Actress Vicki Lawrence wrote an essay for People magazine and recalled how her friend and former co-star Betty White “loved bawdy and corny jokes” and saw it as a compliment when she was described as “a great broad.”

Lawrence, 73, is honoring White nearly a year after she passed away at the age of 99. The world mourned the TV legend after her death and still does a year later.

She wrote the essay recounting all the good times she had with White while on the set of “Mama’s Family.” She also explained what made her friend so special and how she misses her more than ever. Lawrence said she learned so much from her while they were together and that she wishes with all her heart that White was still here.

“I miss being able to pick up the phone and talk. I’m getting older too, and nobody tells you how complicated this half of your life is,” Lawrence admitted. “Boy, would I be asking you a lot of questions. I always used to say, ‘I hope I grow up to be Betty White.’ I feel so lucky to have known you.”

(Video Credit: Fox News)

But if there was one thing that stood out most about White, it was her risque sense of humor.

“After you were once described as ‘a great broad,’ somebody asked, ‘Aren’t you offended by that?’ You said, ‘Oh, honey, that is such a great compliment! We’ve reached an age where we’ve seen and done enough, and we’re allowed to be great broads,'” Lawrence said quoting White. “Bold, raunchy, been-around-the-block-so-many-times-you’re-dizzy broads.”

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Lawrence and White appeared together on “Mama’s Family” in 1983. White was only on the show for 16 episodes but the two women formed a permanent friendship and bond.

The script for “The Golden Girls” was given to White during that time and she would go on to play her most iconic role as Rose Nylund. She sensed the show would become a massive hit and she was right.

“When we were doing ‘Mama’s Family,’ you told me about a new pilot — ‘I think this is going to be the one,’ you said — and I lost you to ‘The Golden Girls,'” Lawrence noted in her essay. “Wow, it was the one. So many young people are still devoted to it.”

 

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Lawrence also wrote about her cat being hit by a bicycle and White helping her save the pet so she would not have to put it down.

“Sophie got run over by one of the neighborhood kids on a bicycle, both of her front legs were broken, and she looked like a little Frankenstein with splints,” Lawrence said. “The kids were devastated. My husband, Al [Schultz], said, ‘Go pour yourself a glass of wine and call Betty.'”

White told her, “You’re not putting her down. Take her to my orthopedic surgeon.” After that decisive phone call, Lawrence “grabbed Al’s credit card” and took the cat to the doctor.

“After I bought a dog from a pet store window, I got a lecture from you about rescue dogs who needed love,” Lawrence said, remembering White. “What was I thinking? I want you to know that every dog since then has been a rescue. We have two crazy mutts now.”

White’s love of animals was well-known and her fans honored her love for them when she passed away last year on New Year’s Eve. They created “The Betty White Challenge” which urged others to donate to various charities benefiting animals on her 100th birthday in January.

(Video Credit: ABC News)

The beloved actress partnered with the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association, American Humane, Guide Dogs for the Blind, Endangered Wolf Center, and BraveHearts Therapeutic Riding and Educational Center in her quest to help animals and people as well, according to Fox News.

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