PromaxBDA To Honor Betty White Next Month

PromaxBDA, the global association for promotion, marketing and design professionals in the entertainment industry, announced today that actress and comedienne Betty White will be the recipient of its PromaxBDA Lifetime Achievement Award at its Conference 2012, June 12-14 in Los Angeles.

With a career that has spanned more than 60 years, the seven-time Emmy Award winner has created unforgettable roles in television and film, authored seven books and won numerous awards, including those for her lifelong work for animal welfare.

“Throughout her career, Betty White has a natural ability to connect with consumers, not only through her memorable, iconic roles and her advocacy work, but through her personal brand,” said Jonathan Block-Verk, president-CEO of PromaxBDA. “She has proven she has the golden touch to win over multiple generations of fans and followers and it is our honor to celebrate her work within the industry as the recipient of this year’s PromaxBDA Lifetime Achievement Award.”

Although she turned 90 in January, White is not showing any signs of slowing down. Her first comedy series, Life with Elizabeth, brought her first Emmy Award in 1952, followed by a daily NBC talk/variety show called The Betty White Show. She was a recurring regular with more than 70 appearances on The Tonight Show with Jack Paar, and appeared on The Merv Griffin Show and The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. She also subbed as host on all three talk shows. White was a regular with Vicki Lawrence on Mama’s Family as sister Ellen, a role she created with the rest of the company on The Carol Burnett Show.

Her recurring role as “Happy Homemaker” Sue Ann Nivens in the classic series The Mary Tyler Moore Show brought two Emmys for Best Supporting Actress in 1974-75 and 1975-76. She received her fourth Emmy for Best Daytime Game Show Host for Just Men. Nominated seven times for Best Actress in a Comedy Series for her role as Rose Nylund in The Golden Girls, White won the Emmy the first season in 1985, and later appeared in the spin-off The Golden Palace for one season. She earned her next Emmy Award as Best Guest Actress in a Comedy Series on The John Larroquette Show.

White was nominated for an Emmy in 2011 for her portrayal of “Elka,” the snarky but lovable caretaker on the TV Land series Hot in Cleveland, in which she stars alongside Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves and Wendie Malick. White also won back-to-back Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by a Female in a Comedy Series in 2011 and 2012. When she hosted NBC’s Saturday Night Live in 2010, it was one of the highest-rated episodes in the show’s history, and earned her an Emmy Award for Guest Actress in a Comedy Series, bringing White’s Emmy total to seven awards. White is also executive producer and host of the new NBC series Off Their Rockers.

In addition to her role in the popular Snickers commercial shown during the 2010 Super Bowl, White has guest-starred on Ally McBeal, That ‘70s Show, Boston Legal and received Emmy nominations for guesting on both NBC’s Community and The Middle. She was also nominated for an Emmy as a guest actress on Suddenly Susan.

Her numerous television movies include Chance of a Lifetime, Stealing Christmas, Annie’s Point and The Lost Valentine, for which she received yet another Emmy nomination. White also hosted the New Year’s Day Tournament of Roses Parade for 20 years, and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade for 10 years.

Her big-screen credits include the Warner Brothers hit The Proposal, with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds, as well as You Again, Bringing Down the House, The Story of Us, Lake Placid and Hard Rain. One of her seven books If You Ask Me (And of Course You Won’t), released in May, 2011, earned White a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for the audio edition.