Early Life:
Betty White, born Betty White Ludden, was born on January 17,1922 and moved to Los Angeles in 1924. Betty wanted to be a writer, and wrote a play in high school, sparking her interest in the performing arts. She started out as an assistant at a local television station in the 1950`s. Her other TV series from that time include The Mary Tyler Moore Show and a series she produced with George Tibbles called Life with Elizabeth. Betty also briefly had her own chat show,The Betty White Show. Her role as Sue Ann Nivens, a tongue in cheek assistant to the show`s star earned White two Emmy awards.
Career Highlights:
Betty`s second major role as a widow in The Golden Girls won her an Emmy as a lead actress in a comic role in 1986. She has starred in films like Dennis The Menace Strikes Again! (1998),The Proposal (2009) and You Again (2010). Betty`s career took off again in 2010, with her role as Elka Ostrovsky in the popular TV show Hot in Cleveland. Her performance won her numerous Screen Actors Guild and Emmy Awards. She also appeared on hugely popular shows like Boston Legal, The Bold and The Beautiful (2006-09), Malcolm in the Middle (2004),Ugly Betty (2007), My Name is Earl (2009) and Community (2010). She is also an author and an animal activist. Betty is presently hosting her her own show called Betty White`s Smartest Animals in America. In 2012, Betty won her first Grammy, aged 90 for the audio version of her best-selling book, If You Ask Me (And of Course You Won`t).