Tributes are pouring in for Hollywood icon Betty White, with news of her death at age 99, just weeks before her 100th birthday.
Global BC had a chance to speak with White when she was in Vancouver in 2012 for the Comedy Festival at the Centre for Performing Arts — an interview that gave anchor Sophie Lui and former anchor Randene Neill the once-in-a-lifetime chance to sing the Golden Girls theme with the star.
White had plenty of positive things to say about Vancouver.
“I’ve always loved Vancouver; came here years and years ago. I haven’t been here in a while, but it is so gorgeous. And so, there’s an atmosphere about it that I love. I love the spirit of Canadian people,” White said.
“Everybody is so nice. My driver at home in Los Angeles, he said, ‘You know how you get 17 Canadians in the pool? Say, please.'”
The then-90-year-old, who was set to perform a pair of shows in a single night, also shared the secret to her longevity and apparently boundless energy.
“I’m so lucky. I love what I do and it’s fun, and I’m with delightful people,” she said.
“Everybody says ‘Are you thinking of retiring?’ Translated, that means, are you ever going to get out of your fame? And I’m afraid the answer is no. I just love what I do.”
White said hearing people laugh was her favourite part of showbusiness.
It’s something White said that held true for her since she was a child — though she denied ever being a class clown.
Quizzed by the anchors about how to handle a male coworker who’s certain he’s the funny one in the room, the veteran comic had a simple answer.
“Oh, you just let them think that,” she quipped. “Then you just have your own fun. And pretty soon, the audience makes the judgment.”
White died at home Friday morning, according to her publicist, Pam Golum.
She was best known as Sue Ann Nivens on the 1970s sitcom Mary Tyler Moore, for which she won best-supporting actress Emmys in 1975 and 1976, and for playing Rose Nylund on The Golden Girls in 1985, for which she won another Emmy in 1986.