January 2022 Nonconformist of the Month – Betty White
On December 31, 2021, the great Betty White passed away eighteen days before her 100th birthday. As a much-loved icon for many generations, she held the world record for the celebrity with the longest career (more than 75 years). Her seven and a half decades on television made her a household name.
In 1941, before she was famous, she served in the Army as part of the American Women's Voluntary Services. Her first jobs as an entertainer involved reading commercials and small parts of various radio shows. This led to her own radio show and her transition to live television, where she co-hosted a variety show. When the host left, she took over as host for the show. This led to her again being given her own show, this time on television. It was not common for a woman to have her own show in the 1950’s. She was ahead of her time.
Over the years, she continued to appear in television shows and commercials too numerous to mention and as a contestant on several popular game shows. Then she was offered a regular role on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. This led to another stint hosting her own show as well as a role on Mama’s Family and of course her beloved role on The Golden Girls. She made appearances and had guest roles on dramatic shows and in movies as well through the years. Betty White became the oldest person to host Saturday Night Live in 2010 at the age of 88. She also starred in a Snicker’s commercial and co-starred in the comedy Hot in Cleveland that year. She was nominated for and won many awards over the years.
Betty White was a ground-breaker not only for her long career, but as a role model for independent women. She chose to have a career over children and although she embraced the role of stepmother to her husband’s children, she never had children of her own. She has very vocal about her animal activism and also supported LBGTQ rights while she opposed racial injustices. In interviews she was always liberated and optimistic, not to mention hilarious. She often stated that she preferred to find the humor in situations rather than to allow them to get her down. Betty White was a living example of this.
As she aged, she embraced it by remaining active and quick of wit until the end. Prior to her death, she was preparing for her 100th birthday party, which was to be celebrated with the world on January 17, 2022. Instead of attending her birthday party, many people donated to animal charities in her honor on that day instead, making it unofficially “Betty White Day.” Thank you Betty White for your humor, inspiration, and leadership for so many years. You are missed.