[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 18 (Friday, January 28, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E73]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    HONORING THE LIFE OF BETTY WHITE

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                             HON. TED LIEU

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, January 28, 2022

  Mr. LIEU. Madam Speaker, I rise to celebrate the life of Betty White, 
who passed away on December 31, 2021, at the age of 99, three weeks 
before what would have been her 100th birthday. A longtime resident of 
California's 33rd Congressional District, Betty was a Hollywood icon 
and a devoted animal welfare advocate whose career in theater, film, 
television, and radio spanned eight decades. In that time, she earned 
numerous awards and accolades and endeared herself to audiences across 
America and around the world.
  Betty was born on January 17, 1922, in Oak Park, Illinois, to Horace 
and Tess White. The family moved to Beverly Hills when Betty was a 
child, and she graduated from Beverly Hills High School in 1939. 
Betty's entertainment career began as a recent graduate, when she took 
part in one of the first ever experimental television broadcasts. She 
put her career on pause because of World War II, when she served in the 
American Women's Voluntary Services, delivering supplies to soldiers 
stationed along the Santa Monica Mountains.
  After the war, she dabbled in both radio and television, appearing in 
radio shows like Blondie and This is Your FBI and hosting the talk 
shows Hollywood on Television and The Betty White Show. She established 
herself as a force for justice on one of her eponymous shows, willing 
to stand up for what was right. After featuring Arthur Duncan, a Black 
tap dancer, on her nationally syndicated show, Betty received calls 
from television stations in the Jim Crow South to fire Duncan or risk 
being taken off the air. Rather than accede to racist demands, Betty 
invited him back three more times.
  Though Betty had married twice before, it wasn't until her stints in 
the early 1960s on various game shows as a celebrity guest on To Tell 
the Truth, I've Got a Secret, and What's My Line? that she met her true 
love. After appearing on Password, she and host Allan Ludden got to 
know each other, and he eventually proposed. They married in 1963 and 
remained together until his death by stomach cancer in 1981. The couple 
had had no children of their own, but she helped raise Ludden's three 
sons and daughters from a previous marriage. Of Ludden, she said ``I'll 
never get over him'' and never remarried.
  Betty played her best-known roles in the latter part of her career. 
She played Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show from 1973 to 
1977 and Rose Nyland on The Golden Girls from 1985 to 1992. As Sue Ann, 
Betty was wily, crafty, and cunning behind her wide, beaming smile, 
which contrasted with Rose's naivete and innocence. Both roles helped 
her win Emmy Awards, of which she won eight in total: five Primetime, 
two Daytime, and a Los Angeles regional. She also won three American 
Comedy Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and a Grammy.
  Appearances in a Super Bowl commercial for Snickers, 2009's romantic 
comedy The Proposal, and a guest host spot on Saturday Night Live 
reintroduced Betty to a new generation of film and television viewers, 
sparking a resurgence in her career that lasted well into her nineties. 
However, she repeatedly said over the years that show business was only 
a means to fund her other passion: animal welfare.
  Betty grew up surrounded by animals, recounting how her family at one 
point owned 20 dogs. Such an upbringing cemented her love for all 
species at an early age. She produced and starred in The Pet Set, a 
syndicated talk show in which celebrity guests talked about their pets 
in the early 1970s. Betty also contributed and sat on the board of 
trustees of a host of animal welfare organizations, including the 
Morris Animal Foundation, Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association, the 
American Humane Association, and the Fund for Animals.
  Betty's support for the Los Angeles Zoo and its foundation dated back 
to the zoo's opening in 1966. In 1974, she joined The Greater Los 
Angeles Zoo Association's Board of Trustees and hosted a television 
special alongside several celebrity friends, including Mary Tyler 
Moore, Jimmy Stewart, and Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley. In 2006, Los 
Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa honored Betty with the title of 
``Ambassador to the Animals,'' and the Los Angeles Chapter of the 
American Association of Zoo Keepers made her an honorary zookeeper in 
2013. Throughout the years, Betty was seen at the zoo's charitable 
functions smiling alongside an assortment of animals, including 
pythons, owls, sloths, and giraffes.
  Betty White's pioneering career brought laughter into the homes of 
millions and will continue to do so for generations to come. Her 
support for animal welfare over the years, which inspired thousands to 
carry on the torch of the cause after her death, also cannot be 
overstated. May her memory be a blessing.

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