“Kindness and Consideration of Somebody Besides Yourself Keeps You Feeling Young.” –Betty White

By Phoebe Pineda

Point to Ponder:  “My mother always used to say, ‘The older you get, the better you get. Unless you’re a banana.’” –"Rose Nylund, The Golden Girls"

Storyline:

On New Year’s Eve, beloved television actress Betty White passed away just weeks shy of her 100th birthday.  Widely mourned by audiences everywhere, White’s popularity defied generational boundaries.  With every age and era she seemed to find a new groove, from her roles on such TV classics as The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Golden Girls to more recent roles in Hot in Cleveland and the movie The Proposal.  In 2010, thanks to a fan-launched Facebook campaign, White became the oldest person to host Saturday Night Live at 88 years old–“the only SNL host I ever saw get a standing ovation at the after party,” former head writer Seth Meyers remarked.

As well as a talented actress and gifted comedian, White was a pioneer, one of the first women to produce and host for radio and television as well as a longtime advocate for animal welfare and an ally for marginalized people.  Her insistence on giving screentime to Black tap dancer Arthur Duncan resulted in the cancellation of The Betty White Show in 1954, and she was outspoken about her support for the LGBT+ community.

And indeed, even after over sixty years, she never seemed to lose her passion.  Every moment she was onscreen, she stole the show, whether she was ribbing her costars or poking fun at herself.  “If one has no sense of humor,” she wrote in her memoir If You Ask Me (And of Course You Won’t), “one is in trouble.” 

Reflection:

There never has been, nor will there ever be, another Betty White.  A sentiment I’ve seen floating around the Internet in the weeks since her passing is that she managed to live such an extraordinary life and bring so much joy to people over the years that nearly everyone agreed that 99 years old was far too soon.

Success in Hollywood is rare; to achieve the longevity Betty White had is unimaginable.  Perhaps one of the reasons she could remain such a powerhouse and hold her own in a famously aging-averse agency was because she’d spent her entire life one step ahead of the times.  Even now, we are only just starting to catch up to where Betty was in the 1950s in terms of her creative control and her acceptance of others.

But the reason she resonated with so many of us, from Gen Xers like my parents to children of the Internet like me, was her humor and her heart.  She was quick-witted, snarky, but always compassionate.  And as Anand pointed out to me while we were drafting this article on Monday, every picture of her radiates joy.  She loved life, and she lived a life full of love: for people, for animals, and for being onscreen, making us laugh.

January 17th would have been her 100th birthday.  On behalf of everyone and all the lives you’ve touched, Betty, thank you for being a friend.

Originally from the SF Bay Area, Phoebe Pineda currently studies Writing and Literature at the University of California Santa Barbara's College of Creative Studies.  In addition to storytelling, she enjoys sunset-watching, road trips, and making art.

Anand and Phoebe first met at a Kid-to-Work Day over two decades ago. Once a week, they meet to discuss the various stories, experiences, memories, and lessons he's collected over the years. They approach each conversation from two different stages in life, one looking forward, the other looking back.