Betty White never hid her admiration for Robert Redford. For years, the beloved Golden Girls star joked publicly about her crush on the Hollywood leading man, even naming him as the birthday gift she could never seem to get.
According to CheatSheet, the Betty White and Robert Redford story took a hilarious turn when Redford apparently tried to meet her, and White refused. Despite all her playful comments about him, she admitted that actually facing the actor would have left her far too embarrassed.
The Story of Betty White and Robert Redford Took an Unexpected Turn
Before her 96th birthday, White told Parade that Redford remained on her birthday wish list, joking that she asked for him every year without success. Her Hot in Cleveland costars also remembered her frequently bringing up the actor, making her longtime crush something of a running joke.
According to Wendy Malick, however, Redford did make an effort. Malick recalled trying to arrange a meeting between the two, and Redford reportedly left White a voicemail inviting her to see him. White erased the message because she thought someone was playing a prank. Malick later remembered Redford sending another plea, wondering why White ignored his calls and messages.
White Said Meeting Him Would Have Been Too Embarrassing
The irony was that White apparently preferred keeping the crush at a safe distance. She once explained during an Access Hollywood Live appearance that she did not actually want to meet Redford because she had joked about him publicly so many times that she would feel embarrassed. The Betty White and Robert Redford running joke became part of the playful personality audiences loved about White. She could gush about one of Hollywood’s biggest stars while simultaneously refusing the opportunity to turn the fantasy into a real encounter.
Redford reportedly even wrote White a poem, while she once deleted one of his messages because she thought it could not be real. The contrast between her public crush and reluctance to meet him made the story even funnier. Known for her playful humor on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Golden Girls, and Hot in Cleveland, White turned the Robert Redford crush into another memorable bit. In the end, she may have liked the idea of him more than actually meeting him.
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