BETTY WHITE - something's weird

Yes, she's "beloved" by America. But she'd also been married three times and her third husband, Allen Ludden, has three children with whom she is not close. One has been estranged from her for 30 years. She has no kids of her own, no siblings. Is she really beloved and happy in her private life?? Why did Ludden's kids loathe her so? EXPLAIN!

B.%20Arthur
• oyld tyme dyke

• I hear that she eats barbecued dog whenever she's in South Korea publicizing "Hot in Cleveland". That gives a whole new spin to "animal lover".

  Cloris

• All I can say about Betty White is that I waited on her once at a department store. She tried to pay by check. Foe some reason, I got a notice that she had to see the credit department. She could not have been nicer. She did not throw a diva fit.

• Bump. I want some Betty White dish.

• Hm, maybe she couldn't bear children? And it allowed her to pursue the career she wanted.

• Am I the only one who thinks it was weird that she wasn't on her own Second Annual 90th Birthday show recently? I am astonished that no one made a fuss about the no-show and there was nothing in the press. The camera showed her at home watching the show and she seemed alert and awake for someone who had just turned 91.

  anonymous

• Betty's been hiding in plain sight all these years.

  Priscilla Morrill

• I don't think Betty's a closet lesbian, I just think she's one of those straight women who isn't all that interested in sex. Quite a few straight women from Betty's generation were like that.

• At 91 she can watch from where ever she damn well pleases.

  Rue%20M.

• Allen Ludden always pinged for me, and Betty's always been a little dyky. Maybe he and Betty were in a mutual bearding relationship. These things do happen, you know.

• She likes black cock.

• A good friend works closely with her and adores her.

• She slept with Lars.

  Phyllis Lindstrom

• So did I, r13.

  Your queer brother

• R14. No, my queer brother dated Rhoda. He didn't get near Lars.

  Phyllis

• [bold]I[/bold] slept with her... God help me.

  Lou%20Grant%2C%20hungover

• Why should Allen Ludden's kids be close to their stepmother?

• is that old story about Bea Arthur shitting in Betty's dressing room true?

• Long long afo (1970s) I heard rumors that Allen Ludden and Betty White had a bearding relationship - but the word was they genuinely adored each other.

• This is an article From 2010 on the feud with her stepdaughter: "Golden Girls" star Betty White has refused to end a 30-year feud with her stepdaughter Martha Ludden. The veteran actress wed Ludden's father, U.S. TV personality Allen Ludden, in 1963 when his daughter was 13. Martha resented White for taking the place of her mother, who had died just two years earlier, in 1961, and the pair never got along. The teenager turned her anger into rebellion and her behavior caused friction with her own father. A source tells the National Enquirer, "Allen used to argue with Martha constantly over her... anger towards Betty. Her tumultuous relationship with her father caused him a lot of grief." Allen was eventually diagnosed with stomach cancer and passed away in 1981 - and White has never forgiven Martha for causing so many problems, according to the tabloid. The insider says, "I think Betty blamed Martha for making Allen's last years nothing but misery and heartache." Almost three decades after Allen's death, White is still ignoring all attempts by Martha to reconcile. Martha confirms, "The last time I spoke with my stepmother, Betty White, was 30 years ago." And in the comments section: i knew martha as a teen and she just wanted to have a normal life like the rest of us. betty was a major PITA. hated the kids and wanted allen to herself. keeps tight control of the kids' inheritance from her dad even tho they are all over 50 now. betty's into her image but there's no heart there

  http://www.aceshowbiz.com/news/view/w0003135.html

• Betty took a dump in the mother's urn and for some reason the daughter took offense. Teenagers!

• Can't stand her. I suppose her stupid schtick is hard work, but I turn the channel, mentally if not physically.

• I enjoyed her work on Mary Tyler Moore, but not on Golden Girls. I did not like any of the characters and seldom watched the show if there was anything better on another channel. A few years ago when they were selling DVDs of old shows with expired copyrights for $1.00 each, I bought some of "Life with Elizabeth" which was before my time. They were unwatchable, and all the character did was act stupid and then laugh at herself over it. Maybe I should say "behave stupidly" because she might not have been acting.

• I agree R23. Is it acting if she always the same ditz? If she's nice, it's because she glad for the paycheck. She certainly hasnt changed her act. But then, can she S-T-R-E-T-C-H at her age? Now I'm channeling Sofia

  R22

• Step daughter must want to be included in the will. The Louden money must be gone. I am sure BW will leave hwr $ to an animal charity

• Perhaps it is Betty that's hung and not Bea after all.

• What 13 year old wouldn't resent a step-parent? Betty must not be a very gracious person if she couldn't understand where the kid was coming from. She should have cut the her some slack.

• We have no idea what went on there, R27. I barred my partner's son from coming into my home, but only was after months of bad behavior on the kid's part. The final straw was when I caught him being cruel to our cats.

• I'm sick of her naughty granny shtick. She was the Deb Messing of GG, if you get my drift.

• Saw an A&E Biography of her a few years back. Had a no-nonsense stance when it came to her stepchildren. I don't think she ever really liked kids.

• [quote]But she'd also been married three times and her third husband, Allen Ludden, has three children with whom she is not close. One has been estranged from her for 30 years. It's not unusual for step parents/children to not be close.

• [quote]What 13 year old wouldn't resent a step-parent? But Ludden & White were married almost 18 years, so the daughter must have been around 30 during her father's final illness. If it's true that the daughter didn't treat her father well while he was dying, I can see why his wife might feel too bitter about that to forgive.

• R29, I agree with you. I used to like her ,but she has changed into a major turn off and has ridiculous behavior. I don't think its cute and adorable for 91 year old to be crass and always try to shock about obnoxious sex talk. That could apply to anyone.

• Betty was not a kid lover. It's true she wanted Allan L. all to herself. Betty wants what Betty wants. There's alot more to her than what she shows the world. Personally, I love her bitchy side. I also love that she didn't like kids. I don't either. Sucks for the step children but truth is that was a long time ago. Water under the bridge.

• Was she supposed to magically transform herself into someone who loved kids? It obviously didn't bother Ludden, certainly not enough to keep him from marrying her. I don't like kids either. I don't wish them any harm but I prefer not to spend much time around them.

• Some women from her generation, some who valued careers, just weren't that into children.

• There have been women from every era in history who haven't liked or wanted children. Many of them ended up becoming unhappy mothers but some chose not to procreate.

• You know you are really scraping the bottom of the desperation barrel when you are poking around looking for reasons not to love Betty White. And DL stoops yet again to a brand new low.

• She is beloved because she is over 90 and still standing. She was probably a big bitch.

  Anonymous

• I always assume that when a woman Betty's age doesn't have children it means that when she was a young starlet in Hollywood she was a major slut and had lots of abortions, thus leaving her either barren or an inhospitable womb.

• Betty White perhaps likes animals better than kids. And there's nothing wrong with that: so do I; so does my best friend of 37 years. I mean, I have 3 nieces; a great niece and 3 nephews (yes, I'm old) and love all of them! but never wanted kids myself. Betty White loves animals; this is a gay message board; gays love animals: therefore, IMHO, it follows, does it not - as the night to the day (Shakespeare? sorry!): that everyone on this board should love Betty White. Kidding. It is too bad to have enmity within a family, even step-family, especially if the daughter would like to make up. I live in a building of 90% elderly; 95% of THEM women, and as someone warned me: just 'cause people get old, doesn't make them "all warm and fuzzy." Same thing with Betty White, I guess. As regards her not being live on her tribute show, I first thought:(a) why didn't they reschedule?; (b)what ever happened to "the show must go on"? (meaning, her appearing) BUT she wasn't at the SAG awareds either; I wonder: could she have had the flu? Prevalent this year and WAY bad news if you're over 65, MUCH less 91. God bless her, I say - but no, she's not perfect. Sorry for the overly long post.

• Mean people live forever.

  A.%20Scalia

• She's awful on HOT IN CLEVELAND. She's obviously being fed her lines - and not handling it well.

  A.%20Landsbury%20

• I give her no more than 90 days before she's dead.

  I%20called%20Whitney%20on%20her%20exact%20day.%20%20

• Cute couple.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DupofiPa8od8

• Betty's friendship with MTM is making more and more sense. MTM is also very cold and not very kind to children.

• Why do so many gay men hate lesbians?

• R46, two cold people are unlikely to form much of a friendship. Disliking children is beside the point. At their age, how they feel about children is moot.

• FYI: I heard when Betty White comes to NYC, she frequently sees her stepson.

• Is Mary Tyler Moore a bitch? I always thought she just wasn't a happy person. I remember she once said she was worth around 60 million dollars or so and she said my son is dead, my sister died, etc. and something like,my money is meaningless because I'm alone.

• Se was not on birthday show because she had the fu. Widely reported.

  http://www.nypost.com/p/pagesix/betty_white_has_the_flu_AzBaJMfQHhlLsiYRnCR1hN

• One of my uncles remarried after the sudden death of my aunt. None of the kids, except for the youngest, ever got on well with her. Later, they realized that it probably was no bed of roses for her to adjust to them. It's sad but not uncommon. The usual buzz on ludden has been that he was guay, but it doesn't really add up for me. The one time I encountered her was on a plane and she couldn't have been nicer to people.

• If you don't like kids, try not to marry someone who has three of them already.

  anon

• It's easy to love your own kids, but someone else's, well not so much.

• If you don't like kids and someone who has three of them wants to get married, make sure you aren't expected to help raise them or to spend much time with them.

• Maybe Betty and her stepkids had a falling out over Allen Ludden's money when he died. It happens.

• When it comes to Betty's stepdaughter, THE PASSWORD IS CUNT.

• R43, it's LANSBURY. And LANSBURY got fed her lines in "Deuce", "Blithe Spirit," AND "A Little Night Music".

  Betty%20once%20kicked%20Patty%20Heaton%20in%20the%20throat

• Betty on meeting Allen ..

  http://youtu.be/cuiG8oXZGJg

• I'm weird because I like older people, even older cranky people. I think it's because I loved my bipolar/borderline granny & she loved me a lot. With my mother, not so much. So I always give the elderly a pass, as it should be. Anyone else who were raised by or close to their grandparents who feel the same way?

• I'm with you. I love old people. I love their tastes and cranks and old-timey expressions. I just feel comfortable being around them. My grandmother, who is now in her 90s, was always funny and tough, but also very mean, not particularly grandmotherly, and even kind of an asshole, but now, she's just one thing: really old, and I don't disregard the fact that if she could, she'd put all of her energy into being an asshole once again; I don't forgive or forget or any of that shit. I just hang out with her and listen to her natter on with her long stories. She mostly bitches about everybody in her life except her dead husband, who was awful. Kids, on the other hand, are cute and I wish them well, but I never, ever think, "Shit, what this evening needs is the company of children." I don't love talking to them. I don't think their every gurgle is adorable or new or interesting. I hate watching adults try to engage them in real conversation on the same conversational level. Betty White plays naughty nonagenarian because that's the line she can deliver, the zinger. The way they film her, looks like she's having memory trouble or even problems with long scenes. Who cares. She's a working actress and probably she's fine with the jobs she's getting. I remember Steve Allen criticizing Betty White back in the 90s, I think, for some pseudo-salacious bit she did on Golden Girls. He said she was a disgrace, because I guess acting is dignified and sexuality isn't. Fuck him, dead dick, criticizing a colleague.

• She has been a working actress and personality since she was 17 -- that's 74 years from 1939 to 2013. She's never been away long enough to have a comeback! Go ahead and hate her. Who really cares what you think. She certainly doesn't.

• I've actually heard her say that people assume she's like Rose from GG but that she's not. She said herself that she can be quite direct and she's nowhere near as cheery. She sounds human to me. She has been in Hollywood a long time. She would be a pro at playing the game. There are probably very few people who really know her. She's from that generation who always behave in the way that is expected in front of the camera. In her case "smile, mention her darling pets, act shocked by something the younger host says, then good naturally laughs it off and lastly follows it up with something a bit smutty of her own for shock value and then smiles cheekily as the audience convulse with laughter". Gets in limo, goes home. I think what's weird is that in this day and age were we know everything every young celebrity does, we only know what Betty wants us to know which is very old school.

• I waited on her all the time back in the late 90s. She was absolutely wonderful.

• [quote]enjoyed her work on Mary Tyler Moore, but not on Golden Girls. I did not like any of the characters and seldom watched the show if there was anything better on another channel. You need to relinquish your gay card immediately.

• You hags who hate kids should be ashamed. You were children once, too.

• She's a fucking bitch.

• When they were casting Sue Ann Nevins for the MTM Show, they first talked about getting a "Betty White" type, then decided they'd try to get her. I suspect she was a lot like Sue Ann, and she stole ever seen she was in.

• Betty was the only one that Brett liked on Match Game 7X. They shared a dressing room.

• I agree with r66- and I also think Betty White is overrated and over exposed!

• I should be more honest- I think Betty White is an overrated over exposed old bitch and wish she had died in place of Bea Arthur or Rue McClanahan! We have heard so much of Betty that I have grown sick of her. It doesn't help that the insights we get into Betty's personality sound uappealing!

  R70