Betty Marion White

Betty Marion White was born in Oak Park, Illinois, and raised in Los Angeles. During World War II, she volunteered with the American Women's Voluntary Services. In 1952, she co-founded her own production company and created Life with Elizabeth, becoming one of the first women in television history to have creative control both in front of and behind the camera, and famously defended hiring Black tap dancer Arthur Duncan despite boycott threats from Southern stations.

White experienced television superstardom playing the aggressively cheerful man-hungry Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show in the 1970s (winning two Emmys) and the naive, lovable Minnesotan Rose Nylund on The Golden Girls (1985–1992). In 2010, a viral Facebook campaign made the 88-year-old White the oldest host in Saturday Night Live history, winning her seventh Emmy Award. She dedicated decades and millions of dollars to animal welfare charities.