The world lost a true comedy icon on New Year’s Eve, when legendary “Golden Girls” actress Betty White passed away just weeks before her 100th birthday.
Hollywood legend Robert Redford, who Betty White often jokingly claimed to have a “crush” on, paid sweet tribute to our beloved Rose.
‘I Had A Crush On Her Too’
“Betty lived life devoted to her craft and her love of animals,” Redford told Fox News. “She made us all laugh, including me.”
“I had a crush on her too!” he added.
Robert Redford was seemingly referring to the fact that Betty White often claimed in interviews to have a crush on him.
In the lead-up to what would have been her 100th birthday, White talked to People Magazine about the long running joke that she is the ex-girlfriend of her former The Proposal costar Ryan Reynolds.
“I’ve heard Ryan can’t get over his thing for me,” she said. “But Robert Redford is The One.”
As White celebrated her 97th birthday in 2019, her rep issued a statement to E News! jokingly saying that the comedic actress was waiting for a call from Redford on her big day.
Betty White Never Met Robert Redford
White also once admitted to Entertainment Tonight that she had never actually met Redford, despite both of them working for decades in Hollywood.
“I don’t know him. I just worship from afar,” she said. “If I ever met him, I’d faint.”
White’s “Hot in Cleveland” co-star Wendie Malick tried to arrange for the two of them to meet at a charity event once, but the “Golden Girls” star wasn’t having it.
“She said she would be too embarrassed to see him in person since she’s been using his name in vain for so long,” Malick said, according to ET Canada.
Related: Betty White Reveals Why She Thought She Would Die Before Her ‘Golden Girls’ Castmates
Malick also recounted how White once got a voicemail from Redford, but erased it thinking it was a prank. Find out more about that in the video below.
Betty White’s One True Love
The true love of White’s life was actor and game show host Allen Ludden, who she was married to from 1963 until his death in 1981. Despite living for another four decades, White never remarried.
“He was the most genuine man I’ve ever known,” White previously told People Magazine of Ludden. “I first fell in love with his enthusiasm. He was interested in everything.”
When asked in 2011 why she never got married again, White replied, “I had the love of my life. If you’ve had the best who needs the rest?”
Millions of fans are still devastated about the passing of White, but she will live on forever through her many hilarious performances that will bring joy to the masses for decades to come.
May you rest in peace, Betty White.
RELATED: Betty White Reveals Why She Thought She Would Die Before Her ‘Golden Girls’ Castmates
