Rose has Scandinavian anchestry, and in an episode of the "Golden Palace" she reveals that she is in fact Swedish. She is a naive, slow thinking widow who views life as a romantic musical. This is often expressed in her many long stories of life in her home village of St Olaf, Minnesota . Her husband, Charlie, who died of a heart attack whilst they were having sex, was a travelling salesman. Since 1989 she has had a relationship Miles Webber played by actor Harold Gould . She has several jobs in the series. She starts out as a grief consellour and later moves on to be a researcher on a consumer programme at WSF-TV in Miami.

Actress Betty White was born on the 17th January 1922 in Oak Park, Illinois. Forty years of television, as well as five EMMY's for her efforts, have made Betty White one of the best known faces on American TV. "Life With Elizabeth", "The Mary Tyler Moore Show", the quiz show "Just Men" (which she hosted) are among her popular triumphs.

Prior to the Golden Girls, both Betty White and Rue McClanahan occasionally co-stared in the comedy series "Mama's Family", which was a spinoff of the "Carol Burnett Show". Betty White played the snobbish Ellen.

Her greatest regret was losing her husband, Allen Ludden. The experience of learning to do things alone that used to be done as a couple came in useful when she got the role of Rose in "The Golden Girls". "You have to learn new stuff - open new doors. You've got to keep your sense of humour or you're lost."

Betty recalls how "The Golden Girls" was rare in that it appealed to all ages. Over half of the fan mail was, and continues to be, from children. She attributes the success of the series to the writing, "No matter how good a performance you give, you can't be that funny if it isn't on the page." She still enjoys watching "The Golden Girls", and is often surprised when watching an episode that she doesn't remember. She says that working together, all four girls became like family. She still see's the other's now and again, mainly Bea Arthur who she often sees at the market as she lives nearby, and on July 25th 1997 they all got together to celebrate Estelle Getty's 73rd birthday.

A committed animal lover, she has been honoured many times for her dedication to animal care and welfare. She has been on the board of the Los Angeles Zoo for 24 years. Her book, "Betty White's Pet Love", discusses the therapeutic benefit of animals on humans. She continues to work with a health foundation that investigates the specific health problems of dogs, cats and horses.

You can write to Betty at:- PO Box 3713, Granada Hills, CA 91394-0713,
although I gather that PO Box 491965, Los Angles, CA 90049-8965 is a more up to date address.

Click here to order Betty's latest book "Here We Go Again: My Life In Television" from Open Group Books
Click here to read more about Betty White from the ThirdAge Celebrity Chat
Click here to visit the Betty White Website