Before Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Ellen DeGeneres, Betty White was the Queen of Comedy — pioneering her way from the radio airwaves to quiz shows and sitcoms.
She made a name for herself on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and "Golden Girls." In the past few years, White has made a huge TV comeback with cameos on "Community" and "The Middle" before shattering ratings on "Saturday Night Live."
Today, our favorite "Golden Girl" turns 97, and she's still a powerhouse in Hollywood.
Her TV Land show "Hot in Cleveland" completed five seasons in 2015. And despite her NBC comedy show "Off Their Rockers" getting axed in 2013, White has kept busy since then with appearances on shows like "Crowded,""Bones,""Young & Hungry," and "Fireside Chat With Esther."
But how much do you really know about White?
We dug through LIFE's illustrated biography of Betty White to learn what you don't know about the funny woman.
Betty's first work in Hollywood was in a Parkay margarine commercial.
White hung around in producer Fran Van Hartesveldt office until he decided to offer her a job in the commercial.
This led to her appearance on radio show "The Great Gildersleeve," also headed by Hartesveldt.
White has never had acting lessons.
The actress said they were never her thing.
"I just want to bring as much natural as I can," said White. "I'm not saying that people who take acting lessons are false. They're much better than I am, but it doesn't work for me."
She originally wanted to be an opera singer.
White opened up to the Canadian Press while discussing her role in the animated film "The Lorax," which had the actress sing a few bars.
"When I was a youngster, I wanted to be an opera singer, so I took very serious singing lessons."
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