.jpg?q=50&fit=crop&w=480&h=270&dpr=1.5)
Betty White is gone but she is far from forgotten. The beloved actress who died just a few days short of her 100th birthday left behind a legacy of charity, anti-racist solidarity, feminism, and, above all, charm and talent that made her so beloved.
It seemed that wherever Betty White found work, she found a new friend, and as one of Hollywood’s most famous animal lovers, she definitely had plenty of little critter friends too. Betty White was not short on people who loved her, she touched so many lives that no one who met her was ever the same, and none of her friends will be the same now that she is gone.
10 Betty White Was Friends With Bea Arthur And ‘The Golden Girls’
In case anyone is wondering, yes, Betty White really was friends with her castmates on The Golden Girls. Out of all her castmates, White and Bea Arthur were the closest. Some thought that Arthur and White might have a little tension because allegedly, there was a disagreement about how to handle one of the show's most controversial scenes. However, the disagreement was inconsequential, and the two remained friends the rest of their lives after working through their disagreements.
9 Betty White Was Friends With Jennifer Love Hewitt
When Betty White died the outpouring of love on social media was phenomenal, especially from her fellow actresses who looked up to White as a role model. One such actress was Jennifer Love Hewitt, who posted about how she had lost her “best friend.” Of course, Betty White was a lot of people’s best friend, but Hewitt and she had a particularly close relationship after the two worked together on the 2011 Hallmark original movie The Lost Valentine.
8 Betty White Was Friends With Vicki Lawerence
One of White’s most popular shows was the 1980s show Mama’s Family, a spin-off based on a sketch from The Carol Burnett Show. The show starred Vicki Lawerence as the cantankerous Mama who ran her house with a loving iron fist and witty retorts. Lawrence was with White when she died and according to her, Betty White's last word was “Allen,” the name of her late husband. In her final moment, White whispered the name of her lost love, who she soon after joined for eternity. Forgive the editorialization, but it’s hard to hear news like that and not cry just a little bit.
7 Betty White Was Friends With Lucille Ball
Betty White died just as one of her contemporaries became relevant again. Lucille Ball has been a hot topic recently ever since the release of her biopic Being The Ricardos, starring Nicole Kidman. Many wondered if White and Lucille Ball were actually friends when both were still alive, allegedly because the two were supposed to be in competition with each other for ratings for their different shows. However, everyone who knew both actresses has confirmed that the two were an almost inseparable pair and that Lucille Ball's death in 1989 was incredibly hard on White.
6 Betty White Was Friends With Ed Asner
Ed Asner was a close friend of White who sadly passed away just a few months before she did. The two had one key thing in common that made them great friends, both made controversial decisions that offended the politics of some conservative producers. White lost her show when she refused to kick off a black dancer from her program and Asner, a vocal left-wing activist, refused to compromise his pro-union stances when working for The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Lou Grant. Like White, Asner lost his show, Lou Grant, for refusing to compromise his beliefs.
5 Betty White Was Friends With Ryan Reynolds
Ryan Reynolds was one of the first celebrities to tweet his mourning over Betty White’s death and he did so repeatedly because her death had a genuinely painful effect on him. Ryan Reynolds met Betty White when they filmed The Proposal together and White helped Reynolds record some of the movie's funniest bits and promotional materials. The film was made at a point when Reynolds was struggling to break out of the rom-com genre and into more mainstream projects, and it was White’s guidance and friendship that helped him along the way. Weirdly, if Betty White had never met Ryan Reynolds, the world might have never gotten a Deadpool movie!
4 Betty White Was Friends With Sandra Bullock
Like Ryan Reynolds, Sandra Bullock was one of the first to reach out about the loss of Betty White and what she meant to the world. Bullock was the other co-star of The Proposal and also like Reynolds she found a close friend and wise confidant in the former Golden Girl.
3 Betty White Was Friends With Her Co-Stars On ‘Hot In Cleveland’
White did a plethora of films and television shows, sometimes just for an episode or two and other times as a star. One of her last television starring roles was on TV Land’s Hot In Cleveland which is also a who's who of sitcom stars like White, all of whom are now publicly grieving for White along with Ryan Reynolds and the others. Jane Leeves from Fraiser, Wendy Malick from Just Shoot Me, and Valerie Bertinelli have all expressed their love and gratitude for their late co-star.
2 Betty White Was Friends With Carol Burnett
Like Vicki Lawerence, Lucille Ball, and Bea Arthur, Betty White was also friends with famous comedian Carol Burnett, whose famous sketch comedy show The Carol Burnett Show launched the careers of many comedy icons. Burnett was especially solemn about losing White, as she is now one of the few female comedians of their generation who is still alive.
1 Betty White Was Friends With Bob Newhart
Concluding our list, but by no means the last person to mourn the death of Betty White, is another sitcom legend, Bob Newhart. White appeared In Bob Newhart's sitcom Bob and not only did she entertain the famously self-deprecating comedian, she also impressed him. Newhart is quoted as saying White made acting “look easy.” And he was especially close to her because White was in the audience for Bob Newhart's first stand-up special. It seems that White just had a presence that one could never ignore, even when sitting in an audience of hundreds.
