There’s no question that Betty White is a beloved actress across film and television. While she’s best known for her role on “Golden Girls,” she guest-starred on dozens of other TV series throughout her career, including some rather obscure ones. Unlike her iconic appearance on “Bones”, you might not know about any of these.
For example, White voiced quite a few characters on animated shows like Nickelodeon’s “SpongeBob SquarePants” and Cartoon Network’s “The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy.” She also popped up on sitcoms like “The Soul Man” and “My Wife and Kids.” She even made a guest appearance on the Lifetime series “The Client List.”
Even though these roles are more obscure than Rose on “The Golden Girls,” or Elka on “Hot in Cleveland,” the Emmy Award-winning actress treated every job with respect. In a 2018 interview with Parade, White expressed that she didn’t have any regrets when it came to the roles she played.
“I think I’ve played some really wonderful roles over the years,” White said. “I don’t think about things I might have missed out on. I’m grateful for everything I’ve gotten to do.”
Read on for five TV appearances from White that you may not have known about.
SpongeBob SquarePants
Betty White is no stranger to voice acting, but her appearance in Season 9, Episode 9 of “SpongeBob SquarePants” (“Mall Girl Pearl”) is one of her lesser known animated guest spots. White voices Beatrice, an elderly store owner who brings comfort to Pearl Krabs. The episode also features a guest appearance from Audrey Plaza as the voice of a mall goth named Nocturna.
“SpongeBob SquarePants” supervising producers Vincent Waller and Marc Ceccarelli told TV Insider in 2016 that White is a “comedy icon” just like SpongeBob, and described being immediately charmed with her while recording the episode.
“Happily, she is the exact person in the flesh as you’ve seen on the telly over the years,” they said. “She is quick-witted, gracious, and welcoming to all that have the thrill to share a room or microphone with her.”
The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy
Known as one of Cartoon Network’s best original series, “The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy” was graced with an appearance from Betty White as the voice of Mrs. Doolin in Season 1, Episode 4, titled “Who Killed Who?/Tween Wolf.” The seemingly spooky Mrs. Doolin quickly bonds with Mandy, debunking every creepy rumor Grim has spread about her. The rumors were apparently invented due to Grim’s bruised ego because Mrs. Doolin is one of the rare souls who has managed to beat him at just about everything, from staring contests to board games.
White leans into the show’s distinct style of humor with a wonderfully unsettling, intentionally over the top laugh that fits right in with the series’ tone. It’s also a pitch‑perfect role for White, whose career has long included delightfully edgy comedy that plays against her perception as a sweet grandmother.
The Soul Man
Everyone remembers Betty White’s iconic role as Elka Ostrovsky on “Hot in Cleveland,” but did you know that the show had a spin-off called “The Soul Man”? White guest-starred as Elka in the Season 3 premiere, “All the Way Live.” The episode aired live as part of a special back-to-back premiere with the Season 5 opener of “Hot in Cleveland.”
“The Soul Man,” which began as a backdoor pilot, stars comedian Cedric the Entertainer as Reverend “The Voice” Ballentine, the head of the church that White’s character occasionally attends on “Hot in Cleveland.”
Cedric the Entertainer had a beautiful working relationship with White. He once joked about how he needed to get her permission to make “The Soul Man” during an appearance on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.” “All things go through Betty White, you know,” he said.
My Wife and Kids
The Wayans dynasty has given us many iconic comedies over the years, including “The Wayans Bros.,” but one of their lesser remembered projects is the sitcom “My Wife and Kids.”
Betty White guest-starred in Season 4, Episode 26 as Mrs. June Hopkins, a Mary Poppins-esque maid who helps the family while Jay (played by the excellent Tisha Cambell) is away on a business trip. Hilarity ensues when it appears the family begins preferring June’s way of doing things compared to Jay’s.
The episode comes to a hilarious comedic peak when the family compares peach cobbler prepared by the two ladies. White appears to fix the cobbler by sprinkling nothing on top, and the family agrees that it tastes better. There is also a moment at the end of the episode that really leans into the Mary Poppins bit.
The Client List
Betty White loved to subvert her sweet grandma image, so her guest appearance on “The Client List” actually made a lot of sense. The show follows Riley Parks (Jennifer Love Hewitt), a masseuse at a spa with a secret, illegal menu offering spicy services. White guest-starred in Season 1 as the wife of one of those special clients, displaying her comedic genius with a humorous, raunchy response to learning how her husband dropped dead.
White was a big fan of “naughty” humor, according to her “Mary Tyler Moore Show” co-star Joyce Bulifant, who reminisced about sharing dirty jokes with White on set.
“One thing I loved about her is that she gave me permission to tell naughty jokes,” Bulifant told Fox News in 2022. “She said that whenever I told her naughty jokes, it sounded like a nursery rhyme. So that gave me permission.”
