The veteran actress for seven decades has died last December 31, 2021, at the age of 99. On her deathbed, her last words felt the hearts of the people around her which was shared by her personal assistant.

Vicki Lawrence shared in an exclusive interview with Page Six that White’s final word before her death was how much love she had for her late husband, Allan Ludden.

“I texted Carol and said, ‘This just sucks. I hate this. It’s just horrible to see the people you love so much go away,’” 72-year-old Lawrence said.

“Carol wrote back and said, ‘I know, I know. I spoke to Betty’s assistant, who was with her when she passed, and she said the very last word out of her mouth was ‘Allen.’” Lawrence continued, “How sweet is that? I said, ‘That is so sweet. God, I hope that’s true. For all of us, I really hope it’s true, a lovely thought.’”

In an interview with CNN Piers Morgan in 2012, White recalled that “I just wasn’t about to take another chance. Then I thought, ‘Am I going to live the rest of my life without this man?’ Thank goodness we got married when we did.”

Allan Ludden was a famous game show host and married White in 1963, as White’s third marriage. Ludden then died of stomach cancer in 1981 at the age of 63.

In a prior interview in 2011 with CNN’s Anderson Cooper White explained why she never married again, “I had the love of my life. If you’ve had the best, who needs the rest?”

“How sweet is that? I said, ‘That is so sweet. God, I hope that’s true. For all of us, I really hope it’s true, a lovely thought,’” Lawrence told Page Six.

She said White made every production a joy.

“Well, you didn’t really work with her — you just had a good time. Carol called it ‘playing in the sandbox,’ and I think that’s exactly what it was,” Lawrence said.

“Betty was just the perfect playmate. And I have to say this, she was incredibly professional. I don’t remember her ever not being prepared or ever messing up her lines.”

They also remembered one thing about White when she arrived an hour late to the set, but for a typical Betty White reason.

“This was before cellphones, and everybody was beside themselves because Betty was never late,” Lawrence said. “And she walks in, in a dither, and says, ‘I’m so sorry, but I was driving here and these two golden retrievers come running out into the intersection and they’re obviously lost. I had to pull over and get them.’”

White, a noted animal lover, got the dogs back home, Lawrence said, “because that’s what Betty would do.”

Lawrence said White was an entertainment industry rarity.

“Show business can be so disappointing when you meet people, but Betty was such a lovely lady, and I loved hearing her talk about early, early Hollywood,” she said.

Sources: The Western Journal, Ib Times, Cinema Blend, Page Six

 

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