15 Amazing Facts About Betty White

Kristy Puchko
Betty White at a Los Angeles Zoo event in 2015.
Betty White at a Los Angeles Zoo event in 2015. / Vincent Sandoval/GettyImages
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12. A Facebook campaign made White the oldest person to ever host Saturday Night Live.

In 2010, a Facebook group called Betty White To Host SNL … Please? gathered so many fans (hundreds of thousands) and so much media attention that SNL executive producer Lorne Michaels was happy to make it happen. At 88 years old, White set a new record. Her episode, for which many of the show’s female alums returned, also won rave reviews and gave the show its highest ratings in 18 months. White won her fifth Emmy for the performance.

13. She actually was older than sliced bread.

Betty White and fans at the 'You Again' premiere in 2010
White at the 'You Again' premiere in 2010. / Lester Cohen/GettyImages

Have you heard the joke about how sliced bread was the best thing since Betty White? It’s based in truth: White was born in 1922, and the commercial bread-slicing machine didn’t debut until 1928.

14. White loved junk food.

Betty White eats a hot dog in 2010
Betty White enjoys a hot dog from Pink's in Universal City, California, in 2010. / David Livingston/GettyImages

The key to aging gracefully has nothing to do with health food as far as White was concerned. In 2011, her Hot in Cleveland co-star Jane Leeves dished on White’s snacking habits, saying, “She eats Red Vines, hot dogs, French fries, and Diet Coke. If that’s key, maybe she's preserved because of all the preservatives.” Fellow co-star Wendie Malick concurred: “She eats red licorice, like, ridiculously a lot. She seems to exist on hot dogs and French fries.”

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