As the nation reflects on the life of Betty White, who died on Friday at the age of 99, the beloved actress is being remembered for the courage she showed when she stood up for a Black dancer in the 1950s. The dancer, Arthur Duncan, nearly missed out on the opportunity to star on The Betty White Show.

White, however, refused to comply when she was told to reject Duncan because he is Black.  

"I'm sorry, but, you know, he stays," White said, according to USA Today. 

Duncan, who told the story in 2017 when he appeared on Steve Harvey's Little Big Shots: Forever Young show, said White gave him his first job on TV. 

“I was on the show, and they had some letters out of Mississippi and elsewhere that some of the stations would not carry the show if I was permitted to stay on there,” he said. “Well, Betty wrote back and said, ‘Needless to say, we used Arthur Duncan every opportunity we could.'” 

According to the Library of Congress, Duncan established a successful career in show business after working with White. He became the first Black performer on The Lawrence Welk Show. 

Duncan reunited with White when he appeared on the Little Big Shots: Forever Young show. The dancer expressed joy when he saw his hero. 

“God, I think I am ready to go now,” he said. 

Television was still new in the 1950s. White, however, had already established herself as a superstar in the early days. According to The Washington Post, the veteran entertainer starred on radio and TV early in her career, acting on a sitcom and co-hosting a daytime talk show in Los Angeles. 

On The Betty White Show, which was nationally televised, White sang and interviewed guests. She also performed skits, read commercials live and included a children’s segment.

Duncan, a California native, was looking for a big break in his career as a young man.  

“The first TV show I had ever been on, and I credit Betty White for really getting me started in show business, in television,” he said in the 2018 documentary Betty White: First Lady of Television.

White said her executives threatened to take her show off the air if she didn’t get rid of Duncan.

“People in the South resented me being on the show, and they wanted me thrown out,” Duncan said. “But there was never a question at all.”

The beloved actress stood her ground.

“I said, ‘I’m sorry, but, you know, he stays,’” she said. “‘Live with it.’”

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