3 Things We Can Learn from the Incredible Betty White

Actress Betty White died just short of her 100^th birthday. You’ve probably watched at least one TV show or movie she’s in and might have read about her lifetime of work in a magazine recently. Even if you’re not interested in acting, there are some important things you can learn from the incredible Betty White.

You Can Adapt with the Times

Betty White was 99 years old, making her literally older than sliced bread.[1] Can you even imagine a world without sliced bread? It was also a world without TV. Yet, Betty White became a successful TV star – and remained one. When we consider how much technology, entertainment, humor, and what’s deemed popular has changed in our lifetime, it’s amazing that Betty White was able to adapt with the times and remain so adored.

Success Can Come to Us Late in Life

Betty White was a celebrity who refused to retire. She had the longest-running TV career of any woman. She got her transformative role on the “Mary Tyler Moore Show” in her 50s.[2] She appeared as the host of “Saturday Night Live” at the ripe age of 88,[3] and starred in the film The Proposal the year before. Just a few years ago, she said, “Why should I retire from something I love so much? Nothing that I could possibly find to do would be as much fun as what I do for a living.” She showed us that sometimes our biggest successes come later in life.

Just Because It Hasn’t Been Done Before, Doesn’t Mean It Can’t Be

We often expect young, beautiful people on the screen, and often, actors and actresses retire once they start to “lose their looks.” But sometimes, it’s older characters that are most entertaining. Betty White defied agism later on in her career by accepting roles and working well past her youth. Early in her career, she was one of the first female producers in Hollywood, and in 1952, she started her own production company.[4] Betty White was an original, and we can all learn to be trailblazers from her.