Actress Betty White Honored by L.A. Zoo
Posted Feb 20th 2006 5:42PM by TMZ Staff
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Actress Betty White, whose many TV roles included domestic guru Sue-Ann Nivens on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" in the 1970s, was honored by the Los Angeles Zoo Monday for her commitment to animals.
The zoo made the Emmy-winning star an Ambassador to the Animals at a ceremony attended by about 50 people, including Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
A bronze plaque will be placed next to the zoo's gorilla exhibit, home to White's favorite animal. "Betty has such a big heart and a beautiful spirit. She is a 'Golden Girl' in every sense of the word," Villaraigosa said, referring to White's former TV series, which ran from 1985 to 1992.
White, 84, joked that the honor would make her "tough to live with from now on."
"I'm not sure what I'm going to do as
ambassador except to love the animals as I have all my life," she
said.
White has served for more than three
decades on the Morris Animal Foundation and the board of the
Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association, and has been a zoo
commissioner for eight years. She also has written two
animal-related books and received the Humane Award from the
American Veterinary Medical Association.
"She's the real deal," said Madeline
Bernstein, president of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty
to Animals-Los Angeles.
White has earned six Emmys during a TV
career spanning more than 50 years. She was inducted into the
Television Hall of Fame in 1995 and has a star on the Hollywood
Walk of Fame.
Tags: Betty white, BettyWhite, LA Zoo, LaZoo
