So here is my obligatory obituary for Betty as she did have an effect on my life well before the fad involving her got rolling a decade ago.
I recall seeing her on The Mary Tyler Moore Show in the Seventies but I was a kid and had no clue about her character’s personality. However, I did see notice her on game shows because my grandmother watched Password religiously. Then came the Eighties with The Golden Girls. I wasn’t keen on this SitCom. Being a teenager and later a college student, staying in to watch TV on a Saturday shouldn’t be any young person’s activity given all the cool stuff at their disposal. Again, Grandma loved it. This I found unusual. She didn’t care for Bea Arthur thanks to the controversial Maude and yet all her criticism about other shows being “filthy,” rang hollow thanks to Girls‘ weak, hardly subtle sexual double entendres.
She was a regular on the usual shows of the era too: The Love Boat, St. Elsewhere and the Prime Time soap opera drivel. Betty did become part Eunice’s world as the sister who had everything turn out well for her in the 1982 movie Eunice. Although Betty’s character Ellen wasn’t in the original Carol Burnett Show skits she would continue to drop by in the spinoff Mama’s Family.
Betty did make me laugh with her appearance on The Simspons, namely with her angry rhetoric for a fake PBS pledge drive. It was out of character given her reputation for being a nice person. She was also a frequent presence in animation, loaning her voice in Hercules, The Wild Thornberrys, Teacher’s Pet, King of the Hill, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, Family Guy, SpongeBob Squarepants and Toy Story 4.
Speaking of cartoons, how could I forget her comical turn with Malcolm in the Middle! Betty was grandpa’s secret wife hidden away in Canada. A great counter to the equally fabulous Cloris Leachman as a mini MTM Show reunion.
Outside of acting, she was a big advocate for animals like Bob Barker. It is why I plan to contribute to my local animal shelter on what would’ve been her 100th birthday.
Thanks for everything Betty. It’s always great to discover there was another person in the cutthroat world of Show Business who was genuinely and sincerely kind, especially with the rough times we live in today. You earned your immortality and then some.