Ray Richmond - Betty White: 100 Remarkable Moments in an Extraordinary Life

Betty White and her Pekingese dog Bandy at home together in 1954.

Writing a few words about Betty White is not a difficult task. Ive always thought the woman should be declared a national treasure. As far as Im concerned, she belongs up on Mount Rushmore right alongside the presidents.There is just nobody like Betty. When they invented her, they broke the mold. Shes such a special combination of marvelous attributes. As you go through life, you dont find many people who blend great talent and great humanity in so perfect a fashion. Everyone wants to be around her because she has such a positive nature, such a cheerful vibe. Its like she emits an electric current that draws people to her.

Betty and her husband, Allen Ludden, were such a wonderful couple back in the 70s, in the earliest years of The Mary Tyler Moore Show before she was hired for the show herself. They would come to watch our shoot every Friday night, because Allen was great friends with Grant Tinker, who was Marys husband and our shows executive producer. Then when Valerie Harper left the cast in 1973 to go do Rhoda, we suddenly had a big vacancy and needed another character.

We were all a little worried to lose someone who was so important to the show. It was kind of uncharted waters. No one expected that when Betty did her first episode as Sue Ann Nivens, she would become a regular presence on the show. She was just coming on as a one-time guest, but as soon as she stepped in, she was so magnificent. It was like God intended it to be that way. Only Betty could get away with some of the stuff she had to do. Her choices as an actor were superb.

Sue Ann and Mary Richards played so well off each other. She was just the antithesis of Rhoda and brought a whole new color to the show, a whole new personality for the comedy to bounce off. From the first moment she stepped onto our set, Betty was Sue Ann. And talk about a professional. As soon as we were handed new scripts, shed have her dialogue down immediately. Betty had a photographic memory, and it was astounding to see how perfectly shed have the script memorized in no time at all. She was really the best Ive ever seen that way. As soon as she read it through once, she had it cold.

There are so many reasons why I love Betty. Shes an incredible lady in many, many ways. Theres her sense of humor. The way she loves animals. The care she shows for people. Shes one of the most caring and loving human beings Ive ever known.

We all have our favorite Mary Tyler Moore episodes, and so many of mine are ones that have a lot of Sue Ann. Theres one where my Murray got hired to be her assistant. She was getting ready to do a big wedding and used Murray as the model for the wedding gown, emasculating the poor fellow. Finally, hed had enough and snapped, lifting Sue Ann up and plopping her butt down on the cake. The idea was that Betty was going to slowly slide down this cake. But we never had a cake to practice with. I guess the budget only allowed for a single cake to be used during the actual filming. There was no rehearsal cake.

So come filming night in front of the live audience, Im in the wedding gown. I pick Sue Ann up and put her down on that cake. The cake gets between her legs and she slides down to the floor. It was riotous. The audience went crazy. But when it was all over, Betty comes up to me and says, I really hurt my back. See, when I lifted her up and slapped her down, crack went her back. Nobody knew the pain she was in, least of all me. But she never flinched. She was such a pro that she never betrayed any discomfort. She knew we had only the one cake and understood we couldnt do a second take. Thats Betty.

Another part of what makes Betty so extraordinary is how natural a performer she is. I think that goes back to her being part of the earliest days of live television and doing so much improvisation. Shes really a guiding light, a towering symbol of the industry who goes back to the very beginning. She is like TV royalty.

When we stopped working together after Mary Tyler Moore left the air in 1977, I missed being around Betty so much. But we were able to get her onto The Love Boat several times, with both Allen and Carol Channing. Whenever she was there, it was magical.There was also the time, maybe six or seven years ago, when I got a call from Air New Zealand. They wanted me to be in the safety video that they show on their jets before flightsand Betty would be a part of it, too. Well, as soon as I found out Betty was involved, of course I said yes. The whole thing is purportedly shot in a retirement home. It was just delightful.

Betty and I had a great time working on it, and I found out something interesting about her that day. She steered clear of eating the chicken once we broke for lunch because she needed to eat a hot dog. I came to discover thats what she has for lunch every day of her life! And here shes going to be 100 years old. Shes refuted the whole idea that if you eat too much of that stuff, you arent going to live very long. Maybe the preservatives in hot dogs preserve the human body, too!

But in all seriousness, I think whats kept Betty going strong to such a ripe old age is her attitude. Its such an important factor in everything. Shes an upbeat, optimistic, loving person, and that can keep you healthy, strong, and vibrant. Betty lights up everything. Anyplace she ever went, even if it was dark out, she was this human flashlight who could show everyone the way. No matter the situation, she made it better. Her comedy mind is so brilliant, so fertile.

I know people worry as Betty gets older that there will come a day when she isnt with us anymore, and they have a hard time dealing with the thought. But the truth is that she will never leave us because shes embedded in our memories. Shes a part of our lives and a part of us. Shell always be alive in us. Thats the ultimate blessing.

Gavin MacLeod

Gavin MacLeod starred as the balding, wisecracking Murray Slaughter throughout the seven-season run of The Mary Tyler Moore Show (19701977) and as the esteemed Captain Merrill Stubing during the nine seasons of The Love Boat (19771986). He was also the author, with Mark Dagostino, of the 2013 memoir This Is Your Captain Speaking: My Fantastic Voyage Through Hollywood, Faith & Life. He died on May 29, 2021. He was 90 years old.

Introducing Betty White!

Her birth certificate indicates that she was born in Oak Park, Illinois, on January 17, 1922, but in fact Betty Marion White seems forever to have been a part of the American psyche. She is the embodiment of the nations can-do spirit, a paragon of optimism, the very model of hard work, decency, elegance, positive energy, and vitality.