18 things you probably didn't know about Betty White

White hung around in producer Fran Van Hartesveldt's office until he decided to offer her a job in the commercial.

This led to her appearance on the radio show "The Great Gildersleeve," also headed by Hartesveldt.

The actress said they were never her thing.

"I just want to bring as much natural as I can," said White. "I'm not saying that people who take acting lessons are false. They're much better than I am, but it doesn't work for me."

White opened up to the Canadian Press while discussing her role in the animated film "The Lorax," which had the actress sing a few bars.

"When I was a youngster, I wanted to be an opera singer, so I took very serious singing lessons."

"Back then, girls were not allowed to become forest rangers," White told ABC News in 2010.

That year, she received an honorary park ranger title at 88, something she said her parents would enjoy.

"They would be more proud of this than of any other award I have won," said White.

White said she didn't want to live on the East Coast. NBC wanted White so much the network offered to give her an apartment at the St. Regis Hotel so she could fly back to California each weekend, but White said it didn't seem practical.

The job went to Barbara Walters.

Before joining "Hollywood on Television," White was asked if she'd be interested in a television special with then-radio disc jockey, Dick Haynes. The free gig led to a call from Jarvis, another disc jockey, to have Betty as his sidekick on "Hollywood on Television."

She and "Hollywood on Television" co-host Al Jarvis had to do numerous live ads for their sponsors.

You can watch a scene from the movie here.

Allan wanted White to stop working and focus on a traditional family life, but the actress chose her career over her husband.

"He didn't want me to be in show business," said White. "When you have a calling you have to follow it, so I made the choice, blew the marriage and I've never regretted it."

White married the love of her life, TV host, Allen Ludden in 1963. The two met while White was a celebrity guest on "Password" in 1961 and remained married until his passing in '81.

In her 1997 book "Here We Go Again," White described her experience with the ABC show as unhappy. She didn't see her co-star Bill Williams as someone who thought funny.

"I think I can honestly say that that was the only time I have ever wanted to get out of a show," said White.

The show, produced by her husband, ended after one season when Carnation pulled its advertising.

Watch a scene from the show here.

The part was originally for a "Betty White-type."

It was thought Betty and Mary's friendship may not work out on screen.

"Animals don't lie. Animals don't criticize," said White in the 2012 book "If You Ask Me." "If animals have moody days, they handle them better than humans do."

White estimated having 20 dogs at one point growing up. She loved animals so much, that her first production company, Bandy Productions, was named after her Pekingese, Bandit.

When asked by Parade at the age of 95 what she attributed her long life to, White joked she enjoyed having vodka and hot dogs, "probably in that order."

Rue McClanahan was offered the role of naïve Rose Nylund while Betty was asked to play Blanche.

Pilot director Jay Sandrich suggested the two switch roles since they played similar ones in the past, and it was the best decision ever. White won the Emmy for outstanding actress in a comedy series for her portrayal. After the show's end, she reprised her role as Rose in the short-lived spin-off, "The Golden Palace."

However, producers loved her and quickly gave her a full-time role.

She received a Primetime Emmy Award for her performance, which caused us to never look at a muffin the same way again.