--- title: Betty White Was a Bright Surprise at the 2018 Emmys description: The 'Golden Girls' star showed up at the 2018 Emmys to grace the awards stage with her presence, to a standing ovation. canonical: https://time.com/5399424/betty-white-emmys-2018/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-09-18T14:20:45.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:54:55.959Z og:title: Betty White Was a Bright Surprise at the 2018 Emmys og:description: The audience — and the internet — reacted with glowing praise og:url: https://time.com/5399424/betty-white-emmys-2018/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2616b5395d1b4f23/69893a864ee2620eab312e44/betty-white-emmys-2018.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 70th Emmy Awards - Show og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Betty White Was a Bright Surprise at the 2018 Emmys twitter:description: The audience — and the internet — reacted with glowing praise twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2616b5395d1b4f23/69893a864ee2620eab312e44/betty-white-emmys-2018.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Betty White Was the Bright Beam of Show-Stopping Light at the 2018 Emmys  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Sep 18, 2018 2:20 PM UTC  Betty White speaks onstage during the 70th Emmy Awards at Microsoft Theater on September 17, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. Betty White speaks onstage during the 70th Emmy Awards at Microsoft Theater on September 17, 2018 in Los Angeles, California.Kevin Winter—Getty Images  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Sep 18, 2018 2:20 PM UTC A little thing like age isn’t stopping showbiz legend [Betty White](http://time.com/5091069/betty-white-birthday-advice/) from continuing to put in her appearances on the Hollywood circuit, as she proved at Monday night’s [70th Primetime Emmy Awards. ](http://time.com/5399016/emmys-2018-recap/) The beloved national treasure and [_Golden Girls_](http://time.com/4779560/thirty-shows-half-hour-sitcoms/item/golden-girls/) star was recognized on the Emmys stage, introduced by comedian Kate McKinnon and Alec Baldwin, and surprised the audience with her bright presence and a short but hilarious thank-you speech. The audience response: a rapturous standing ovation. “Little did I dream then that I would be here,” White said; she’s now 96, and received her first Emmy [back in 1975](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List%5Fof%5Fawards%5Fand%5Fnominations%5Freceived%5Fby%5FBetty%5FWhite) for Outstanding Supporting Actress on [_The Mary Tyler Moore Show_](http://time.com/4650213/dick-van-dyke-mary-tyler-moore-tribute/). Over the years, she’s taken home eight Emmys and been nominated 24 times for all of her memorable television roles. “It’s incredible that you can be in a career this long and still have people put up with you,” she said in her speech, joking, “I wish they did that at home.” In an often lackluster awards show evening, her sweet gratitude and light humor were just what the night needed — and a reminder that White remains a living legend and has earned her title as the “First Lady of Television” for a reason. > [](https://twitter.com/netflix/status/1041855867971174400) > [](https://twitter.com/MissyElliott/status/1041863827682467840) > [](https://twitter.com/MaddySkye/status/1041855684936130561) > [](https://twitter.com/Luvvie/status/1041855508980932608) > [](https://twitter.com/blackmon/status/1041856245119045632) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5399424/betty-white-emmys-2018/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5399424/betty-white-emmys-2018/"},"headline":"Betty White Was the Bright Beam of Show-Stopping Light at the 2018 Emmys","datePublished":"2018-09-18T14:20:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:54:55.959Z","description":"\"Little did I dream then that I would be here\"","url":"https://time.com/5399424/betty-white-emmys-2018/","keywords":["Newsfeed","celebrities","Emmys 2018"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2616b5395d1b4f23/69893a864ee2620eab312e44/betty-white-emmys-2018.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2616b5395d1b4f23/69893a864ee2620eab312e44/betty-white-emmys-2018.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"70th Emmy Awards - Show","caption":"70th Emmy Awards - Show","creditText":"Kevin Winter—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5399424/betty-white-emmys-2018/","name":"Betty White Was the Bright Beam of Show-Stopping Light at the 2018 Emmys"}}]}] ```