With how famous Tess Curtis White, mother of renowned actress and comedian, Betty White was, one would easily assume she was also an actress, or at least in the entertainment industry. However, this was not so.
Tess Curtis White was never an actress. Her fame was all courtesy of her daughter, Golden Girls’ Betty White, who would seize every opportunity to talk about her mother.
Let’s say it was more of a ‘give and take’ between mother and daughter because while Betty was praised for making her mother as famous as she got, Tess also deserves her flowers for making and encouraging Betty to be a successful actress and comedian she turned out to be.
Tess’ daughter is known all over the world as ‘The First Lady of Television’ and has a lot of awards and recognitions like a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame to show for her success.
Tess Curtis White Wasn’t An Actress
Betty White’s mother is famous in the world and entertainment industry because of her relationship with The First Lady of Television. With how her name and fame spread, it is understandable that people suspect she must have had an acting stint but that’s not so.
Curtis White was never an actress although she was featured on 3 episodes of Password, a TV Game Show, in 1974.
In the year 2000, Tess made a cameo as herself in one episode of the TV Biography Documentary series Intimate Portrait. The episode was centered on her daughter, Betty White.
Her IMDb page further reveals that she made another appearance in a 2018 TV Movie about her daughter titled Betty White: First Lady of Television.
Additionally, she was mostly present as part of the audience at her daughter’s TV shows, when she could.
Other Facts About Tess Curtis White
1. Tess Curtis White was of Mixed Ancestry
Betty White’s mother was born Christine Tess Cachikis on July 25, 1899, in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Her father was known as Nicholas Cachikis, a Greek man born in Greece in 1874 but later moved to the United States in his early days. In the US, Nicholas worked as a salesman for an ice cream company.
Tess’ mother Margaret ‘Maggie’ Hobbs Curtis was born in Wingham, Huron County, Ontario, Canada. She was a Canadian born in 1877.
Apart from Tess, Nicholas and Maggie had 2 other children – one older than Tess, Mary Cachikis Zographos, and a younger son, Thomas ‘Tom’ Richard Curtis.
2. She was a Homemaker
At age 22, Tess Curtis married a man named Horace Logan White, a lighting executive and a crystal radio creator in the late 1920s to late 1930s, during the Great Depression.
They got married in 1921 and 11 months into their marriage, the couple welcomed Betty White.
Tess devoted her life to the care of her home, husband, and daughter. She wasn’t much of a career woman and took greater pride in being a present caregiver and parent to her daughter.
However, Tess Curtis White worked with the American Women’s Voluntary Service, doing her bit and offering her services where needed.
3. Betty White was the only Child of Tess and her Husband
Tess and Logan were parents just one time and to just Betty, the 7-times Emmy Awards winner. Through her years of marriage, she and her husband never had any more children.
However, with their love for animals and the lot they had and bred, it was more than enough, and having just the actress seemed fine for them.
Betty grew up surrounded by many animals courtesy of her parents and this also helped build her love for animals.
Horace Logan White passed away in 1963 having lived for 64 years.
4. She Propelled and Encouraged her Daughter to Stardom
When asked who helped her launch her career and who supported her, Betty was quick to mention her parents, especially her mother.
According to the actress whose career spanned 7 decades, her mother had always been there for her from the start.
Some of her most renowned works include 1985’s The Golden Girls, 1945’s Time to Kill, The Proposal released in 2009, and 2010’s You Again.
Now, thanks to the support and push from Tess Curtis White, Betty won multiple awards across several notable award shows. Some of these awards include;
· 7 Emmy Awards
· 3 Screen Actors Guild Awards
· 1 Grammy Award
· The first woman to receive the Daytime Emmy Award
There are so many other recognitions Betty White garnered during her stint as an entertainer, especially in the movie and TV series scene.
5. Tess Curtis White had a Relationship with other Hollywood Stars
It is inevitable to have a daughter so successful in the American entertainment industry and not become familiar with a couple of other A-list entertainers. Especially if you played a vital role in your daughter’s career and success.
Therefore, it is not strange to know that Tess white and DeDe Ball, the mother of the famed actress, Lucille Ball were friends.
Both mothers used to pride themselves as women who encouraged and supported their daughters to stand up for themselves, so their bond grew stronger.
When DeDe passed away in 1977, Tess stood in as Lucille’s mother after developing a strong bond with the actress.
The relationship between Tess and DeDe which trickled down to Lucille also extended to Lucille and Betty who remained close even after their mothers both passed away.
6. Betty White had a Great Relationship with her Mother
The mother-daughter love transcended just what the public saw and heard from Betty, although that was quite intense too.
Betty and Tess had a very deep connection and spent a lot of time together. The actress severally admitted that she learned a lot from her mother, including how to be a cockeyed optimist. She was also very fond of her mother’s food, too.
As stated earlier, Tess Curtis White made it a duty to attend her daughter’s shows especially that in which she starred alongside Valerie Bertinelli and Jennifer Love Hewitt in; Hot in Cleaveland.
Unfortunately, when Tess’ health began to decline, she was unable to be physically present as an audience member at the show.
Nonetheless, Betty would always make it a duty to return to her mother, spend time playing games, watching Golden Girls, and catching up with her.
This relationship between the mother and daughter never dwindled as they continued to bond and have as much fun as Tess’ health allowed.
7. Tess Curtis White Died 36 Years Before Her Daughter
On November 9, 1985, Tess Curtis White was hospitalized and 2 days later, on November 11, 1985, she passed away in Los Angeles.
Her death came 22 years after her husband passed and was 2 months before her daughter’s 63rd birthday.
Her daughter, Betty White lived for 36 more years after her death and died at the age of 99, in 2021.
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