Betty White, retiring? Not a chance. The 96-year-old actress has no plans of giving up on acting anytime soon.
In fact, the Hollywood icon, who began her career in the early 1940s on shows like Blondie, The Great Gildersleeve and This is Your FBI, has a new project already down the pipeline this summer. Co-directed by Steven J. Boettcher, Betty White: First Lady of Television, a new PBS documentary on the star, will chronicle White's life and 80 years in showbiz.
"She told me, 'I'm going to be in the saddle forever,'" Boettcher told Closer Weekly of the beloved figure. "She loves working; she loves the challenge. She's someone that we're all better off for that she's lived this long."
Boettcher said the Golden Girls performer, whom he spent 10 years familiarizing himself with to create the doc, was nothing less than a delight to work with. "We spent a great deal of time with her [on this project] and she never said a bad word about anyone," he said, adding "every cast and crew member loved working with her."
The movie doesn't arrive on the network until August 21, but the leading lady received an early viewing of the project on her 96th birthday back in January. "It was at her party with 400 of her closest friends," Boettcher said. "When it was over, she asked, 'Does it have too much Betty White?’ It was so cute!"
"I've been so spoiled rotten. I'm the luckiest old broad on two feet. Truly! I’ve always been working at something," White said, adding that her secret to a happy and successful life has always been to "accentuate the positive, not the negative." She continued: “It sounds so trite, but a lot of people will pick out something to complain about, rather than say, 'Hey, that was great!' It’s not hard to find great stuff if you look."
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