While very famous in North America, part of the reason she's called an "icon" is that she and the characters she's played have kind of defined the stereotype of a "sweet old lady" (even when she turns that stereotype upside down for comedy).
She became most famous staring in a 1985 sitcom about a group of old women living together called "Golden Girls" (a reference to that time of one's live being called one's "golden years"). It ran for 7 seasons and was very popular.
More recently, in 2010, she was the big-name star of another sitcom called "Hot in Cleveland" where three superficial LA women move to Cleveland, yet "grandma" has the most exciting social life out of them all. It was quite popular, even though competition for new sitcoms was pretty fierce in those years.
Most recently, a short-lived (but HILLARIOUS!) prank show called "Betty White's Off Their Rockers", where elderly actors and actresses (who are less immediately recognizable than Betty herself) pull pranks on young people just walking around in public. The show had a very sporadic airing, three seasons spread between 2012 and 2017, on different networks.
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@Katsurai
While very famous in North America, part of the reason she's called an "icon" is that she and the characters she's played have kind of defined the stereotype of a "sweet old lady" (even when she turns that stereotype upside down for comedy).
She became most famous staring in a 1985 sitcom about a group of old women living together called "Golden Girls" (a reference to that time of one's live being called one's "golden years"). It ran for 7 seasons and was very popular.
More recently, in 2010, she was the big-name star of another sitcom called "Hot in Cleveland" where three superficial LA women move to Cleveland, yet "grandma" has the most exciting social life out of them all. It was quite popular, even though competition for new sitcoms was pretty fierce in those years.
Most recently, a short-lived (but HILLARIOUS!) prank show called "Betty White's Off Their Rockers", where elderly actors and actresses (who are less immediately recognizable than Betty herself) pull pranks on young people just walking around in public. The show had a very sporadic airing, three seasons spread between 2012 and 2017, on different networks.
Here's Betty in some clips from Hot in Cleveland:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMoap7StUTw