Sue Ann Nivens is a fictional character portrayed by

Betty White Betty Marion White (January 17, 1922December 31, 2021) was an American actress and comedian. A pioneer of early television, with a television career spanning almost seven decades, White was noted for her vast work in the entertainment indus ...

situation comedy A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

'' The Mary Tyler Moore Show''.

Casting

The role of Sue Ann Nivens was not specifically written for White, but script #73 of the series (" The Lars Affair", aired September 15, 1973) called for an "icky sweet Betty White type". The

casting director In the performing arts industry such as theatre, film, or television, casting, or a casting call, is a pre-production process for selecting a certain type of actor, dancer, singer, or extra for a particular role or part in a script, scr ...

decided to approach the star herself who, with husband

Allen Ludden Allen Ellsworth Ludden (born Allen Packard Ellsworth; October 5, 1917 – June 9, 1981) was an American television personality, actor, singer, emcee, and game show host. He hosted various incarnations of the game show ''Password'' between 1 ...

, was already good friends with

Mary Tyler Moore Mary Tyler Moore (December 29, 1936 – January 25, 2017) was an American actress, producer, and social advocate. She is best known for her roles on '' The Dick Van Dyke Show'' (1961–1966) and '' The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (1970–1977), whi ...

and her then husband, ''MTM'' producer Grant Tinker. Producers were aware of Moore and White's friendship and were hesitant to audition White for the role, afraid of the awkwardness that might ensue if White wasn’t right for the part. White played up Sue Ann Nivens' cheerful, home-and-hearth loving persona—a sharp contrast to the character's backbiting, sexually voracious true nature. Her first appearance in episode one of season four was intended to be a one-time guest role, but series creator

James L. Brooks James Lawrence Brooks (born May 9, 1940) is an American director, producer, screenwriter and co-founder of Gracie Films. His television and film work includes ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'', ''Taxi'', ''The Simpsons'', '' Broadcast News'', ''As G ...

gave White a friendly post-show warning: "Don't make too many plans."

''The Happy Homemaker''

Sue Ann Nivens is the relentlessly perky star of ''The Happy Homemaker'' on fictional station WJM-TV in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The program delivers cooking and decorating advice to

housewives A housewife (also known as a homemaker or a stay-at-home mother/mom/mum) is a woman whose role is running or managing her family's home—housekeeping, which includes caring for her children; cleaning and maintaining the home; making, buying a ...

, often on ludicrous theme shows such as "A Salute to Fruit" and "What's All This Fuss About Famine?". She is a perfectionist, remarking in a season four episode titled "The Dinner Party" that she'd rather flush her Veal Prince Orloff down a toilet than serve it reheated. Sue Ann is full of helpful hints for all occasions and always ready to make

lemon The lemon (''Citrus limon'') is a species of small evergreen trees in the flowering plant family Rutaceae, native to Asia, primarily Northeast India (Assam), Northern Myanmar or China. The tree's ellipsoidal yellow fruit is used for culina ...

s into lemonade; for instance, she suggests buying colorful, happy goldfish as companions for the infirm and then, when the goldfish die, using them as houseplant fertilizer. Although Sue Ann Nivens presents an image of sweetness and perfection onscreen, she is actually sardonic, man-obsessed, and very competitive.

Relationships

Mary and Phyllis

Sue Ann Nivens first appears on ''Mary Tyler Moore'' as a guest at one of Mary Richards' famously disastrous parties. At the end of the night, Lars, the oft-mentioned but never-seen husband of Mary's friend/landlady, Phyllis Lindstrom, gives Sue Ann a ride home. Phyllis subsequently realizes Lars and Sue Ann are having an

affair An affair is a sexual relationship, romantic friendship, or passionate attachment in which at least one of its participants has a formal or informal commitment to a third person who may neither agree to such relationship nor even be aware of i ...

when he repeatedly comes home with clothes cleaner than when he left. Phyllis threatens to "rip Sue Ann's face off" and Mary is forced to mediate between the two to end the affair. Eventually, Sue Ann and Mary become friendly but Sue Ann remains prickly, frequently insulting Mary's clothes, décor, sex life, etc. and often using variations of "dear, sweet, naïve Mary" to refer to her. Along with Georgette Franklin ( Georgia Engel), girlfriend and eventual wife of

Ted Baxter Ted Baxter is a fictional character on the sitcom '' The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (1970–1977). Portrayed by Ted Knight, the Baxter character is a broad parody of a vain, shallow, buffoonish TV personality. Knight's comedic model was actor Wil ...

(

Ted Knight Ted Knight (born Tadeusz Wladyslaw Konopka; December 7, 1923August 26, 1986) was an American actor well known for playing the comedic roles of Ted Baxter in ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'', Henry Rush in ''Too Close for Comfort'', and Judge Elihu ...

), Sue Ann helps fill the void left by the departure of both Phyllis (

Cloris Leachman Cloris Leachman (April 30, 1926 – January 27, 2021) was an American actress and comedian whose career spanned nearly eight decades. She won many accolades, including eight Primetime Emmy Awards from 22 nominations, making her the most nomina ...

) and Mary's best friend, Rhoda Morgenstern ( Valerie Harper), for their own spin-off series. Nonetheless, Sue Ann's relationship with Mary can be competitive since Mary, who's younger and more attractive, easily draws male attention.

Other characters

* Sue Ann often spars with newswriter Murray Slaughter (

Gavin MacLeod Gavin MacLeod () (born Allan George See; February 28, 1931 – May 29, 2021) was an American actor best known for his roles as news writer Murray Slaughter on ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' and ship's captain Merrill Stubing on ABC's ''The Love ...

), making cutting remarks about his baldness in response to Murray's quips about her age and promiscuity. * She is "very close" to WJM children's television host Chuckles the Clown, having baked the first custard pie he ever sat in. * The man she most wants to bed is Lou Grant (

Ed Asner Eddie Asner (; November 15, 1929 – August 29, 2021) was an American actor and former president of the Screen Actors Guild. He is best remembered for portraying Lou Grant during the 1970s and early 1980s, on both ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' an ...

) After repeated rejections, she finally succeeds in the sixth-season episode "Once I Had A Secret Love"; Lou goes to great lengths to prevent the rest of the WJM staff from finding out. * Younger sister Lila ( Pat Priest) evokes intense feelings of sibling rivalry in Sue Ann. She causes Sue Ann a lot of grief, especially in episode three of season seven ("Sue Ann's Sister") when she accepts an offer to host a rival Minneapolis

cooking show A cooking show, cookery show, or cooking program (also spelled cooking programme in British English) is a television genre that presents food preparation, often in a restaurant kitchen or on a studio set, or at the host's personal home. Typi ...

. In the series' final season, Sue Ann's ''Happy Homemaker'' show is canceled because of low ratings. Still under contract to WJM, she'll only continue to get paid if she works at the station. After being assigned a series of menial positions (recording station break announcements; appearing as a foil for a contentious pair of kids' show

puppets A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. The puppeteer uses movements of their hands, arms, or control devices such as rods or strings to move ...

), Lou coerces Mary into hiring Sue Ann as a

production assistant A production assistant, also known as a PA, is a member of the film crew and is a job title used in filmmaking and television for a person responsible for various aspects of a production. The job of a PA can vary greatly depending on the budget ...

on the ''Six O'Clock News''. In ''Mary Tyler Moore'''s final episode, Sue Ann is fired, along with almost everyone in the WJM newsroom. She immediately bounces back, however, finding work as a traveling companion and "sort of a practical nurse" to a wealthy, elderly gentleman.

Impact and legacy

Reflecting on the role, White said, "Of course, I loved Sue Ann. She was so rotten. You can’t get much more rotten than the neighborhood nymphomaniac." The role earned White two Emmy Awards as Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (1975 and 1976), with a further nomination following in the show's final season, 1977. Asked about her favorites among her many awards to date, she cites the honors received for ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show''. White gives a great deal of credit for the role's success to the scripts, speaking of being "blessed with the kind of writing on ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' and he later series'' The Golden Girls''". On ''The Golden Girls'', debuting eight years later, White was originally cast as man-hungry Blanche Devereaux, with

Rue McClanahan Eddi-Rue McClanahan (February 21, 1934 – June 3, 2010) was an American actress and comedian best known for her roles on television as Vivian Harmon on '' Maude'' (1972–78), Aunt Fran Crowley on ''Mama's Family'' (1983–84), and Blanche D ...

, the befuddled Vivian Harmon on '' Maude,'' cast as naïve

Rose Nylund Rose Nylund is a character from the sitcom television series ''The Golden Girls'' and its spin-off, ''The Golden Palace''. She was portrayed by Betty White for 8 years, totalling 204 episodes. Rose was supposed to be played by Rue McClanahan, w ...

. The two actresses realized how similar their new roles were to their previous ones and, at the suggestion of veteran comedy director

Jay Sandrich A jay is a member of a number of species of medium-sized, usually colorful and noisy, passerine birds in the Crow family, Corvidae. The evolutionary relationships between the jays and the magpies are rather complex. For example, the Eurasian ...

, approached the producers about switching roles. (White quotes Sandrich as saying, "If Betty plays another man-hungry neighborhood you-know-what, they're going to equate it with Sue Ann and think it's just a continuation of that.") The producers agreed, and the show went on to great success. White stated in January 2017 that she greatly enjoyed playing the character of Rose, as opposed to Blanche.Betty White on her 95th birthday
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