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Category Archives: Allen & Betty Together

“You Make Me Sound Like a Hooker!”

09 Thursday Jun 2022

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Password, Tattletales

Their Secret PasswordDownload

Daily TV Serials, February 1975

This is a great interview, because the writer let it slip into a Q&A session. Having interviewees’ real answers is more intimate than a summary of what was discussed. Plus, with Betty’s sense of humor, it’s far more entertaining!

There’s something decidedly charming about them not being quite ready for the interview on time (with Betty wielding a pooper-scooper, no less). And they’re both so enthusiastic!

It’s also fun to see the reference to the notorious vaccination question on Tattletales.

Allen and Grant Tinker’s Letterhead

30 Monday May 2022

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Grant Tinker

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 in 1971: Diggin’ California and Posing With His Parents

31 Thursday Jan 2013

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Allen Ludden, Betty White

californiaFrom Daytime TV, November 1971:

Click on the image to download a PDF of the article!

“Why, it’s the most convenient house I’ve ever lived in!”  Allen gives an interview about the move from New York to Los Angeles.  What’s interesting is that this article appears four years after the fact…not exactly a timely angle.

Allen’s love of gardening shows here, with lots of enthusiastic comments on how he can grow things all year long and the trees in the back.  Allen TOTALLY loved to garden.  He was studying landscape architecture at Pierce College when he died.

The picture of Allen & Betty with his parents is especially cool.

Favorite line in the article?  “And Allen has abandoned his crew cut in favor of longer hair.”  There you have it, ladies and gentlemen — Allen Ludden, hippie.

“Mr. Clean & The Girl Next Door!”

05 Wednesday Sep 2012

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Allen Ludden, Betty White

From Nighttime TV, July 1975:

Click on the image to download a PDF of the article!

Betty says (over commissary food) that everybody laughs about “Mr. Clean” marrying the “girl next door.”

I see a bit of foreshadowing in the article – “And she’s only using the tip of the iceberg as far as her talent is concerned.” Would 1975’s Betty be floored to see the heights her career eventually reached and the accolades to come?

Favorite line in the article? “Though the word is that Allen is a ‘marigold freak,’ which their living room decor attests to he and Betty have many other hobbies.”  I love the use of the phrase the word is. Like, word on the street? “Hey, man – did you hear the word? Allen Ludden is a marigold FREAK!”

Betty & Allen Weigh in on Watergate

18 Monday Jun 2012

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Allen Ludden, Betty White

From TV Dawn to Dusk, September 1974:

Click on the image to download a PDF of the article!

Betty may have become a Democrat, but back in the day, she was the conservative of the household, as this article notes. Both of the Luddens have a one-sentence summary of Nixon’s downfall on page 2.

We also find such tidbits as what Allen eats for breakfast, and what Betty’s step-children called her.

Favorite line in the article? “Visitors cannot help but be instantly smitten with their warm, contemporary furnishings, the myriad objets d’art and the multitude of fresh flowers from their garden on every table.” I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be instantly smitten when I see someone’s furniture. And did the woman really check every table in the entire house for flowers? Doubtful.

“The Girl Who Was Never Going to Marry”

07 Monday Nov 2011

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Allen Ludden, Betty White

petsetFrom TV Dawn to Dusk, November 1971:

Click on the image to download a PDF of the article!

Must we call a 49 year-old woman “girl?” Apparently so.

The general accuracy of these fan magazine articles continues to surprise me. Most of the facts compare favorably to Betty’s own books and statements made in television interviews.

Favorite line in the article? “When she swings open that front door, you see what every girl really wants to be – a happy and fulfilled woman.” There’s a line that will rot your teeth!

A Courtship Article with the Betty Seal of Approval

21 Friday Oct 2011

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Allen Ludden, Betty White

From TV Radio Mirror, August 1963:

Click on the image to download a PDF of the article!

Here we have a very detailed account of the Allen-Betty courtship, written just after the wedding.

You have to love the cheesy line at the bottom of page 2:

A self-confessed “old maid”…a widower who though love was over…a marriage that started out as a game and ended up for keeps!

Paging movie-trailer-voiceover guy!

A thank-you note written to the author, Paul Denis, presumably regarding this very article, is listed on eBay at the moment (with a minimum bid of $699.95 — ouch!). Betty seems very pleased with the job he did!

How Much Did Allen & Betty Spend on Parking in 1963?

20 Thursday Oct 2011

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Allen Ludden, Betty White

Don’t we all lie awake each night pondering that very question?

Click on the image to enlarge!

A few observations:

The firm of Edward Traubner & Co. managed the business interests of many performers.  The company filed its articles of incorporation on Friday, February 17, 1956.

The couple estimated that they spent $400 on “business parking” in 1963.  In 2011 dollars, that’s about $2825.  That’s a lot of parking at a time when the average annual wage in the United States was $4,397. Where were they parking?!

Finally, this is the only example I’ve ever seen of Betty signing as Betty Ludden, rather than Betty White (personally or professionally) or Betty White Ludden (for documents & contracts).

And Our First Item Is… The Marriage Certificate

18 Tuesday Oct 2011

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Allen Ludden, Betty White, Grant Tinker, Horace White, Mary Tyler Moore, Tess White, Vegas, Vital Records

Fittingly, we’ll start with the marriage certificate. Betty and Allen were married in Las Vegas at the Sands on Friday, June 14, 1963. The judge, David Zenoff, is the same one that married Allen’s BFF, Grant Tinker, to wife Mary Tyler Moore. Betty’s parents served as the witnesses.

Please observe:

  • Betty’s father, Horace White, had a signature that was quite similar to that of his daughter.
  • See the address written at the top? That’s likely Allen’s mailing address at the time; though the newlyweds and family would move into a different home within two months of the marriage.

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