Betty White marks 99th birthday; says she is staying up late as she wants
LOS ANGELES (AP) — True to form, Betty White has something impish to say about her birthday Sunday.
“Since I am turning 99, I can stay up as late as I want without asking permission!” she told The Associated Press in an email.
FILE – Actress Betty White poses for a portrait in Los Angeles on June 9, 2010. White will turn 99 on Sunday, Jan. 17. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, File)
White’s low-key plans include feeding a pair of ducks that regularly visit her Los Angeles-area home. Her birthday meal will be a hot dog and French fries brought in — along with a bouquet of roses — by her longtime friend and agent, Jeff Witjas.
The actor’s TV credits stretch from 1949’s “Hollywood on Television” to a 2019 voice role in “Forky Asks a Question,” with “The Golden Girls” and “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” among the enduring highlights.
In January alone, White is on screen in reruns including “The Golden Girls” and “Hot in Cleveland”; the 2009 Sandra Bullock movie “The Proposal,” and the 2018 documentary “Betty White: First Lady of Television,” about her life and career.
White’s devotion to animals will be on display next month with the DVD and digital release of “Betty White’s Pet Set,” a 1970s series in which she visited with celebrity guests and their pets as well as wild animals.
Her work, always marked by top-drawer comedic timing, has earned her five Emmy Awards, including a 2010 trophy for a guest-host appearance on “Saturday Night Live.”
A headshot portrait of American actor Betty White wearing a veiled hat, circa 1955. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images) LOS ANGELES – NOVEMBER 18: (L to R) Actresses Betty White, Rue McClanahan and Bea Arthur arrive for the DVD release party for “The Golden Girls” the first season November 18, 2004 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Carlo Allegri/Getty Images) Ben (Bruce Willis) And Katie Jordan (Michelle Pfeiffer) With Their Parents, (From Right) Arnie (Red Buttons), Lillian (Betty White), Dot (Jayne Meadows) And Harry (Tom Poston) In The Romantic Comedy, “The Story Of Us.” (Photo By Getty Images) LOS ANGELES, CA – JUNE 14: Actress Betty White attends the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association’s (GLAZA) 44th Annual Beastly Ball at Los Angeles Zoo on June 14, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Angela Weiss/Getty Images) HOLLYWOOD, CA – MARCH 7: Actor Ed Asner, actress Valerie Harper, actor John Amos, actresses Mary Tyler Moore, Cloris Leachman and Betty White and actor Gavin MacLeod pose backstage at the 2nd Annual TV Land Awards held on March 7, 2004 at The Hollywood Palladium, in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images) STUDIO CITY, CA – JANUARY 16: (L-R) Actresses Valerie Bertinelli, Wendie Malick, Betty White and Jane Leeves pose at the Betty White celebratation of her 93rd birthday on the set of “Hot in Cleveland” held at CBS Studios – Radford on January 16, 2015 in Studio City, California. (Photo by Mark Davis/Getty Images for TV Land) BURBANK, CA – APRIL 26: Actress Betty White accepts Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award onstage during The 42nd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards at Warner Bros. Studios on April 26, 2015 in Burbank, California. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for NATAS) BURBANK, CA – APRIL 26: Actors Charo (L) and Betty White onstage during The 42nd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards at Warner Bros. Studios on April 26, 2015 in Burbank, California. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for NATAS) Betty White speaks onstage during the 70th Emmy Awards at the Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles, California on September 17, 2018. (Photo by Robyn BECK / AFP) (Photo by ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images) Richard Frank (L), President of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and five time Emmy award winner Betty White announce 20 July the five nominations for “Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series” for the Emmy awards. The television show “Frasier” staring Kelsey Grammer lead all comedy nominations with ten. The Emmy awards will be held 10 September in Pasadena, California.
AFP PHOTO (Photo by JEFF HAYNES / AFP) (Photo credit should read JEFF HAYNES/AFP via Getty Images) UNIVERSAL CITY, CA – MARCH 12: Actress Betty White speaks during the “Actors and Others for Animals” Roast of Betty White at the Universal Hilton on March 12, 2005 in Universal City, California. (Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Images) LOS ANGELES – FEBRUARY 19: Writer/producer Susan Harris accepts the Paddy Chayefsky Television Laurel Award from actress Betty White at the 57th Annual Writers Guild Awards at the Hollywood Palladium on February 19, 2005 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
A native of Oak Park, Illinois, White was married to game show host and producer Allen Ludden from 1963 until his death in 1981.