Betty White Wins Outstanding Female Actor in a Comedy Series at the SAG Awards

On Sunday, Jan. 30, 2011, actors gathered for the 17^th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards (SAG) to see who the winners would be.

In the beginning, the crowd was quite somber. Gentle applause was given as the nominees were announced. But, as the show moved on and energy heightened (perhaps due to a bit more champagne), the audience perked up and appeared to really enjoy the show.

The nominees for outstanding female performance in a comedy series were Edie Falco in "Nurse Jackie," Tina Fey for "30 Rock," Jane Lynch in "Glee," Sofia Vergara for "Modern Family," and Betty White for "Hot in Cleveland."

While the clips of their shows were played for the nomination announcement, the nominees appeared to be very happy for each other and also very hopeful. Even though all the nominees were very worthy of winning in this category, it was an enthusiastic moment when Betty White was announced the winner.

At 89 years old, this is White's first nomination and her first win in the category of outstanding performance in a comedy series.

As her name was announced, White's mouth dropped open and she appeared genuinely surprised that she had been chosen. The entire crowd gave her a standing ovation and applauded loudly. Betty stood, displaying her shimmering silver jacket over an aqua blue dress, and was escorted up to the stage.

Betty's fellow nominees were part of the standing ovation, obviously very happy and enthusiastic about her extremely deserved win.

White is known for her comedy and, though she was surprised, it did not fail her when she gave her acceptance speech. She held her hand to her heart and said "I am so lucky to be at this...at 89, to be working with." A loud applause sounded and Betty paused then laughed a bit and exclaimed, "You didn't applaud when I turned 40." The audience laughed and applauded once more.

At one point she also placed her hand on the award while she was speaking and then appeared distracted by the figure of the award and murmured a little "oooohh," which gave the audience yet another nice laugh.

White resumed her speech with her many thanks to cast, crew, family, and friends, then left the stage.

It was not surprising at all to see Betty White win an award for a comedy series; she is a legend among female comedians in television and movies.

Sources: SAG Awards live on TNT.