We were saddened to learn that Betty White had died. We’ve been watching her on television all our lives—she’s appeared on television almost continually for seven decades although it was in mid-life that she gained the most fame and success, first in The Mary Tyler Moore Show and then in The Golden Girls. All of her performances had a certain mischievous quality to them, right from her very first television program, Life With Elizabeth, back in the days of live television. The Variety obit observes:
In 1953 White landed her first sitcom, “Life With Elizabeth,†which was short-lived, as was daytime talkshow “The Betty White Show†in 1954, “A Date With the Angels†in 1957 and comedy variety skein “The Betty White Show†in 1958.
She then drifted into gameshows, including “To Tell the Truth,†“I’ve Got a Secret,†“Match Game,†“Password†and “What’s My Line?†White was also a regular on the nighttime “Jack Paar Show†and the syndicated woman’s daytime show “Girl Talk.†During that time she had her own radio show on CBS, “Ask Betty White.â€
You can’t honestly say that she was the last remaining performer from the Golden Age of Television but now those who remain were undoubtedly children at the time.
2021 has been a hard year for the cast of The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Ed Asner, Chloris Leachman, Gavin McLeod, and now Betty White have all died this year.
Try to catch an episode of Life With Elizabeth some time. It’s readily available on the Internet. I presume it’s in the public domain. It’s eccentric—before television sitcoms had settled into the formulae they continue to follow today.
I only saw her occasionally – I was really too young for the Mary Tyler Moore Show and wasn’t the demographic for Golden Girls.
In recent years Betty White’s longevity became somewhat of a meme – the idea being (for some reason) that she and Keith Richards would outlive everyone.
Could a case be made that The Mary Tyler Moore show had more true stars on it than any other TV show? The kind of stars that could carry their own show and who lasted a long time in the business. Off the top of my head I think maybe the Archie Bunker show, Happy Days, Cheers might have had the type of ensemble casts that had a large number of stars/future stars. Early in the day so probably think of others later.
Steve
@steve: There’s a darn good case.
Ed Asner carried the Lou Grant character over into an eponymous hour-long drama and was quite good.
Both Cloris Leachman and Valerie Harper had spin-offs of their own (Phyllis and Rhoda) and Harper had another show after that, albeit one that shed her after a contract dispute.
Ted Knight had multiple sitcoms of his own.
Gavin McLeod was the star of Love Boat.
John Amos was initially the star of Good Times and is still working.
And of course White was one of the Golden Girls.
I never saw an episode of the MTM show in first run although I do think it was a good program. I think you’re confusing “true stars” with merchandising.
Ed Asner, Ted Knight, Gavin McLeod, and Cloris Leachman had been making a living in Hollywood as supporting actors for 20 years by the time the MTM show came around. It was an ensemble comedy with strong veteran performers. When the show’s run ended Grant Tinker tried spinning off nearly every character in shows of their own. None (including Lou Grant which I watched faithfully after its first year or so during which I was in Germany) succeeded.
IMO there are several other shows that have as good a claim for having more “true stars” including St. Elsewhere, ER, and Law & Order.
Dave,
Yes, fair point on most of the spinoffs. “Lou Grant” lasted five seasons. Asner long claimed it was only canceled because of his controversial politics but the ratings had indeed declined.
“Love Boat” lasted ten seasons, although I’m not sure Gavin McLeod was the reason for that.