Few Little Rock personalities of the late 1980s attracted more attention than Elton and Betty White.
Betty, born Betty Crandall in Mabelvale in 1927, and Elton, an NBA prospect born in Dumas in 1958, met in 1984 at Little Rock’s Union Rescue Mission and, Betty said, “it was love at first sight.”
Despite their age and race differences, they married in 1989 and became familiar sights in the capital as they bicycled through town in skimpy swimwear and sombreros. They recorded a series of sexually explicit ukulele songs, including “Menopause Mama,” and ran for state and national offices, though they didn’t win.
In 1991 the couple moved to Venice Beach, California, where they launched the public access TV show Husband and Wife Time and appeared on Sally Jesse Raphael, Maury Povich and The Daily Show.
Betty died, aged 76, in 2003 and Elton White continues to live in their Venice Beach apartment.
You can learn more about Elton and Betty White at the Encyclopedia of Arkansas.
