Published Feb 21, 2026, 6:30 AM EST
After joining Screen Rant in January 2025, Guy became a Senior Features Writer in March of the same year, and now specializes in features about classic TV shows. With several years' experience writing for and editing TV, film and music publications, his areas of expertise include a wide range of genres, from comedies, animated series, and crime dramas, to Westerns and political thrillers.
With starring roles in legendary shows like The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Golden Girls, Betty White is American TV royalty. It’s no surprise, then, that she’s the most popular small-screen actor in the United States. Four years on from her death at the age of 99, White remains America’s favorite TV actor, according to ongoing polling.
Already a giant in the TV industry, White’s defining role arrived when she became a 63-year-old Golden Girl in 1985. Before then, she was known for starring in the 1950s sitcoms Life with Elizabeth and Date with the Angels, which she also produced, and playing Sue Ann Nivens in Mary Tyler Moore’s seminal TV show.
As well as her Golden Girls role, White also spent the 1980s working alongside comedian Vicki Lawrence in Mama’s Family, a sitcom spun off The Carol Burnett Show. More recently, she became a familiar face to new generations thanks to Hot in Cleveland. White had a distinguished movie career, too, although the small screen was unquestionably her natural home.
Betty White Is America's Favorite TV Actor According To Polls
An ongoing poll conducted by the company YouGov marks Betty White out as by far the most famous and popular TV actor in the United States, as of the final quarter of 2025. White’s nearest rival for the crown among actors primarily known for their television work is Taxi and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia star Danny DeVito.
Given her reputation as an enduring TV icon without precedent or parallel, White’s popularity rating of 80% only makes sense. After playing a prominent role in the all-time great sitcom The Mary Tyler Moore Show, one of the best shows of the 1980s cemented her status as an undisputed legend of the small screen.
The Golden Girls remains enormously popular in syndication, and no wonder. White’s performance alongside Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan, and Estelle Getty helped revolutionize the perception of older women onscreen. By the time the show was wrapped up after seven seasons in 1992, White and Arthur, in particular, were viewed as national treasures.
White Made Her TV Debut 77 Years Ago
Yet, Betty White’s TV career is ultimately unrivaled, even by fellow greats like Arthur. She first appeared on the small screen in 1949, as the face of KLAC-TV’s talk show Hollywood on Television. Thanks to White’s acting chops, the show rapidly evolved into a variety program featuring comedy skits, which then spawned The Betty White Show.
Her early comedy sketch performances in these series laid the basis for the sitcom Life with Elizabeth, which White co-created and produced, as well as starring in the title role. In this respect she was a pioneer, becoming the first woman to be the creative lead and producer in any TV series.
Her TV Career Spanned A World-Record 73 Years
While Betty White’s final acting role was Toy Story 4’s Bitey White in 2019, her TV career continued right up to her death December 2021. Around 10 days before she died, White was interviewed for a show celebrating her life’s work. It was broadcast on what would have been her 100th birthday, January 17, 2022.
This final TV appearance meant that her small-screen career spanned a record-breaking 73 years. No other actor has even come close to this figure. She actually broke the world record during her 64th year in television, while filming Hot in Cleveland in 2013, at the age of 91.
Betty White’s unparalleled longevity in television is the ultimate testament to her inimitable talents as an actor and comedy creator, her indomitable work ethic, and her lovable screen presence. Her record will undoubtedly stand for decades to come, and there’s a chance it will never be broken.
English (US) ·