RIP: In Memoriam Thread

[kalbir]

RIP Betty White and thank you for your contributions to the entertainment industry.

[Vee]

A thread:

 

This is a new one on me. I've never seen any of the Golden Girls break.

 

[Bright Eyes]

With Betty White's passing, Maria Riva  becomes the earliest Emmy nominated actor that is still with us. She is currently 97 years old.

[DRW50]

@Franko Thank you for the Ellen Harper clip. I grew up watching Golden Girls, and I still think the first 3-4 seasons are great, but for  me Ellen was Betty's prime role. We all have an Ellen in our family and no one has ever summed up this horrid type of creature more than Betty did - sweet on the surface, dipped  in passive-aggressiveness, roaring toward viciousness and cruelty when  provoked.  Betty also had effortless chemistry with everyone on there, even Ken Berry and  Dorothy Lyman, who were just in her last few appearances. 

I really did love Betty, for  her love of animals, and for so  many of  her  game show appearances and TV roles. She was  even a  naval  officer on my favorite show, St. Elsewhere. I did not love the weird fetishization of her with some people in the last decade, complete  with  "the only good thing left" type comments that she likely would have thought  were ridiculous. That is not how  I'm going to remember her. There's something  fascinating about her leaving us right before the 100th, the last moment of corporate cashing-in. 99 or 100, Betty lived a fantastic life, helped a lot of people, and will be remembered  long after we are all gone.

[dragonflies]

RIP Betty. My heart is broken.

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[sivad40]

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[wingwalker]

This one is hitting me really hard. The last of the Golden Girls. She was so much more than just that too. We won't ever get another one like her. Probably among the last of the universally beloved celebrities. I don't think I've ever met a single person that didn't like her.  

[BetterForgotten]

It's hard to imagine a time in my life when I didn't know who Betty White was. She's almost like a lifelong friend you think will always be there, even though you know they'll be a day when that's no longer the case. RIP to a true legend and class act. Words cannot even begin to articulate what she means to so many of us. 

Two of her Emmy wins for TMTMS and GG, and a recap including some of her other wins:

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[All My Shadows]

I figured someone would have made a separate thread for legendary Betty!

 

She’s been on my TV nonstop since I was a kid, and I’m so thankful to have been able to watch and know the “whole” Betty White. Sue Ann, Rose, Ellen, the hundreds of game show appearances during THE golden age of the genre - in both the 70s and 80s, she was an Emmy-award winning actress on a high-profile primetime sitcom who eagerly, graciously, and consistently did panel work on daytime and syndicated game shows. No one out there today would ever do it. Then she, of course, was on B&B.

 

I just need the mainstream conversation to tirelessly remind everyone that she was more than just Rose on Golden Girls. I see so many things about her being reunited with Estelle, Bea, and Rue, but if you really knew Betty, you know the reunion that tops them all is the one with Allen.

[Soapsuds]

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[Faulkner]

 

[dragonflies]

 

[Khan]

As usual, I'm at a loss for words.  Betty White has been such a presence in my TV viewing life, going all the way back to when I, as a young pup, would watch reruns of "The Carol Burnett Show" and "Mama's Family" with Mama Khan.  I truly cannot fathom a world without her generosity and spirit, but I'm so grateful that I, and so many others, will get to cherish her always through reruns.

RIP Ms. White, and say hello to everyone from "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and "Golden Girls" for us.

Sums up exactly how I, as a fan of this show since junior high, feel.  There's got to be a morning after.

[DramatistDreamer]

It's refreshing to see people mention the book by Keishin Armstrong on the women who were instrumental in the development of the early days of television (hint the creation/creator of the daytime soap is also included). People really should read this book and learn just how much of a pioneer Betty White was in the medium of television.

[All My Shadows]

The Mary Tyler Moore Show deaths really, really hurt this year. I know all of the attention is on her being the last of GGs to pass, and obviously it's heartbreaking to know they're all gone now, but for some reason, thinking of how quick the succession of MTM cast deaths was just really hurts. For years and years and years, Ted Knight was the only main performer gone, and in a span of just under five years, all of the rest have passed away.

Dick Van Dyke and Bob Newhart need to be held high up on a pedestal for as long as they're still here. Oh, and of course Norman Lear.

Edited January 1, 2022 by All My Shadows