One of Betty White’s final film roles might be too hard for fans to watch
(NEXSTAR) – Very few people can boast the type of resume that Betty White has built over her long, storied career.
The comedy icon, who died last week at 99, has worked in radio, theater, TV and film, earning a slew of awards and accolades for performances on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “The Golden Girls” and “Hot in Cleveland,” among others. White even won an Emmy (one of seven) for hosting a short-lived game show in 1983, a fact that probably softened the blow of losing a WWE Slammy Award to Hugh Jackman after their appearances on “Monday Night Raw” decades later. For real.
White also had one of the most sought-after voices in Hollywood. During the final decades of her career, she performed voiceover work for animated shows and films including “The Simpsons,” “The Wild Thornberrys” and even 2019’s “Toy Story 4,” where she voiced a tiger-shaped teething ring named “Bitey White.”
But in the wake of White’s passing, her very last voiceover role may hit especially close to home.
White gave her final performance in an animated film — or any film, according to IMDb — for the 2019 movie “Trouble” (also known as “Dog Gone Trouble” on Netflix). Her character, the wealthy Mrs. Sarah Vanderwhoozie, dies before uttering a single line of dialogue. Vanderwhoozie’s relatives later arrive at her estate for the reading of her will, at which point they’re shown a pre-recorded video that Vanderwhoozie had prepared.
“Hello everyone. I have some sad news. I bit the big one!” Vanderwhoozie explains to her relatives, laughing. “I’ve cashed in my chips. I’m dead!”
The line, now a sobering reminder of White’s passing, was played for laughs in the film. Knowing this was her final film role, however, adds an eerie tone to the otherwise innocuous family film.
Of course, Betty White herself may have found all of this quite silly. Upon her passing last week, White’s agent and close friend Jeff Witjas joked that White may be taking amusement in the fact that she passed a few weeks shy of her 100th birthday, just as her friends and fans were preparing to celebrate.
“I think this is part of Betty’s sense of humor,” said Witjas, in a statement to News Nation. “She’s pulling something on all of us.”