USA Today reports that a grassroots Facebook movement to draft veteran screen actress Betty White to host Saturday Night Live has paid off. She’ll host the May 8 Mother’s Day-themed episode that will also, as expected, see the return of former SNL cast members Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Molly Shannon, Maya Rudolph, Ana Gasteyer and Rachel Dratch.
The Facebook campaign emerged after White’s appearance in a Super Bowl commercial, but her pedigree goes much deeper. She played the sassy proto-Martha Stewart Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and the batty Rose Nylund on The Golden Girls, and was honored with the Screen Actors Guild’s lifetime achievement award in January. She’s also known as the “first lady of game shows” for being the first woman to win a Daytime Emmy for hosting one.
Her sweet demeanor contrasts nicely with a memorably profane performance in 1999’s monster crocodie movie Lake Placid.
Photo: The Associated Press
