
While their friendship was full of laughs, the two stars also stood by one another during dark times. After Betty White's husband, game show hosting icon Allen Ludden, passed away from stomach cancer in 1981, Lucille Ball was there for her. "She was there with a meal and kind words when Betty needed it most," an insider told Closer Weekly. White added Ball helped put the pieces of her life "back together," since she "was convinced the sure cure for anything was backgammon. She made me laugh in spite of myself."
White returned the favor after Ball's ex-husband Desi Arnaz died. On the day in 1986 that the Cuban-born bandleader passed away, Ball and White were together, filming an episode of the game show Password, which Ludden hosted from 1961 until just before his death. White told People that during the Password taping she consoled Ball. "She was being real funny on the show, but during a break she said, 'You know, it's the damnedest thing. Goddamn it, I didn't think I'd get this upset. There he goes,'" White revealed, adding, "It was a funny feeling, kind of a lovely, private moment."
Speaking of Password, during what would be Ball's final game show appearance in 1988, White defended her friend when she struggled to come up with a word and was "buzzed" out of a round — even though they were opponents in the game. "You don't buzz a legend!" White declared.
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