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Our favorite "Golden Girl," Betty White, who turned 96 on Jan. 17, has revealed the secret to her longevity — vodka and hot dogs, in that order. In an interview with Parade magazine, the self-proclaimed optimist also pointed to a positive attitude as being key to living well into your 90s.
"I know it sounds corny, but I try to see the funny side and the upside, not the downside," she said. "I get bored with people who complain about this or that. It's such a waste of time."
"Accentuate the positive, not the negative," she told the magazine. "It sounds so trite, but a lot of people will pick out something to complain about, rather than say, 'Hey, that was great!'" she added. "It's not hard to find great stuff if you look."
When it comes to her beverage choices, White has talked about her love of vodka before, saying that, last year, she celebrated her birthday with a vodka tonic and a game of poker with girlfriends.
From her start in the 1940s on the radio to her iconic TV roles as sex-crazed Sue Ann Nivens (The Mary Tyler Moore Show) and syrupy-sweet Rose Nylund (The Golden Girls), the six-time Emmy winner's career is a testament to how much of a hot commodity she's been — and still remains. Most recently, she enjoyed a recurring role on the Freeform sitcom Young & Hungry. "I just love to work, so I'll keep working until they stop asking," she told Parade.
Her lengthy résumé has earned her recognition from Guinness World Records for having the longest-running TV career of any woman in history.
In 2011 the popular animal activist participated in an AARP campaign that encouraged others to embrace their age, laugh lines and all. White said her mother was always truthful about her age and so is she.
The campaign, which told seniors to “get over” growing older, included a series of hilarious ads that featured White ogling hunky young men and making prank phone calls like a teenager. “Being an AARP member doesn’t make you old,” she said.
So what does she want for her birthday? Well, she says, Robert Redford would make a nice present. She says she asks for her No. 1 celebrity crush every year, "but it never works."
We wish Betty White the happiest of birthdays and many more years of health and happiness.
