The late Betty White lived for almost a century and enjoyed a long life full of prestige, laughs and Hollywood glamour.
Despite the comedy icon having more than 120 screen credits to her name, there was one role that she never experienced: mother.
White had been open throughout the course of her life about not wanting to have kids. Although she was married three times, she didn’t have biological children.
In a 2012 interview with CBS, the “Hot in Cleveland” actress discussed why she chose not to be a mom and if she regretted the decision.
“No, I’ve never regretted it,” she said. “I’m so compulsive about stuff, I know if I had ever gotten pregnant, of course, that would have been my whole focus. But I didn’t choose to have children because I’m focused on my career. And I just don’t think as compulsive as I am that I could manage both.”
White decided to focus on her screen career, starring in many, many projects, including “The Golden Girls,” “The Carol Burnett Show,” “Young and Hungry” and “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” plus a “Saturday Night Live” hosting gig and a role in the movie “Bringing Down the House.”
She also had three husbands: Dick Barker, Lane Allen and Allen Ludden.
When she wed Ludden in 1963, she did become stepmother to his three children from a previous marriage. White and Ludden were married until his death from stomach cancer in 1981. The Illinois native never remarried.
White’s co-star in the 2009 romcom “The Proposal,” Sandra Bullock, recalled that White felt “blessed” to be a stepmom.
“Betty said, ‘You know what? I never had children biologically. I married someone who had three children. And how blessed I was to have those three stepchildren,’” Bullock said way back when, according to People.
Ludden had kids David, Martha and Sarah Ludden with his first wife, Margaret McGloin. She passed away in 1961.
The Ludden children were teens when their father wedded the “You Again” star.
Still, White could very well have been America’s grandma, if not for her roles as such in movies like “The Proposal.” Fans, celebs and even the president shared their remembrances of the matriarchal figure upon her passing Friday.