The Truth About Betty White's Guinness World Record

Comedic actress Betty White's 100th birthday is Jan. 17, 2022, and when the new centenarian looks back on her life, she will see a lot to celebrate. White, who spent more than eight decades as a performer, appeared in many popular TV shows, according to Biography, including "Life with Elizabeth" (1953-1955), "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" (1970s), "The Golden Girls" (1985-1992), and "Hot in Cleveland" (2010-2015). She also hosted "Betty White's Off Their Rockers," a show featuring older adults playing good-natured pranks on the younger generation that aired from 2012 to 2017. White is also an activist and has worked with the Los Angeles Zoo and the Morris Animal Foundation for several decades. "Half my life is working in a profession I love and the other half is working with animals," she said.

Early on, White began producing, forming her own company — Bandy Productions — in 1952. Not finding the work she wanted in Hollywood, she created "Life With Elizabeth," casting herself in the lead role. She also helmed and produced a talk show, "The Betty White Show," in 1954 and revisited that title in the 1970s when she produced a sitcom using the name (via The Famous People). Amid all her work, White received many awards, including seven Emmy Awards (one for Lifetime Achievement), three American Comedy Awards, a Grammy, and she was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1995. 

She even holds a Guinness World Record, entering the book in 2014, reported the Huffington Post.  

In the "Guinness World Record" book, White is listed as the "Longest TV Career for a Female Entertainer," an honor she received in 2014, according to the Huffington Post. "I was astounded when they called to tell me," she said to Guinness World Records. "Who? Me!?! It's such as honor. The book has always been fascinating to me. I can't believe I'm now associated with it." White was always amazed by the information the book contained and the range of categories, such as the longest fingernails.

While that's White's most formal record, she's also broken other boundaries. She is also the oldest "Saturday Night Live" host after a furious Facebook campaign to have her on the show in 2010, reported Los Angeles Times. The powers that be listened to campaign and she appeared on Season 35, Episode 21 on May 8, 2010, on the Mother's Day show, according to NBC. She killed the performance, according to reviews like Vulture's, that said, "Betty White talked like a sailor on 'SNL' last night and it totally worked," and led to the show's highest ratings in a year and a half, according to The New York Times. Even singer Justin Bieber tweeted after the show that, "Betty White Rules."