{"id":2349,"date":"2023-10-07T02:04:36","date_gmt":"2023-10-07T00:04:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/?p=2349"},"modified":"2023-10-07T02:04:36","modified_gmt":"2023-10-07T00:04:36","slug":"betty-whites-assistant-shares-icons-final-message-to-fans-days-before-passing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/?p=2349","title":{"rendered":"Betty White\u2019s assistant shares icon\u2019s final message to fans, days before passing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Betty White passed away just weeks before her 100th birthday, and the entire world mourned her loss.<\/p>\n<p>Now, months have gone by since Betty\u2019s passing. Her birthday was supposed to be celebrated with a huge party, and a special message had been pre-recorded for her fans.<\/p>\n<p>Shortly after Betty died, her assistant posted the message she had filmed, alongside a text on her Instagram page, revealing the last confession the legendary actress made. Its message only served to confirm that Betty was indeed an extraordinary person.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/bettywhite4.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"708\" height=\"593\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2350\" srcset=\"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/bettywhite4.jpg 708w, https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/bettywhite4-300x251.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 708px) 100vw, 708px\" \/><br \/>\nInstagram\/bettymwhite<\/p>\n<p>On December 31 of last year, Betty White passed away. The news shocked many fans, and the legendary actress was honored worldwide.<\/p>\n<p>Her close friend and agent Jeff Witjas told People that she \u201cdied peacefully in her sleep at her home.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven though Betty was about to be 100, I thought she would live forever,\u201d Witjas told People in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI will miss her terribly, and so will the animal world that she loved so much. I don\u2019t think Betty ever feared passing because she always wanted to be with her most beloved husband, Allen Ludden. She believed she would be with him again.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Betty White dead at 99<br \/>\nAfter her passing became known to the public, Hollywood paid tribute to Betty. She lived her life to the fullest, right to the end, though in the last few years of her life, the actress was forced to live a life that she didn\u2019t want.<\/p>\n<p>Born on January 17, 1922, in Oak Park, Illinois, Betty was the only child of parents Horace White and Tess Curts White. Her family moved to Los Angeles during the Great Depression, and as a child, White didn\u2019t contemplate a career in acting.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, she dreamed about working as a forest ranger or a writer. Then, while in high school, she fell in love with acting.<\/p>\n<p>After graduating high school, Betty had found her true passion in acting. She first worked in radio, and had her own show, The Betty White Show. Not long after, she moved on to be an assistant at a local television station.<\/p>\n<p>While working in local television, it was a sketch that became White\u2019s ticket to fame. Then, in the early 1950s, Betty, alongside George Tibbles, launched her first television series, Life with Elizabeth.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe wrote, and I produced,\u201d White told The Hollywood Reporter. \u201cI was one of the first women producers in Hollywood.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/bettywhite7-768x960-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"768\" height=\"960\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2351\" srcset=\"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/bettywhite7-768x960-1.jpg 768w, https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/bettywhite7-768x960-1-240x300.jpg 240w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><br \/>\nDe Carvalho Collection\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>It was clear from the beginning that Betty was a tremendous talent in Hollywood.<\/p>\n<p>Betty White \u2013 career<br \/>\nShe took over the reins of television, and in 1951, she was nominated for her first Primetime Emmy Award for Best Actress. It was groundbreaking, since it was the first-ever category to recognize the achievements of women at the Emmy Awards.<\/p>\n<p>Betty co-hosted the variety show Hollywood on Television alongside Al Jarvis in 1949, and three years later, she became the sole host. She spent countless hours working on the show, six days a week for four years.<\/p>\n<p>Betty White\u2019s career in show business had just started, but by the time the 1950s arrived, she had already been married twice: first to Dick Barker, then to Lane Allen. Unfortunately, neither marriage lasted long, with both ending in divorce.<\/p>\n<p>She met her third husband, Allen Ludden, on the game show Password in the 1960s. He was the host, and the pair immediately hit it off.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/bettywhite6-768x1170-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"768\" height=\"1170\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2352\" srcset=\"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/bettywhite6-768x1170-1.jpg 768w, https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/bettywhite6-768x1170-1-197x300.jpg 197w, https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/bettywhite6-768x1170-1-672x1024.jpg 672w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><br \/>\nShutterstock\/Vicki L. Miller<\/p>\n<p>Betty was cautious at the start, given her two failed marriages, but when she met Allen again on the set of a play they were both in, she knew this was the real deal, and they started dating.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, the two stars lived at opposite ends of the country \u2014 Betty in California and Allen in New York. Nevertheless, they maintained a long-distance relationship for a while. Eventually, Allen proposed to Betty, only to turn him down as she didn\u2019t want to relocate to New York.<\/p>\n<p>Married three times<br \/>\nDespite her refusal, however, Allen didn\u2019t give up. Instead, he persisted with the proposals, and, eventually, Betty said yes.<\/p>\n<p>The two tied the knot in 1963 and enjoyed successful careers while blissfully in love. Sadly, in 1981, Allen passed away from stomach cancer, and Betty never remarried.<\/p>\n<p>It was from via that marriage that she became a proud stepmother to three step kids, who called her \u201cDragon Lady.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Now, their relationship wasn\u2019t all that great in the beginning. As reported by Closer, stepdaughter Martha had \u201csome anger\u201d towards Betty when her father remarried.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMartha was young, and she deeply opposed the marriage. She was very angry at her father and made it clear she did not like Betty.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>An insider added that Allen and Martha\u2019s father-daughter relationship was \u201cstrained from the start.\u201d However, his marriage to White was a tipping point.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/bettywhiteallenludden1-768x411-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"768\" height=\"411\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2353\" srcset=\"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/bettywhiteallenludden1-768x411-1.jpg 768w, https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/bettywhiteallenludden1-768x411-1-300x161.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><br \/>\nGetty Images<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAllen used to argue with Martha constantly over her anger towards Betty,\u201d the source explained.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHer tumultuous relationship with her father caused him a lot of grief.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Why Betty White never remarried<br \/>\nIn an interview with Oprah, Betty revealed that her only regret in life was not spending more time with Allen in the 1960s.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI spent a whole year, wasted a whole year that Allen and I could have had together, saying, \u2018No, I wouldn\u2019t marry him. No, I won\u2019t, No, I won\u2019t leave California. No, I won\u2019t move to New York,&#8217;\u201d she recalled. \u201cI wasted a whole year we could have had together.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Betty also explained why she had no interest in a fourth marriage: \u201cOnce you\u2019ve had the best, who needs the rest?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Betty was a massive star in the sitcom category of television, and in 1973, she took the next step toward becoming a true legend. <\/p>\n<p>Starring as Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, White \u2013 alongside co-stars Mary Tyler Moore, Ed Asner, and Cloris Leachman, among others \u2013 cemented herself a spot in television history thanks to her portrayal of Sue Ann Nivens.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNobody knew going in that The Mary Tyler Moore Show would be an all-time classic,\u201d she said in her 1997 Television Academy interview.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the fourth season, I got a call one week, would I do that week\u2019s Mary Tyler Moore Show, from casting. They wanted a happy homemaker who was a sickening, icky Betty White type.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/bettywhite5-768x411-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"768\" height=\"411\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2354\" srcset=\"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/bettywhite5-768x411-1.jpg 768w, https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/bettywhite5-768x411-1-300x161.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><br \/>\nShutterstock\/Bart Sherkow<\/p>\n<p>Betty received two Emmys for her performance on The Mary Tyler Moore Show for Outstanding Continuing Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series two years in a row.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018The Mary Tyler Moore Show\u2019 &#038; \u2018Golden Girls\u2019<br \/>\n\u201cWhen they announced my name that night, and Ed Asner presented it to me, I was a mess,\u201d White recalled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was so excited, so happy. And so grateful. I started out as an actress in the business, but then I did game shows and talk shows. I became a \u2018television personality.\u2019 So everybody was so surprised. \u2018Why Betty can act, isn\u2019t that amazing?\u2019 It really did turn my career completely around.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In the 1980s through the 1990s, Betty continued to show her great talents while starring as Rose Nylund on the hit show The Golden Girls. She moved on to appear in numerous television shows and films until 2019, when she was credited with her last ever role.<\/p>\n<p>After that, it seemed like nothing could stop Betty White from living the good life. Indeed, she never stopped living it. Betty said several times that she probably should have followed a better diet, but in the end, she felt like as though the diet she had was key to her long and happy life.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut hot dogs and Red Vines and potato chips and French fries are my favorite foods. There\u2019s no spare time, so I\u2019m active all the time. I think that forces you to stay well,\u201d she told People in 2012.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/bettywhite3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"705\" height=\"786\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2355\" srcset=\"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/bettywhite3.jpg 705w, https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/bettywhite3-269x300.jpg 269w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 705px) 100vw, 705px\" \/><br \/>\nInstagram\/bettymwhite<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou better realize how good life is while it\u2019s happening,\u201d she said in another interview. \u201cBecause before you know it, it will all be gone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Betty White \u2013 net worth<br \/>\nBetty did her last interview just weeks before her death, saying that she looked forward to celebrating her 100th birthday. Sadly, that didn\u2019t happen, but according to White, she was feeling great to the end. At the time of her passing, White had a net worth of around $75 million.<\/p>\n<p>Interestingly, though, the last years of her life weren\u2019t exactly as she would have wanted them to be. Betty lived for many years in her oceanside house in Carmel, California, just outside Monterey, which she and her late husband Allen Ludden built back in 1978. She also had a five-bedroom, six-bathroom home in Brentwood in West Los Angeles.<\/p>\n<p>According to the New York Post, Betty was forced against her will to leave her Carmel home in her final years. She didn\u2019t want to live in Brentwood, but she had to.<\/p>\n<p>Betty passed away only weeks short of her 100th birthday, which would\u2019ve been on January 17. The special day saw many of her friends celebrating her life, while several celebrities posted tributes to White on social media.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/bettywhite2-768x411-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"768\" height=\"411\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2356\" srcset=\"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/bettywhite2-768x411-1.jpg 768w, https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/bettywhite2-768x411-1-300x161.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><br \/>\nInstagram\/bettymwhite<\/p>\n<p>One of them was Betty\u2019s assistant, Kiersten Mikelas. Through White\u2019s Facebook page, she posted a wonderful tribute \u2013 alongside one of the last photos taken of the Hollywood star.<\/p>\n<p>Last ever photo of Betty White<br \/>\n\u201cHello, Everyone! It\u2019s Kiersten. Betty\u2019s Assistant. On this special day, I wanted to share this photo of Betty. It was taken on 12\/20\/21,\u201d Kirsten wrote.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI believe it\u2019s one of the last photos of her. She was radiant and beautiful and as happy as ever. Thanks to all of you who are doing kind things today and every day to make the world a better place.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In a second post, Kiersten wrote that she didn\u2019t have many photos with Betty. She never felt like she \u201cwanted to impose since she was always asked to take photos with people\u201d wherever they went. However, on December 20, Kiersten asked her for one.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m so glad I did. A wonderful memory of a happy, fun-filled day,\u201d Kiersten wrote in the Instagram post.<\/p>\n<p>As mentioned, Betty was to celebrate her 100th birthday on January 17. The momentous milestone was, of course, set to be celebrated, and the main character herself had some very special plans made up.<\/p>\n<p>In a press release, Betty said it was to be celebrated with a once-in-a-lifetime movie event named Betty White: 100 Years Young \u2013 A Birthday Celebration.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/bettywhite1-768x411-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"768\" height=\"411\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2357\" srcset=\"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/bettywhite1-768x411-1.jpg 768w, https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/bettywhite1-768x411-1-300x161.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><br \/>\nYoutube\/ET<\/p>\n<p>The film was to look at her successful career, alongside new interviews and behind-the-scenes material.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho doesn\u2019t love a party?!? This one is gonna be GREAT!\u201d White said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>Betty White\u2019s final confession in video days before passing<br \/>\nBefore the big day, White\u2019s team had also planned for one very heartfelt video, which was set to be released to her fans on her 100th birthday. The clip was recorded just days before she passed away \u2013 after her death, it was released anyway.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI just want to thank you all for your love and support over the years. Thank you so much, and stick around,\u201d White said in the clip recorded on December 20.<\/p>\n<p>Her team \u2013 including personal assistant Kiersten \u2013 thanked the fans who had honored betty White\u2019s life by donating money to an animal shelter and rescues. It was part of the Betty White Challenge, which went viral after her passing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe could never have imagined such an outpouring of love and would have been so grateful to everyone,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe was using the occasion of her 100th birthday to celebrate YOU \u2014 her fans, she knew how lucky she was.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe felt the love, and she never took it for granted. I think it\u2019s appropriate to post today as a thank [you] from Betty and the animals.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Betty White will forever be remembered as a legend. Her last video is genuinely heartbreaking, but at the same time, we are not one percent surprised that she decided to dedicate her time to her fans.<\/p>\n<p>Please, share this article on Facebook with friends and family to honor the great Betty White!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Betty White passed away just weeks before her 100th birthday, and the entire world mourned her loss. Now, months have gone by since Betty\u2019s passing. Her birthday was supposed to be celebrated with a huge party, and a special message had been pre-recorded for her fans. Shortly after Betty died, her assistant posted the message [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2349"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2349\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2358,"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2349\/revisions\/2358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}