Her birthday plan sounds sweet and fun. In fact, it's the perfect way to have fun during these times we live in.
There is no one quite like actress and comedian Betty White. The Golden Girls star has been working in the entertainment industry for over eight decades! And she is set to ring in her 99th birthday on January 17. The golden girl of Hollywood shared her plans, which includes maintaining quarantine rules. After all, she falls under the high-risk category because of her age.
"You probably didn't ask, but I’ll tell you anyway," White joked with ET. "What am I doing for my birthday? Running a mile each morning has been curtailed by COVID, so I am working on getting The Pet Set re-released, and feeding the two ducks who come to visit me every day," she added.
The Pet Set was produced by her late husband. The show from the 1970s showcased her love of animals and featured celebrities like Carol Burnett, Mary Tyler Moore, Doris Day, James Stewart, Burt Reynolds, and more. "The Pet Set is one of my favorite shows," White said in a news release. "I’m thrilled it’s going to be seen again after all these years," she added.
White, whose full name is Betty Marion White Ludden, was married to Allen Ludden, the love of her life, from 1963 to 1981 until his death. She was previously married to WWII pilot Dick Barker and theatrical agent Lane Allen, according to Biography.
She has been enjoying success well into her 80s and then her 90s, when she joined the cast of Hot in Cleveland in 2010. She also became the oldest host of Saturday Night Live.
After all these years, she continues to work so she "can afford to keep doing" her charity work, she has said. She is passionate about the welfare of animals and has worked with the Los Angeles Zoo and the Morris Animal Foundation for several decades. "I'm actually the luckiest old broad alive. Half my life is working in a profession I love and the other half is working with animals," she said.
In 2012, during an interview with CBS Sunday Morning at the Central Park Zoo, the 98-year-old joked that she doesn't "necessarily admit" it but she likes animals more than humans. "When did this love affair with animals start?" asked Katie Couric at the time. "Oh, in the womb!" she responded. "My mother and dad were the same way. Yeah. So, it's been a joy of my life the whole time," she added.
However, the funny woman did love her producer husband, Ludden, more than animals. She met him in 1961 when he was the host of the game show Password. White, who had been divorced twice by then, had almost given up on love, but she hit it off with Ludden almost immediately. They started dating each other eventually but she wanted to take her time before walking down the aisle again, as per CheatSheet.
She was hesitant about re-marrying even though he proposed twice. When he asked for the third time, he sent her a stuffed Easter bunny with gold and sapphire earrings. It came with a note that read, "Now, come on, will you marry me?" Her heart melted just like the chocolate, and she accepted his proposal.
They tied the knot at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas on June 14, 1963. They were married until he died of stomach cancer in 1981. She never had kids of her own but is a stepmom to three. The living legend never regretted not having children. "I’m so compulsive about stuff, I know if I had ever gotten pregnant, of course, that would have been my whole focus. But I didn’t choose to have children because I’m focused on my career. And I just don’t think as compulsive as I am, that I could manage both," she told CBS.
References:
https://www.biography.com/actor/betty-white
