PHOTOS: Betty White through the years
Testing widget old system
(NEXSTAR) – Betty White, the beloved actress and comedian, has passed away at the age of 99.
From her roles in “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and “The Golden Girls” to “Hot in Cleveland” and “The Proposal,” White has captured the hearts of many around the world.
Below are photos of White through the ages.
From the 1950s and 60s:
Actress Betty White in 1965. (AP Photo) 
Allen Ludden and his wife Betty White, who love to play games, continue a two year gin rummy battle in which she’s ahead by a cumulative 6,000 points in Westchester, N.Y. on April 29, 1965. They do it professionally on TV. He’s the master of ceremonies on “Password,” and she makes frequent guest appearances on game shows. They play games to relax at home. (AP Photo/Bob Wands) 
Allen Ludden and his wife Betty White admire magnolia blossoms on the lawn of their country home in Westchester, N.Y. on May 14, 1965. The TV personalities both enjoy gardening. (AP Photo/Bob Wands) 
Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade — Pictured: (l-r) Parade hosts Lorne Greene and Betty White (Photo by NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images) 
THE BETTY WHITE SHOW – “Misc. Prints” – Airdate March 8, 1958. (Photo by ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images) BETTY WHITE 
DATE WITH THE ANGELS – “Misc. Color” – Airdate September 22, 1957. (Photo by ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images) BETTY WHITE 
DATE WITH THE ANGELS – Betty White & Bill Williams Sailing Date – Aired on September 6, 1957. (Photo by ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images) BETTY WHITE
The 1970s and 80s:
Actress Betty White poses in Los Angeles, Calif., on March 5, 1982. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon) 
Actress Betty White, left, poses with Mary Tyler Moore in Los Angeles, Ca. on June 22, 1985. (AP Photo/Nick Ut) 
Actress Betty White poses in Los Angeles, Ca. in June, 1986. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon) 
Estelle Getty, who plays Sophia, poses with her new husband,who plays Max, and the other “Golden Girls” after taping of episode on Friday, night, Nov.5,1988 in Hollywood. After 40 years of despising Max, her late husband’s business partner, Sophia does an about face and decides to marry him on the NBC-TV series. Left to right are Rue McCLanahan (Blanche), Getty, Gilford, Bea Arthur (Dorothy) and Betty White. (AP Photo/Ira Mark Gostin) 
THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JOHNNY CARSON — Pictured: (l-r) Actress Betty White, guest host David Letterman on March 26, 1979 — Photo by: Paul Drinkwater/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank 
LOS ANGELES, CA – MAY 17: Betty White holding her Emmy Award in the press room at the 28th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards on May 17, 1976 at The Shubert Theatre in Los Angeles, California (Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images) 
Los Angeles, CA – 1975: (L-R) Ralph Edwards, Betty White appearing on the ABC tv special ‘The Great American Game Show’. (Photo by American Broadcasting Companies via Getty Images) 
LOS ANGELES – JULY 20: The Mary Tyler Moore Show episode, ‘The Lars Affair’ featuring Betty White as Sue Ann Nivens, WJM’s Happy Homemaker. Image dated July 20, 1973. (Photo by CBS via Getty Images)
The 1990s and 2000s:
Betty White arrives at the 34th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles, on Friday, June 15, 2007. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) 
Betty White poses for photographers on the red carpet before Comedy Central’s “Roast of William Shatner,” Sunday, Aug. 13, 2006, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Rene Macura) 
Betty White poses for photographers on the red carpet before Comedy Central’s “Roast of William Shatner,” Sunday, Aug. 13, 2006, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Rene Macura) 
Anthropologist Jane Goodall, right, and actress Betty White meet together before a news conference Wednesday, May 30, 2001, at La Brea Tar Pits Museum in Los Angeles. Goodall joined religious leaders, conservationists and celebrities in calling for a halt to what they say is the Bush administration’s plan to weaken endangered species protections. (AP Photo/Nick Ut) 
Betty White, left, Rue McClanahan, center, and Beatrice Arthur, of the Golden Girls, arrive at the TV Land Awards on Sunday June 8, 2008 in Santa Monica, Calif. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles) 
LOS ANGELES – AUGUST 1: Pictured from left is Estelle Getty (as Sophia Petrillo), Betty White (as Rose Nylund), Rue McClanahan (as Blanche Devereaux) in the CBS situation comedy, THE GOLDEN PALACE. Photo dated August 1, 1992. (Photo by CBS via Getty Images) 
UNITED STATES – SEPTEMBER 07: Walt Disney Television via Getty Images14 (9/12/95) MAYBE THIS TIME—Two of television’s most beloved performers return to prime time: Marie Osmond (left), who stars as a new divorcee who needs to loosen up and enjoy what life has to offer; and Betty White (right), who portrays her lively, incurably romantic mother, on “MAYBE THIS TIME,” a spirited new comedy series which will debut with a Special Preview FRIDAY, SEPT. 15 (9:30-10:00 P.M.,ET), on the Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images Television Network. MAYBE THIS TIME will have its regular day and time period premiere SATURDAY, SEPT. 16 (8:30-9:00 p.m.,ET). (Photo by Craig T Mathew/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images)
The 2010s:
Betty White poses with Uggie the dog from the film ‘The Artist’ as she arrives for her Friars Club Roast in New York, Wednesday, May 16, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Sykes) 
Actress Betty White poses for a portrait on the set of the television show “Hot in Cleveland” in Studio City section of Los Angeles on Wednesday, June 9, 2010. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles) 
Betty White, left, accepts the Life Achievement Award from Sandra Bullock at the 16th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on Saturday, Jan. 23, 2010, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) 
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE — Episode 1575 “Betty White” — Pictured: Betty White (Photo by Dana Edelson/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images) 
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE — Episode 1575 “Betty White” — Pictured: Betty White, Kenan Thompson, Bill Hader, Andy Samberg, Boby Moynihan — (Photo by: Dana Edelson/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images) 
OFF THEIR ROCKERS — Episode 202 — Pictured: (l-r) Kim Kardashian, Betty White — (Photo by: Trae Patton/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images)
The actress was born in Oak Park, Illinois, on Jan. 17, 1922, as Betty Marion White. But before she turned 2, amid the Great Depression, her family moved to the Los Angeles area, where her show business career kicked off at age 8 with a role on the radio program “Empire Builders.”
White’s first dream was to become a forest ranger, but at the time women weren’t allowed to hold that job. (The U.S. Forest Service named her an honorary forest ranger at age 88.)
So she decided to become a writer instead and penned herself into a lead role in a play at Horace Mann Elementary School in Beverly Hills. Her first television appearance came three months after she graduated from Beverly Hills High School in 1939, White said in a 1994 interview for the Archive of American Television.
White was married three times, but said her third husband, Allen Ludden, was the love of her life. The pair was married from 1963 until Ludden’s death in 1981.
White died less than 3 weeks from her 100th birthday.
NewsNation affiliate KTLA and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
