The news of the death of Hollywood’s legendary actress Betty White came as a shock on the cusp of the end of 2021 and the start of 2022. She was 99 years old at the time of her death, excited to celebrate her 100 birthday. Now, fans want to know if she had a husband at the time of her death? Does she have any children at the time of her death?
We address it all in this article. Scroll down to learn more about Betty’s relationship and children.
Did Betty White Have A Husband At The Time Of Her Death?
Betty White married three times in her life but at the time of her death, she was single. Back in 2011, she had an interview with Anderson Cooper. Anderson shared that his mother believed that the next big love was around the corner and wondered if Betty felt the same thing and if she date.
Betty jokingly replied, “I don’t think that’s any of your business”. She replied that she had the love of her life. Betty insistingly shared, “If you’ve had the best, who needs the rest?”
Betty White Exes
Hollywood star Betty White was married three times in her life
On July 7, 1945, Betty married the U.S. Army pilot Dick Barker. The marriage didn’t last long as they ended the marriage the same year on 18 December. Dick was born Frederick Richard Barker on 16 August 1914. He was a fighter pilot who served in World War II.
Betty and Dick met each other when she was a member of the American Women’s Voluntary Service (AWVS), according to Amo Mama. The List reported, at the time, Betty was a truck driver in the Hollywood Hills who delivered supplies to soldiers barracked there. She revealed to The List that her wartime service “was a strange time and out of balance with everything.”
According to her biography, Betty would go to the rec halls at night to dance and play games while with the AWVS. She met Barker there, and they married in November 1942, just before he headed overseas to serve in the war.
Speaking with AARP in 2010, she revealed, “I would not have married my first [husband]. I married my first because we wanted to sleep together. It lasted six months, and we were in bed for six months. [The marriage with Barker] helped me to appreciate the real thing when it came along.”
They never had any kids together.
Two years after her divorce, Betty married Lane Allen. Lane was born Albert Edward Wootten on 4 August 1914. He worked as a Hollywood agent, casting director, and actor. He is known for his work on the TV series Police Story and Project U.F.O. among others. They married in 1947 and divorced in 1949.
Betty’s second husband remarried twice after their divorce. He died on 5 August 1995.
Although married twice, Betty eventually found the love of her life with game show host Allen Ludden. They met when Betty appeared on Ludden’s show ‘Password’, and they became friends. Eventually, they started dating each other and got married in 1963. They stayed married until Allen died of stomach cancer in 1981.
Betty had revealed a few details about her third marriage. It appears Allen had proposed to Betty twice before but she was hesitant to get married again. She even admitted regretting rejecting Allen’s marriage proposal. Speaking with Oprah Winfrey in 2015, she shared, “I spent a whole year, wasted a whole year that Allen and I could have had together, saying, ‘No, I wouldn’t marry him. No, I won’t. No, I won’t leave California. I won’t move to New York,'”
“I wasted a whole year we could have had together.”
But, the third time was a charm and they stayed married for 18 years.
Betty had explained that she had no regrets about her first two marriages and admitted both of the divorces were probably her fault. She told Piers Morgan in 2012, “I had 18 wonderful years with Allen Ludden. The first two were . . . rehearsals.”
Betty White Kids
No, Betty White never had kids of her own. But, she became stepmother to her third husband Allen Ludden’s three children; David, Martha, and Sarah. According to Romper, all three siblings were teenagers when Betty and Allen tied the knots. Her husband had shared all three children with his ex-wife Margaret McGloin who also died of cancer in 1961.
Also, Betty had opened up about her decision not to have biological children. In 2012, while speaking with CBS Sunday Morning, she revealed, “No, I’ve never regretted it. 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.”
Who Were Betty White Parents And Siblings?
Betty White was born to her Homemaker mother Christine “Tess” White and her father Horace Logan White who worked as an executive for a lighting company. She grew up in Illinois. Betty shared a close bond with her mother who taught her quite a few things growing up. Furthermore, Betty credited her mother with instilling the power of positive thinking in her.
Speaking with Fox News in December 2021, Betty said, “I’ve always been a cockeyed optimist. I got it from my mom. I’m gonna stick with it.”
Besides the executive job, Betty’s father made radios on the side to make extra money for his family. Her IMDB profile unfolded that during the depression her dad made radios to sell to make extra money. At that time, nobody had any money to buy the radios so he would trade them for dogs. He even built kennels in the backyard and cared for them.
As reported by Heavy, Betty was the only child born to her parents. She revealed to Parade in 2018, “I’m an only child, and my mother and my dad loved [animals]. We had them as long as I could remember”.
Related FAQs
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How Much Was Betty White Net Worth?
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Betty White stacked $75 million in total net worth.
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How Tall Was Betty White?
What’s more, Betty White stood tall to the height of 5 feet 4 inches (1.63 meters).
