Betty White, who died Friday at the age of 99, now knows “the secret” that comes with the end of life — a chapter the television icon has said she was not afraid to face.
In a 2012TimesTalks conversationwithNew York Timescolumnist Frank Bruni, White said she found “nothing” difficult about getting older, citing her mother’s own optimistic approach to death.
“My mother had a wonderful approach to death,” White said. “She always thought of it as — she said, ‘We know we have managed to find out almost anything that exists, but nobody knows … what happens at that moment when it’s over.’ "
She continued: “And she said, ‘It’s the one secret that we don’t know.’ So whenever we would lose somebody very close and very dear, she would always say, ‘Well, now he knows the secret.’ And it took the curse off of it somehow.”
That outlook fueled White’s own view of death, she told Bruni: “I have no fear or dread of death,” adding with a smile: “[But] I’m happy as a lark to stay around as long as I can.”
Betty White.getty
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White had a storied career that included unforgettable roles onThe Golden GirlsandThe Mary Tyler Moore Showand, later, iconic parts onHot in Clevelandand in the 2009 filmThe Proposal.
In recent years, she’s lived a quiet life in Los Angeles playing crossword puzzles and card games and watching animal documentaries,Jeopardy!and sports, particularly golf. A longtime animal welfare advocate, White was also a supporter of theWildlife Learning Center, theMonterey Bay AquariumandActors and Others for Animals.
Speaking to PEOPLE ahead of this week’s cover story — which celebrated her upcoming 100th birthday — the veteran actress said: “I’m so lucky to be in such good health and feel so good at this age. It’s amazing.”
White added that being “born a cockeyed optimist” was the key to her upbeat nature. “I got it from my mom, and that never changed,” she said. “I always find the positive.”
White died “peacefully in her sleep at her home” on Friday at age 99, just two and a half weeks before she would have celebrated her 100th birthday.
“Even though Betty was about to be 100, I thought she would live forever,” her agent and close friend Jeff Witjas told PEOPLE in a statement. “I will miss her terribly and so will the animal world that she loved so much. I don’t think Betty ever feared passing because she always wanted to be with her most beloved husband Allen Ludden. She believed she would be with him again.”
source: people.com
