Remembering Betty White: 10 Highlights From Her TV Guide Magazine Interviews

Dan Clarendon January 3, 2022, 9:38 am

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There’s a reason Betty White, who died at 99 on New Year’s Eve, was dubbed the First Lady of Television: The actress’ TV career began at the advent of the medium. And TV Guide Magazine has been tracking White’s shows in the years since, from her Mary Tyler Moore Show breakout to her Golden Girls era to her Hot in Cleveland days.

In memory of the five-time Emmy winner, we’ve combed through more than a decade of White’s interviews with the magazine to round up the words of wisdom — and witticisms — in the gallery below.

What's Your Favorite Betty White TV Role? (POLL)

The Mary Tyler Moore Show - Betty White, Ted Knight, Georgia Engel, Gavin MacLeod, Mary Tyler Moore, Ed Asner — Everett Collection

On the final episode of ‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show’:

“That’s probably the most emotional thing I’ve ever done on television,” she told *TV Guide Magazine* in 2010, looking back at her last days of playing Sue Ann Nivens on the classic CBS sitcom. “The writers didn’t finish that script until the last day, so we couldn’t even rehearse it. Finally, when we did it, everybody was just in tears.”

Hot on Cleveland - Jane Leeves, Wendie Malick, Betty White, and Valerie Bertinelli — TV Land/Courtesy Everett Collection

On her scene-stealing role of Elka Ostrovsky on ‘Hot in Cleveland’:

“Valerie [Bertinelli], Jane [Leeves], and Wendie [Malick] play off each other so well,” White said of her costars on the TV Land comedy. “This show gives me the opportunity to walk in, throw out some bitchy line, and go off.”

Betty White on Bones — 20th Century Fox Film Corp./Courtesy Everett Collection

On her guest-starring role on ‘Bones’:

“I am very glad that my day job doesn’t involve measuring how bones disintegrate after being buried,” White told *TV Guide Magazine*, after playing forensic anthropologist Dr. Beth Mayer in the first of two appearances on the Fox procedural. “I prefer living things—preferably with a leg on each corner!”

Betty White - Off Their Rockers — Justin Lubin/NBC/Courtesy Everett Collection

On her hidden-camera show ‘Off Their Rockers’:

“It’s silly fun and never mean-spirited. That’s the rule of the house,” White said of the NBC-turned-Lifetime show she hosted. “[South Korean singer] Psy will be showing me and our older pranksters how his ‘Gangnam Style’ dance is done. There’s no fool like an old fool!”

Everett Collection

On her legendary comic timing:

“It’s a rhythm thing,” she observed. “It’s tough to explain, but scenes have a rhythm and if you miss it, the joke doesn’t land or it doesn’t land the right way.”