Betty White, Beloved Actress and Hollywood Legend, Has Passed Away at 99

Betty White has died at the age of 99, weeks before celebrating her 100th birthday.

White was a pioneer in Hollywood, having had the longest running career for any woman in TV. In eight decades, she racked up more than 120 film and television credits, including her famous role as the beloved Rose Nylund in The Golden Girls from 1985-1992. She also starred in The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Carol Burnett Show, Hot in Cleveland, and countless others.

Known for her sharp wit and humor, White was revered by fellow Hollywood icons. Carol Burnett, White’s costar on The Carol Burnett Show, was in awe of her show-stealing comedic timing.

“She’d come on my show, [The Carol Burnett Show], and if there was a tinge of risqué humor in one of our sketches, she’d roll with it and make it even funnier and add a little wink to show that she was thinking of something sexy,” says Carol Burnett. “She’s not a stand-up. She’s not a jokester. It’s the way she can twist a line to get a laugh.”

White was recently interviewed by People Magazine to celebrate her upcoming 100th birthday. She said she was “lucky” to be healthy and thriving well into her 90s, and credited her mother for her kind nature. According to White, she was “born a cockeyed optimist. I got it from my mom, and that never changed. I always find the positive.”

More Betty White:

These Rare Photos of Young Betty White Prove the Golden Girl Was Always a Star >

29 Photos of Betty White Over the Years >

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