Betty White Can Stay Up Late for Her 99th

Birthday celebration will include a hot dog and feeding ducks
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jan 16, 2021 4:55 PM CST
Betty White Says Humor Helped Her Reach 99
Actress Betty White poses for a portrait in Los Angeles in 2010.   (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, File)

True to form, Betty White has something impish to say about her birthday Sunday. “Since I am turning 99, I can stay up as late as I want without asking permission!” she said in an email, the AP reports. White's low-key plans include feeding a pair of ducks that regularly visit her Los Angeles-area home. Her birthday meal will be a hot dog and french fries brought in—along with a bouquet of roses—by her longtime friend and agent, Jeff Witjas. "I am blessed with good health," she said, per People, "so turning 99 is no different than turning 98." A native of Oak Park, Illinois, White was married to game show host and producer Allen Ludden from 1963 until his death in 1981.

The actor’s TV credits stretch from 1949's Hollywood on Television to a 2019 voice role in Forky Asks a Question, with The Golden Girls and The Mary Tyler Moore Show among the enduring highlights. Her work, always marked by top-drawer comedic timing, has earned her five Emmy Awards, including a 2010 trophy for a guest-host appearance on Saturday Night Live. Her keys to a long life, she said, include "having a sense of humor. Just looking at the positive side and not dwelling on the downside. Takes up too much energy being negative. Also having a good agent who keeps me busy all the time." (More Betty White stories.)

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