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 92, and she's still a powerhouse in Hollywood.
Her TV Land show "Hot in Cleveland" will start its fifth season in March. And despite her NBC comedy show "Off Their Rockers" getting axed last year, Lifetime will bring back the series this year for a 20-episode season.
However, 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.
She nearly left the biz before making it big, and almost wasn't on the "Mary Tyler Moore."
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.
(Betty White: The Illustrated Biography)
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."
(Betty White: The Illustrated Biography)
She originally wanted to be an opera singer.
White opened up to the Canadian Press while discussing her role in 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."
See the rest of the story at Business Insider