Sandra Bullock and Betty White in The Proposal Betty White: Seen here in a much-previewed scene with Sandra Bullock in The Proposal, she hasn't slowed down a bit, and it's a very good thing. Kerry Hayes/Touchstone Pictures
 

by Linda Holmes

While watching The Proposal, I thought to myself, "It's nice that we seem to be having a little Betty White moment." She's been doing a lot of press for the movie, including this lovely clip from the folks at Hitfix:

It wasn't until I looked up her credits that I realized the degree to which the lady (now 87) has not slowed down.

A long and glorious career full of dirty jokes directed at Gene Rayburn, and what she's signed on for next, after the jump...

I'll put it this way: out of her 88 acting credits, 33 are from 2000 or later. And she's just been announced as part of the upcoming comedy You Again, along with Kristen Bell, Kristin Chenoweth, Sigourney Weaver, and Jamie Lee Curtis.

Now, certainly, part of the reason more than a third of her credits are in the last decade is because some of her pre-2000 credits went on so long (seven seasons on The Golden Girls and four on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, for instance.) It's also because a good chunk of the glorious career of Betty White isn't from acting -- it's from game shows.

If you are a fan of the classic '70s game show Match Game (which has a continuing life in reruns on cable), you know that Betty White and Richard Dawson were the two really smart ones -- the ones who were most likely to be able to match the contestant so he could win the money. On that and other shows, she gave the funniest answers and offered the best banter -- it's no wonder she married Allen Ludden, who hosted Password.

But because there isn't the opportunity there once was to have her on TV all the time as a celebrity participant in game shows, Betty White should now be in every movie. Action thriller? Betty White as the savvy lady in danger who provides a critical assist! Superhero movie? Betty White as The Silver Tornado! Dumb dude comedy? Betty White as the disappointed grandma or possibly a buddy's surprisingly older girlfriend! Frothy movie about women shopping? Betty White as the fairy godmother!

We'll talk a little more about The Proposal as it gets closer, but in the meantime, if you're working on a movie and you don't know what it needs? The answer is probably Betty White. A lot more Betty White.

categories: Movies, People

8:13 - June 16, 2009

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