Actress and comedian Betty White, who became a television icon through her work on shows including The Golden Girls and Hot in Cleveland, has died. She was 99.
White's death was first reported by TMZ, which said she passed away at her home on Friday morning from natural causes. She would have turned 100 years old on Jan. 17, and a film special titled Betty White: 100 Years Young had been set for release in theaters that day.
"I feel so fortunate to have had as great a career as I've had for as long as I have," White said in the trailer for the special.
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White's first credits date back to the 1930s, and she worked in radio early in her career. During the 1950s and 1960s, she appeared on shows like What's My Line? and The Match Game, and she starred as Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show in the 1970s. She went on to star on The Golden Girls beginning in 1985 and on Hot in Cleveland beginning in 2010, but her vast number of credits included The Carol Burnett Show, her own The Betty White Show, That '70s Show, and more. She held the Guinness World Record for the longest television career of an entertainer in history.
White also won numerous awards throughout her career, including Emmys for her work on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Golden Girls, and Saturday Night Live. The 2018 Emmy Awards included a special segment paying tribute to White, during which Saturday Night Live star Kate McKinnon praised her as the "greatest of all time." In a speech, White said, "It's incredible that you can stay in a career this long and still have people put up with you. ... It's such a blessed business to be in, and how lucky can I be. Thank you to each and every one of you."
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