Although we have enjoyed many comedians and they have entertained us for many years, Betty White seems to stand in a class of her own. When she was alive, she was one of the most beloved actresses and people still appreciate the work she left behind.
Although Betty White had decades of entertainment to provide, she also had a reason why she was able to provide it. It was a bit of rebelliousness on her part that allowed her to live life on her own terms.
One of the rebellious things that Betty White did was to focus on her career and not have children when she was younger. This may not seem very strange these days but when she was a young woman, it was almost expected that you would have children and focus on them over your career.
In the end, however, it wasn’t something that she would end up regretting. In fact, she said it was a choice that she didn’t regret.
Over the years, Betty White did open up about her decision to not have children. This included in 2021, when she spoke to CBS News and said that her personality was one of the primary reasons why she decided not to have children.
She said: “I’m so compulsive about stuff, I know if I had ever gotten pregnant, of course, that would have been my whole focus. But I didn’t choose to have children because I’m focused on my career. And I just don’t think as compulsive as I am, that I could manage both.”
There were many actresses in the same generation as Betty White who wanted to focus on their careers but many of them had children and then went on to have a career later in life. Betty White, on the other hand, felt a real need to focus on her work.
After Betty was on the game show, Password, she fell in love with the host, Alan Ludden. He was the host of that game show, but he also became her husband. They were married in 1963 and he had three children, so she became their stepmother.
The children were already teenagers by the time he married Betty. The mother had passed away from cancer. She didn’t have children of her own but she did love the fact that she had stepchildren and she was very protective of them.
Her husband passed away in 1989 and she would remain single. She also felt this was necessary, because in her words, “When you’ve had the best, who needs the rest?”
I think we need more Betty White in our lives.