TAMPA (WFLA) – Beloved actress, comedian and American icon Betty White has died, just weeks before a milestone birthday, according to multiple reports.
White was best known for her work on sitcoms, including her Emmy-winning portrayals of Sue Ann Nivens on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and Rose Nylund on “The Golden Girls.”
A pioneering figure, White was one of the first women to produce a sitcom on “Life with Elizabeth,” a show she helped create in 1952 that she also starred in and wrote for.
According to TMZ, law enforcement sources say the 99-year-old comedy legend passed away at her home Friday morning. She would have turned 100 on Jan. 17.
White was gearing up to celebrate her 100th birthday on Jan. 17. Ahead of her centennial year, in January, White opened up to PEOPLE about how she was feeling about turning 100 years old.
“Even though Betty was about to be 100, I thought she would live forever,” her agent and close friend Jeff Witjas told PEOPLE in a statement on Friday. “I will miss her terribly and so will the animal world that she loved so much. I don’t think Betty ever feared passing because she always wanted to be with her most beloved husband Allen Ludden. She believed she would be with him again.”
In 1995, White was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame.
Despite a successful entertainment career spanning more than 90 years, White was equally celebrated for her tireless efforts on behalf of animals.
She served as a board member of the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association and trustee of the Morris Animal Foundation since the ’70s, according to Bloomberg.
White was married three times, but said her third husband, Allen Ludden, was the love of her life. The pair was married from 1963 until Ludden’s death in 1981.
This is a developing story check back for updates.
NewsNation affiliate KTLA and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
