Robert Redford remembers Betty White: 'I had a crush on her too!'
Betty White's one true love was Allen Ludden, her husband from 1963 until his death in 1981 , but the iconic actress still had room in her heart for a celebrity crush: Robert Redford.
White died New Year's Eve at 99 years old, just shy of her centennial birthday on Jan. 17 and shortly after People unveiled a special cover commemorating her turning 100:
For that cover, White joked to People about her The Proposal co-star and Redford: "I've heard Ryan can't get over his thing for me, but Robert Redford is The One."
This was far from the first time White playfully gushed over Redford, as she said she was planning to celebrate her 94th birthday with the Oscar winner—"he doesn't know that, and I think he's out of the country, but I'm gonna celebrate it with him"—on The Late Late Show in January 2016.
Redford honored White with a statement provided to outlets such as Entertainment Tonight and People: "Betty lived life devoted to her craft and her love of animals. She made us all laugh, including me. I had a crush on her, too!"
White earned five Primetime Emmys and racked up countless Emmy nominations for her legendary work on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Golden Girls. She last won an Emmy in 2010 for hosting Saturday Night Live.
"Even though Betty was about to be 100, I thought she would live forever," White's agent and friend Jeff Witjas said in a statement confirming her death. "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."
According to TMZ, White is "believed to have died from natural causes."
The New York Post confirmed that the previously scheduled film Betty White: 100 Years Young — A Birthday Celebration will still play in theaters for Jan. 17 only. Tickets are available here.
More must-reads: