- published: 21 Mar 2012
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Georgia Bright Engel (born July 28, 1948) is an American film, television, and stage actress who is best known for her role as Georgette Franklin Baxter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
Engel was born in Washington, D.C., the daughter of Ruth Caroline (née Hendron) and Benjamin Franklin Engel, who was a Coast Guard officer. Engel attended Walter Johnson High School and the Academy of the Washington Ballet from which she graduated. She earned her college degree from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Her sister, Robin Ruth Engel, was Miss Hawaii, 1967.
After college, Engel appeared in musical productions with Washington's American Light Opera Company. She moved to New York City in 1969, appearing off-Broadway in Lend an Ear, and for a year as Minnie Fay in the Broadway production of Hello, Dolly!. A 1971 off Broadway production of The House of Blue Leaves eventually played in Los Angeles, where Engel was seen by Mary Tyler Moore and her husband, producer Grant Tinker, her soon-to-be employers.
Betty White Ludden (born Betty Marion White; January 17, 1922), known professionally as Betty White, is an American actress, animal rights activist, author, comedienne, radio host, singer, and television personality. Regarded as a pioneer of television, White was one of the first women to have control both in front of and behind the camera; and is recognized as the first woman to produce a sitcom, which contributed to her receiving the honorary title as the Mayor of Hollywood in 1955.
She is known for her Emmy Award winning roles as Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1973–77) and Rose Nylund on The Golden Girls (1985–92). The Writers Guild of America has included both sitcoms in its list of the 101 Best Written TV Series Of All Time. A staple guest of many American game shows such as Password, Match Game and The $25,000 Pyramid, White has been dubbed the 'First Lady of Game Shows' and became the first woman to receive an Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host in 1983 for the show Just Men!. From 2010 to 2015, she starred as Elka Ostrovsky in the TV Land sitcom Hot in Cleveland, for which she has won two consecutive Screen Actors Guild Awards.