Betty White & the Buckeye State: From living in Logan County to starring in “Hot in Cleveland”

The news that actress Betty White had died, just shy of her 100th birthday, truly shocked the world on New Year’s Eve.

But some Ohioans may be even more shocked by White’s multiple connections to the Buckeye State.

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According to WKYC, the actress spent four months living in Belle Center, Logan County, during her first marriage.

Her Ohio residency was brief, as she divorced Dick Barker and moved again that same year. She described her life on a chicken farm with Barker’s family in an interview with Newsweek.

“They would send me out to kill a chicken to bring it in for dinner. I said, ‘No way!’”

She went on to describe the experience as a “trauma,” as White was known for her love of animals.

Luckily, White’s fictional Ohio experience turned out better than her real-life one, starring as Elka Ostrovsky in TV Land’s “Hot in Cleveland” for five years.

The sitcom, which ran from 2010-2015, was the cable network’s highest-rated telecast in its 14-year history.

Fittingly, ‘Cleveland’ followed three aging entertainment industry veterans, who befriend White’s character.

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