Monthly Archives: May 2022

Betty’s Birth Certificate

30 Monday May 2022

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Betty Marion White was very lucky to arrive safely into the world on January 17, 1922. As she wrote in 1987’s Betty White in Person (pages 118-119):

Having one child was not a considered decision on the part of my folks. A month before I was born, my mother was in a bad car accident, and the doctors were forced to patch up her skull fracture before they could worry about the baby. I managed to hang in there, but the question of more children was, by then, academic.

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Please observe:

  • Contrary to a popular assumption, Betty’s name was not “Elizabeth.” Betty has said in interviews that her mother wanted to avoid nicknames. She named her “Betty” and immediately began calling her “Bets.”
  • They put Crede’s silver nitrate solution in her eyes to protect them in the event her mother had gonorrhea.
  • Betty was born on a Tuesday evening.
  • Her parents’ residence was listed as being located at 220 Pleasant Street. That would have been this apartment building.

Allen’s Rising Star

30 Monday May 2022

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TV Star Parade, April 1967

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The only really glaring error in the article is the mention of Allen being born in Mineral Springs, Wisconsin. There is no such place. Allen was born on October 5, 1917 in Mineral Point, Wisconsin.

Though interesting, the article is so short that it barely glosses over Allen’s interesting life. Many important factors are omitted, such as:

  • The death of his father Elmer Ellsworth when he was not yet two years old and the later remarriage of his mother to Homer Ludden.
  • His college era theatrical work.
  • The success of Mind Your Manners.
  • The success of Password.
  • The death of his first wife, Margaret McGloin Ludden.

Allen and Grant Tinker’s Letterhead

30 Monday May 2022

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Allen & Grant Tinker were best friends. When Allen was courting Betty, he had Grant & Mary join them for dinner and make observations, which Mary later comically described. The men later joined forces in EllTee Productions. Betty recounted:

Allen had maintained offices in Hollywood but moved Albets Enterprises, Inc., to the Valley when he found office space next door to the MTM lot. This was most convenient, for as well as his on-camera work, he had formed a partnership with Grant. EllTee Productions (for Ludden-Tinker) was to develop new daytime game shows.

Here We Go Again: My Life on Television (2010 revision), page 244.

Allen wrote to thank Betty’s fan club president, Kay Daly, for gifting him with a copy of the 1975 book, “Games of the World.” Because the letter is dated on October 8th, we can assume than it was a present for his birthday on October 5. If that indeed the case, Allen was very prompt with his note!

Allen & Betty in the 1950 Census

30 Monday May 2022

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Allen & Betty were more than a decade away from meeting in 1950, living on opposite coasts. Betty was with her parents. Allen was with his growing young family.

The 1950 Census is interesting because it includes more people we know. Unfortunately, it doesn’t include as much information as you’ve seen in previous decades’ counts.

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Allen lived in West Hartford, Connecticut with Margaret and his two older children. Because the address is not clear, I can’t show you the location yet, but I’ll work on it. Allen is listed as a radio writer, who worked at a radio station. Makes sense!

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Betty lived in Los Angeles with her parents at 11444 Ayrshire Road, seen below. At first, I thought the house was newer. But info from the assessor’s office shows that it was built in 1939. I wonder if the owners know or care?

Betty Answers Her 1954 Fan Mail

19 Thursday May 2022

Posted by in Ephemera, Just Betty, Photos

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fanclubDuring the summer of 1954, Betty hosted a variety show on NBC called The Betty White Show.  Betty and her crew of nine guys (!) presented musical numbers, read viewer mail, and celebrated “Wish Day,” in which the whole cast showered young guests with presents.

Here’s what a fan named Lydia received in reply when she wrote…

Please click the image see the mailing!

Given the volume of mail she likely received, it’s understandable that she relied on a “Dear Friend” form letter. It’s a nice touch, though, for her to reply to Lydia’s specific questions.

The insert listing the men on Betty’s show is interesting.  Frank DeVol was a well-know composer and arranger, and wrote a number of tv themes, including that of The Brady Bunch.  Arthur Duncan is a tap dancer, who went on to appear as a regular on The Lawrence Welk Show.

Betty was pretty forward-thinking in including Arthur Duncan, an African-American, in the cast.  She noted in her book Here We Go Again the following:

It came as a frightfully ugly surprise, one day, when a few of the stations that carried our show through the South notified us that they would, “with deep regret, find it most difficult to broadcast the program unless Mr. Arthur Duncan was removed from the cast.” I was shocked, and it goes without saying that Arthur continued to perform on our show as often as possible. To its credit, the network backed us up. I was livid — this was 1954, for heaven’s sake! I wanted to tell them what to do with their stations, but wiser heads prevailed. To no one’s surprise, that was the last we ever heard of the matter. They continued to carry us without another word on the subject.