Depending on when you first noticed Betty White, you may remember her for a particular role from the almost-too-numerous-to-count programs that featured her peppy presence.
She was Elizabeth, Sue Ann, Rose, Mitzi, Catherine, and Elka at various points, but also just as likely to surface as herself for a variety of hosting and panellist gigs.
And while her face became — and remains — recognisable, there is more to learn about the public figure who found ways to stay healthy and inspired over a highly productive life that stretched for nearly 100 years.
This most decorated, beloved, and enduring performer of her generation, has, as some would say, lived many lives.
But, it is her love life that many viewers and fans found quite interesting. White has stated in an interview that her third husband: Allen Ludden was her ‘one and only’ true love.
This, she described as a ‘love affair’
A frequent guest on game shows through the 1950s and ’60s, White wound up with an unexpected grand prize after appearing on the Allen Ludden-hosted Password in 1961.
Their initial interaction was brief, but they became fast friends while working in a stage production together the following summer, with Ludden half-jokingly dropping hints that he wanted to get married.
Although the twice-divorced White shot down his increasingly serious proposals, Ludden remained undeterred; once, after she rejected the ring he presented to her, Ludden began wearing it on a chain around his neck.
White finally said yes after receiving a stuffed white bunny with diamond earrings for Easter in 1963, and they were happily married until Ludden’s passing from stomach cancer in 1981.
