Award-winning actress Betty White, who was married to the late game show host Allen Ludden, has spent her life saturated in the limelight. On television since 1953, she is best known for her portrayal of Rose on "The Golden Girls" and Sue Ann Nivens on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." Not content to rest on her Emmys, White, who turns 83 next Monday, is an enthusiastic animal advocate and author of four books. She's also still working and can be seen on the Hallmark Channel's original movie "Annie's Point" on Jan. 22. She plays a recently widowed grandmother who is on a mission to respect her husband's last wishes and spread his ashes in a place he called Annie's Point. She takes her college dropout granddaughter on this cross-country soul-searching journey.

Q. How important are a person's last wishes? Did Allen have any?

A. Oh, yes, a person's last wishes. I think they are more comfort sometimes to the people left behind then the ones who go, because it gives them something they can still do for that dearly departed. It gives them a focus. "What can I do? I can't do anything." Yes, you can -- you can fulfill a last wish. He was just wishing we could stay together.

Q. You never remarried after Allen.

A. I dated, sure, friends and a couple of little flings, but Allen was a tough act to follow. When you find the right one, then there's no point in looking any further.

Q. You have half a dozen Emmys.

A. Yes, six Emmys! And they are my golden girls. They are up on the hutch in the dining room.

Q. Do you think reality television is just the new game show?

A. No, not at all. The game shows were mental exercise. The fun of the game show is that you can't watch it without participating. Reality is, you are just staring at this nonsense, and it's not mental stimulation at all. There are no answers to figure out. No mental exercise. So I think it's stupid.

Q. Do you predict the demise of reality TV any time soon?

A. Well, I don't know if it's a prediction or just wishful thinking, but I think sooner or later, hopefully, we'll get back to something that involves the viewer on a little more of an intellectual level.

Q. Have you noticed actors that don't retire?

A. Well, why not? If they ask you, you just keep working. I just got a recurring role on "Boston Legal" that I am thrilled to pieces with. They just hired me as Jim Spader's assistant. I am playing the same character that I did on "The Practice." I got nominated for an Emmy for "The Practice" for Katherine, so it's fun to have her back. I have already done two shows, and I am just having the time of my life. Those of us who are lucky enough to have been let into this silly business of show, why would you stop? It's just plain fun. Every time I hear an actor complain about how hard they are working, I just remind them about the number of people out there that would sell their soul to be doing this.

Q. "The Golden Girls" hit the right note at the right time. Would it survive today if it were just being introduced?

A. Sure. Funny is funny. We get a lot of credit because our faces were in front of the camera. But it's the writing. You don't get that kind of writing these days. When you do get that good writing, those are the shows that last. Those are the shows that the people respond to. The writers were more mature, too. The young writers today have no frame of reference. They are writing about today's jokes. Well, next week these jokes don't make sense.

Q. You are a poker player?

A. Oh, well, we have a silly time. All of the game show folks from Goodson-Todman in New York kind of moved out here [to California]. So Bill Cullen's widow, Ann Cullen, and Bob Stewart, who invented "Password," "To Tell the Truth" and "Pyramid" and all those [other] game show people, we get together and play this silly poker game about every six weeks or so. We laugh ourselves into unconsciousness and we keep a running date. It's the Pico Poker Club, and it's terribly serious. The most anybody ever lost is $16 [laughs]. We save all our jokes for the poker game.

Q. Do you ever watch Animal Planet?

A. Oh, yes, yes. Whenever I can I will flip it on. I don't watch anything regularly, really, because of time. I have been working, you know, pretty steadily. Half my life is animals, and half my life is show business. They are full-time jobs that I try to manage together.