If you wanted to work with the great betty white at any point during her remarkable 70-year career, your best bet was to offer her a television gig. Starting with the talk show "Hollywood on Television" in 1949, White made America's small screen and living room her home through sitcoms, game shows and appearances on late-night programs such as "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson." . White was a wonderful presence with killer comedic timing, and her secret weapon was that brooding personality that often overflowed with a surprisingly hot wit. You never knew what was going to come out of White's mouth, and that made her one of the medium's most unlikely stars (although her presence was once a ratings poison for "Bones").

This is not to say that White did not make films. Her first creditable appearance did not come until 1962, when she played a US senator from Kansas in Otto Preminger's wonderful Advice and Consent. She would not return to feature films until the 1998 action film Heavy Rain, at which point she began working more often in feature films, usually in small supporting roles.

Interestingly, there was an offer on the table for her to return to theaters earlier in a high-profile Jack Nicholson comedy, but she turned it down for a rather hairy reason.

During one of her many appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, White revealed that she had been offered a part in the Oscar-winning The film by James L. Brooks "As Good as It Gets". This would have put her back in the movies two years before Heavy Rain, but this was not to be due to White's objection to the evil gag in the script. As White told Leno, "They had this adorable dog in it, but in one scene the guy walks down the hall and drops the dog in the trash."

What was White's specific issue with this joke? "Of course it lands on some cushions and it's fine," she said. "But I didn't want to set that example, because you never know what kind of crazies or kids are going to see that and think I can do that." The principal said, 'The dog's fine, the dog's fine!' but I said, 'I just can't do it.'

White admitted she may have made a career mistake by turning down a hit, but she has no regrets. And this should come as no surprise since White was a well-known advocate for the Los Angeles Zoo and the American Humane Society. Even a silly, seemingly innocuous piece like the trash scene in "As Good as It Gets" was a no-go for White.