 50 into primetime stars, and her Rose Nylund became the audience's favorite.

At 88, most careers are retrospectives. White got a Snickers commercial instead. The 2010 Super Bowl ad put her on a football field taking hits, and the viral fallout triggered a Facebook petition for her to host SNL. She did, in May 2010, with 12 million viewers watching, and won a seventh Emmy for it. She almost made it to 100, dying on December 31, 2021, seventeen days short.

She turned down a role in As Good as It Gets because she couldn't get past the scene where a dog gets tossed down a laundry chute. She described her life as split 'in absolute half: half animals, half show business.' She sat on the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association board for nearly 50 years and served as president emerita of the Morris Animal Foundation. Off set, her diet ran to Red Vines, hot dogs, and Diet Coke, and she held a regular seat in a poker club where her favorite game was called 'Screw Thy Neighbor.'

She suffered a stroke on Christmas Day, six days before her death. No public service was held at her request, but fans gathered at her Hollywood Walk of Fame star to leave flowers and stuffed animals. On January 17, 2022, the documentary Betty White: A Celebration played in nearly 900 theaters on what would have been her 100th birthday.