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Betty White kept her picture-perfect love with late husband Allen Ludden alive for 40 years after his death.
In the wake of the “Golden Girls” gem’s Dec. 31 passing, California-based graphic designer Helen Stickler shared a series of viral tweets revealing that she’d restored a photograph of Ludden — the deceased host of retro game show “Password,” who died at 63 in 1981 of stomach cancer — which White, 99, kissed every day for the last four decades.
“Betty White kept a photo of her late husband Allen Ludden at her bedside & would blow him a kiss every morning,” said Stickler, 55, in her trending New Year’s Eve tweet about the gone-too-soon television trailblazer. “Over 40 years the photo faded, and I had the great honor of restoring it for her. If there is an afterlife, I hope she’s with her Allen #BettyWhiteRIP.”
Stickler — who, in addition to graphic designing, is billed as an Emmy-nominated writer, producer and director of feature films — went on to share the side-by-side rehabilitation she performed on White’s cherished keepsake.
“Here’s the before and after of the photo of Betty White’s beloved, Allen Ludden, that I restored for her earlier this year,” wrote Stickler alongside a withered picture of a smiling Ludden positioned next to the vibrantly revamped snapshot. “It was an honor to be useful for this great lady. She sent me a lovely thank you note.”
The note, a handwritten acknowledgment penned on Betty White-embossed stationery and dated March 30, 2021, reads: “Dear Helen, Thank you so very much for your good work on my beloved’s picture. It makes it a wonderful treasure and I really appreciate it. Have a Happy Easter and thank you again. Warmest, Betty.”
White’s agent and longtime friend Jeff Witjas did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for a comment about the heartfelt memo.
But digital disciples of the late “Mary Tyler Moore Show” star flooded Stickler’s Twitter comments with rich reactions to her sweetly written correspondence.
“I love this so much. A handwritten note is a lost art, and in such nice penmanship,” said one White fanatic. “Look at that penmanship! Wow. You can tell she was raised in an era before everyone typed everything. So elegant!,” another exclaimed. “What beautiful penmanship she still had at 99!,” noted another.
White, who had been married twice before tying the knot with Ludden in 1963, was said to have uttered his name just moments before dying of natural causes Friday, according to her “Mama’s Family” co-star Vicki Lawrence.
Lawrence, 72, exclusively told PageSix that legendary comedienne Carol Burnett, 88, shared the news of White’s final tribute to Ludden with her via text.
“I texted Carol and said, ‘This just sucks. I hate this. It’s just horrible to see the people you love so much go away,’” Lawrence recalled. “Carol wrote back and said, ‘I know, I know. I spoke to Betty’s assistant, who was with her when she passed, and she said the very last word out of her mouth was ‘Allen.’”
Lawrence continued, “How sweet is that? I said, ‘That is so sweet. God, I hope that’s true. For all of us, I really hope it’s true, a lovely thought.’”
White, who never remarried after Ludden’s death, once explained her decision to remain devoted to her dearly departed darling during a 2011 interview with the Daily Mail.
“Once you’ve had the best, who needs the rest?,” she said. “I made two mistakes before Allen, but the love of your life doesn’t come along in every life, so I am very grateful that I found him.”
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