Betty White‘s friend and former co-star Vicki Lawrence has shared the final word uttered by the legendary actress before she died at age 99.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Lawrence said she found out White’s last word was a callout to her husband, Allen Ludden, who died in 1981. “I talked to Carol yesterday, and we agreed it is so f—ing hard to watch the people you love go away,” Lawrence recalled to the publication.
“She said she spoke to Betty’s assistant, who was with her when she passed, and she said the last word out of her mouth was ‘Allen.’ That’s so lovingly sweet. I hope that is true.” White’s love for her husband burned bright even in the decades since his passing.
Remembering the couple’s relationship, Lawrence said it was a true Hollywood love story. “They were a lovely couple, and they were adorable together. She drove the car he gave her for as long as I can remember,” Lawrence continued.
“She wore the same ring he gave her as long as I’ve known her. That was her love story.” Lawrence says the Golden Girls star would want her friends, family, and fans not to mourn her death, but to “laugh” when they think of her name.
“She would want us to laugh and remember and love and enjoy and believe that she’s in heaven with Allen,” she added. White died on December 31 at age 99, just a few weeks short of her 100th birthday.
Her agent and friend Jeff Witjas confirmed the legendary actress died peacefully in her sleep in her home. “Even though Betty was about to be 100, I thought she would live forever,” Wojtas said in a statement to People.
“I will miss her terribly and so will the animal world that she loved so much. I don’t think Betty ever feared passing because she always wanted to be with her most beloved husband Allen Ludden. She believed she would be with him again.”
Wojtas emphasized that White had not been ill but had been extremely cautious during the COVID-19 pandemic. She spent most of the past two years at the home she loved with her many pets and had round-the-clock caretakers in her final years.