US President Joe Biden has led a flood of tributes to trailblazing actress and Golden Girls star Betty White, who has died at the age of 99.
White’s film and TV career spanned eight-decades.
Calling her a “lovely lady”, Mr Biden told reporters: “99 years old – as my mother would say, God love her!” Tributes also poured in from people in the entertainment industry including Sandra Bullock, Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Reynolds.
“The world looks very different now,” tweeted Reynolds about his co-star in the 2009 film The Proposal and the woman whom he jokingly referred to in media interviews as his “ex-girlfriend”.
“She managed to grow very old and somehow, not old enough,” he continued. “We’ll miss you, Betty.”
“I’ve heard Ryan can’t get over his thing for me,” White had deadpanned to People Magazine for its December issue, “but Robert Redford is The One.”
White’s most famous role was as the naive-but-loveable Rose Nylund in the sitcom The Golden Girls in the 1980s and 90s. The show centred on the friendship of four women sharing a home in Miami and won many awards.
In 2010, she rounded off a decades long career by becoming the oldest person to host Saturday Night Live. Five years later, she was honoured with a lifetime achievement Emmy Award – her eighth Emmy in total.
Other US stars took to Twitter to send their condolences and praise her many comedic acting roles. A great loss to us all. We shall miss her dearly,” tweeted Star Trek actor George Takei.
“I grew up watching and being delighted by her. She was playful and daring and smart,” wrote Will & Grace actress Debra Messing, also calling White “a national treasure”.
BBC