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The Allen Ludden & Betty White Archive

The Allen Ludden & Betty White Archive

Category Archives: Articles

“I Will Try New Hairdos, Etc.”

23 Thursday Jun 2022

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Bill Williams, Date With the Angels, Del Moore, Frank DeVol, The Betty White Show (1958)

As Date with the Angels came to an end, Betty wasn’t terribly broken up about it. She wrote in Here We Go Again:

I think I can honestly say that that was the only time I have ever wanted to get out of a show. We were plugging along and surviving—barely—but there was no longer any different spin on it, and as a result the fun was gone.

Betty was still obligated to fulfill her contract, so she created a whole new show, abandoning all the characteristics of Date With the Angels. The revamped program was called The Betty White Show (the third one!). For those keeping track of the various “Betty White Shows,” it’s probably easier to tack the year on than to remember the order. The one in question is thus The Betty White Show (1958).

Betty gave a preview in TV-Radio Life, March 1,1958.

“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’s Rising Star

30 Monday May 2022

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College Bowl, Mind Your Manners, Password

TV Star Parade, April 1967

articleDownload

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 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.

Betty Dishes on Being Wholesome and Her Dream Man

25 Friday Jan 2013

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Betty White

dreammanFrom TV Stage, December 1954:

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

Cover and table of contents say “Betty White’s Dream Man.” The article itself says “Betty White: Call Me Wholesome!” Go figure. Don’t you just love the font of Call Me Wholesome?

Interesting discussion of Betty’s four female groupies and how she used “some current jive talk.” Whatever that was. When I think jive, I think Barbara Billingsley in Airplane. 

It would also be interesting to hunt down that column that was so brutal. Wonder what it said that left her “crushed for days?”

It’s a rather poignant to hear her speak of what she wanted at that point in a mate and how much it sounds like Allen.

Favorite line in the article? “Meantime, Betty isn’t lookin’ or chasin'”

“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!

Betty Shares Her Needlepoint

20 Thursday Oct 2011

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Betty White

From Good Housekeeping Needlecraft, Spring/Summer 1979:

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

It’s nice to see an article with some out-of-the-ordinary pictures.

I’m also impressed that she spent four years on a single needlepoint rug — I can’t imagine staying with one thing that long!

The article describes a director’s chair she stitched for Allen: “The chair, done in Allen’s favorite marigold colors, has his name and motif on the back.” What do you suppose Allen’s motif was?  Perhaps a little Allen head in caricature?

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