Betty White Named Associated Press' Entertainer of the Year

Betty White. (Reuters)

Betty White has been named The Associated Press' Entertainer of the Year.

The 88-year-old actress — who managed to boost the ratings of Saturday Night Live and set a TV Land record for her show Hot in Cleveland — beat out such competitors as cast of Glee, Conan O'Brien and James Cameron.

SAG nominations: Modern Family leads, Betty White still national treasure

"It's ridiculous," White said of the honor. "They haven't caught on to me, and I hope they never do."

The Golden Girls and Mary Tyler Moore Show star started 2010 with the acceptance of a lifetime achievement award from the Screen Actors Guild. Shortly after her award-winning Snickers Super Bowl commercial, more than 500,000 Facebook members supported White in a campaign urging SNL to make her a guest host.

"I thought I was so Californian and it's so New York-oriented that I would be like a fish out of water," said White, who turned down the offer three times in the past. "This time, my agent said, 'No, you've got to do it.' ... But I was scared to death."

White agreed to host the Mother's Day weekend episode featuring recent SNL alumna — it won her a seventh Emmy. The episode was watched by 12.1 million viewers — the biggest audience the show has had in several years.

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Besides her guest appearances on Community and The Middle, White also starred in the TV Land series Hot in Cleveland, which set a record for the network with nearly 5 million viewers. Originally, White signed up for only the pilot, but remained for its 10-episode first season. She recently earned a SAG nod for best actress in a comedy.

"It's been phenomenal, but everybody keeps congratulating me on my resurgence and my big comeback," she says. "I haven't been away, guys. I've been working steadily for the last 63 years."

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