A Special Night for Betty White

The “First Lady of Television” received a first-class salute when the Television Academy honored Betty White, August 7, 2009, at the Leonard H. Goldenson Theatre. “Betty White: Celebrating 60 Years on Television,” held in conjunction with the Academy’s own 60th anniversary this year, was an instant sell-out when announced and drew a sparkling array of White’s colleagues from her six decades on the air. Mary Tyler Moore flew in from New York. Georgia Engel took the night off from a theater tour in San Francisco. Valerie Harper called and asked to be included. The normally reclusive Craig Ferguson and the public appearance-shy producer Susan Harris willingly took the Goldenson stage to add their accolades.

White herself, resplendent in cream and gold, received a standing ovation when she entered. A six-time Emmy winner and 1995 inductee of the Television Academy Hall of Fame, she commented, “I can’t believe the people who showed up!” Others who gathered to pay tribute were Ed Asner, Cloris Leachman and Gavin MacLeod, castmates with Moore, Harper and Engel on the classic Mary Tyler Moore Show; singer-pianist Michael Feinstein; John McCook of daytime’s The Bold and the Beautiful; Password creator Bob Stewart and singer-author Tom Sullivan. Academy writers’ peer group co-governor Pete Hammond, who began his career as a writing intern at Moore’s MTM Enterprises, moderated.

White, who participated in a 1949 test of TV transmission (“We were on the fifth floor, and the picture went all the way down to the lobby”), began her career in earnest on a daily Los Angeles daytime show hosted by personality Al Jarvis. She earned her first Emmy in 1952 for the sitcom Life with Elizabeth. Clips from that era showed a bubbly brunette singing and performing physical comedy: “That must be some other brunette,” White quipped, “because everyone knows I’m a blonde.”

Having also begun appearing on game shows — the first was Grab Your Phone — White traveled to New York in 1961 for Password, where she was introduced to host Allen Ludden. Stewart recalled Ludden telling him, “I’m going to marry that woman.” “I didn’t want to upset him,” Stewart continued, “So I said, ‘Of course, you are. You’ve known her six minutes. How could she resist?’” She couldn’t; they were happily wed until Ludden’s death in 1981.

White was the first woman to host a game show, Just Men. She also created and hosted Pet Set, inspired by her love of animals. “It was my favorite show ever,” said the ardent animal-welfare activist. ”It was like giving a kid a candy store.” She and Sullivan, who is blind, reminisced about the novel they had co-authored, Together, inspired by his guide dog.

Next up: The evening’s highlight, a reunion of the cast of the Mary Tyler Moore Show, which White joined in the 1973 fourth season as man hunter Sue Ann Nivens, lusty host of the Happy Homemaker Show. “She was such a slut!” Moore recalled with a broad grin. “And it was such fun.” When the writers were searching for someone like Betty White, Moore added, “I said, ‘Why don’t you just ask her?’”

“When they asked me, I was so excited,” White related. “The Saturday morning after the first show [taping], the doorbell rang, and Mary was there with [then-husband] Grant [Tinker.] They had a casserole with a chocolate soufflé, and flowers. Mary said, ‘You’re going to be back.’ It was a very exciting morning.”

When Sue Ann came on to MacLeod’s character, married newswriter Murray Slaughter, “She taught me things to do with a bald head that shouldn’t even be mentioned!” MacLeod noted. As for Asner, whose Lou Grant was the primary object of Sue Ann’s affection, “She tried to seduce me,” he said. “I got a hernia from that scene.”

In 1985 came The Golden Girls, with White playing the innocent Rose Nylund, “for which I got a stunt check,” she announced. Said co-creator-executive producer Harris, “She’s an original. She took the character of Rose, who could have been a cliché, and brought such depth and dimension to her.”

McCook spoke of White’s ability to fit in immediately with the veteran, forty-script-pages-a-day cast of The Bold and the Beautiful, which has intimidated other seasoned performers. White has also conquered late night, beginning with appearances on Jack Paar’s Tonight Show, and is now a frequent guest for bits on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. “My show’s audience is usually college kids, younger,” said host Ferguson. “The biggest problem we have is quieting the audience down after Betty walks on to the stage. All of us are grateful to continue to be blessed with your genius.”

Throughout the night, there were clips from White’s multifaceted career, as well as taped tributes from Rue McClanahan, Vanessa Williams and Jay Leno. The celebration ended with a musical performance by Feinstein and a toast by all those who participated.

Academy activities committee chair/writers peer group co-governor Rocci Chatfield produced the memorable evening. Robert O’Donnell is director of activities for the Academy.