In just a matter of weeks, two of the U.S.’s most enduring comedians passed away in Betty White and Bob Saget.
White – groundbreaking actress in the 50s, sassy sitcom star in the 80s, beloved icon in the 00s and 10s – died on New Year’s Eve, just as her landmark 100th birthday approached (talk about comic timing).
Saget – cheesy sitcom actor in the 80s, biting host of a home video clip show in the 90s, soothing voiceover in one of the biggest comedies of the 00s – died on January 9th at the age of 65.
Tributes had poured in from the comedy and celebrity world for the pair but one was mostly missed. It turns out that Saget and White had crossed paths throughout their career, which Saget touched upon in an emotional tribute he posted to social media after The Golden Girls legend’s death.
“This amazing woman was exactly who you wanted her to be…” Saget wrote on Instagram. “Razor sharp wit, smart, kind, hilarious, sincere, and so full of love. From the first time I snuck into The Mary Tyler Moore Show at 15 years old and watched her hit everything she said out of the park, to decades later, getting to hang out with her on several occasions, I had a small peek into what a remarkable talent and human being Betty was.”
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Away from starring in Full House and How I Met Your Mother, Saget was well-known as a filthy adult-oriented stand up. When he unleashed some of this humour on White, though, she was more than a match for it. “We were on an ABC jet once for a junket and I was sitting across from her, both of us sipping Bloody Mary’s. We had been laughing for hours— I looked into her eyes and faux romantically said, “How ’bout it, Betty, you and me in the bathroom? Mile High Club?”
She answered me before I had a chance to finish the invite— “Of course, Bob, you go in there first and I’ll meet you as soon as I finish my drink.” And then of course she went right to sipping from her straw. I waited in that bathroom for over two hours. (That would be the joke on a joke part, in case you take things literally.)”
Saget ended the tribute by discussing the afterlife. “She always said the love of her life was her husband, Allen Ludden, who she lost in 1981. Well, if things work out by Betty’s design— in the afterlife, they are reunited. I don’t know what happens when we die, but if Betty says you get to be with the love of your life, then I happily defer to Betty on this.”
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Check out Good Morning America‘s tribute to Bob Saget:
