Happy Birthday Betty White

White describes her character, Sue Ann, as the neighborhood nymphomaniac (Question: Do all neighborhoods have one?).

Originally, White was going to play the raunchy Blanche--an extension of her Mary Tyler Moore character. But the director, Jay Sandrich gave that part to Rue McClanahan. White got a grip on her character, the naive Rose, by figuring out that she takes every word for its absolute meaning. I mean she knows no sarcasm, no nothing. If somebody said I could eat a horse, she'd call the ASPCA.

Moore joined her on an episode of Hot in Cleveland. White said she was thrilled to see her old friend; though they keep in touch, "We don't see each other that often, so it was a great reunion."

Her husband, Alan Ludden, died in 1981. They married in 1963. As for why Whites never remarried, she said, Why marry again when you had the best? I had a marriage where we enjoyed our lives together every single day. We made each other laugh every single day. But shes not immune to crushes: The hottest man in Hollywood remains Robert Redford. Ive never met the man, but I just enjoy fantasizing about him completely.

That was on Just Men! The show itself didnt run very long, but Whites go at it was more than memorable.

White doesnt own a computer, doesnt know what Facebook is, and prefers snail-mail to email. I'm a technological spaz, she admitted in an interview.

And she won an Emmy for her hosting ability. . At first, though, she was a bit reluctant to go on the show: "Its such a New York focused show and Im a Californian. I was always afraid Id feel like a fish out of water." But once shed taken the plunge, she said, "It was wonderful." Advice to future SNL hosts: "Don't wear heels."

The book, Female Force: Betty White. tells the story of her career and rise to fame, and is part of a series that has featured Hillary Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, and other prominent women. The Betty White edition sold out in less than a day, a testament not only to her popularity, but to her popularity with, well... the demographic that buys comic books. Part of the profit from the book went to Whites charity of choice, the Great Los Angeles Zoo Association. Heroic of her!

Because she cant turn down a role. "You spend your career thinking if you say no, they'll never ask you again, and if you don't take the job that may be the end of it," she said in an interview. "My mother taught me to say no when I was a girl, but that wasn't about show business."

The key is I dont ever think Im doing comedy. I just do my work, White said. You dont think about the humor. That way of working has never changed and it never gets easier. I forget who said it, but dying is easy, comedy is hard. Happy 89th, Betty!