Betty White was born 101 years ago today.
White was an actress, comedian, presenter, singer, author and television personality. In 2013, she was awarded by the Guinness World Records with having the longest television career for a female entertainer.
To contemporary audiences, White was best known for her television roles as Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Rose Nylund on The Golden Girls.
Regarded as a television pioneer for being one of the first women in television to have creative control in front of and behind the camera, White won six Emmy Awards (five for acting), receiving 20 Emmy nominations over her career, including being the first woman to receive an Emmy for game show hosting (for the short-lived, Just Men!) and is the only woman to have won an Emmy in all performing comedic categories.
In May, 2010, White became the oldest person to guest-host Saturday Night Live, for which she received a Primetime Emmy Award.
White also holds the record for longest span between Emmy nominations for performances — her first was in 1951 and her last was in 2012, a span of 61 years. She was the oldest nominee at age 91. The actress is also the oldest winner of a competitive Grammy Award, which she won in 2012.
Due to her legacy in the entertainment industry, The American Comedy Awards, The Screen Actor Guild and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts all awarded White with Lifetime achievement awards recognizing her contribution to television.
A 2011 poll conducted by Reuters and Ipsos revealed that White was considered to be the most popular and most trusted celebrity among Americans, beating out the likes of Denzel Washington, Sandra Bullock and Tom Hanks.
White died on Dec. 31, 2021, only days before her 100th birthday.