White is perhaps better known for her appearances on the hit gameshow "Password", in which she was a regular as a panelist from 1961 through 1975; it was through her early appearances on "Password"' that she met the show's host and her future husband Allen Ludden, whom she married in 1963 and remained with until his death in 1981. White also made frequent game show appearances on "What's My Line?" (starting in 1955), "To Tell the Truth" (starting in 1961) and "Match Game" (1973-1982).
In her later career, White played Sue Ann Nivens on the The Mary Tyler Moore Show from 1973 to 1977. From 1983 through 1986, she played Ellen Jackson on the moderate hit show "Mama's Family" along with future Golden Girls co-star Rue McLanahan. When NBC canceled "Mama's Family" in 1985, White would soon leave the show and score perhaps her most memorable role as the ditzy Rose Nylund on "The Golden Girls", a show about the lives of four widowed senior citizens in Miami. "The Golden Girls" was immensely successful and ran from 1985 through 1992.
Overall, White has won five Emmys, three American Comedy Awards (including a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1990), and two Viewers for Quality Television Awards. She was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1995 and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame alongside the star of her late husband Allen Ludden. White is well known as a pet enthusiast and animal-rights activist.