Betty White's Wild Kingdom

June 11, 2010 — -- She is the original America's sweetheart. Baby-faced and witty in the 1950s sitcom "Life With Elizabeth." Sultry and outre as Sue Ann Nivens on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." And, of course, delightfully dim as Rose on "Golden Girls."

Not that anyone could forget her recurring role as the conniving, gossip-loving Catherine Piper in ABC's "Boston Legal."

But Betty White hasn't stopped there. Starting next week, White will appear as the flip Elka in the premiere of TV Land's first scripted comedy, "Hot in Cleveland." The cast is chock full of talented actors, including Valerie Bertinelli, Wendie Malick and Jane Leeves.

But it is the legendary White who has built most of the buzz for the new comedy.

Some are calling the recent proliferation of White on the airwaves -- she recently hosted "Saturday Night Live" -- a career renaissance. But her star never really faded. For six decades, she has been a fixture in the world of entertainment, from game shows to hit sitcoms, late-night hosting gigs to hit ad campaigns.

Funny, then, that White, now 88½ years young, calls acting "just a hobby."

Rivaling White's "hobby" in front of the camera is one she is less known for but equally committed to. For decades, the Los Angeles Zoo has been White's second home. To say that she's a familiar face among the cages would be a vast understatement.

"Well, I've been around so long they can't get rid of me," said White on a recent trip to the zoo, where she has worked for four decades as a trustee, fundraiser and all-around booster. Indeed, White not only knows the zookeepers but most of the animals as well, by name.

"Growing up, first I wanted to be a forest ranger, and girls couldn't be forest rangers back then," White said. "Then I thought, oh, but I want to be a zookeeper. And back then, girls weren't zookeepers either, but I wound up a zookeeper. I made my goal."