LOS ANGELES – Greek-American Betty White will be starring in a Christmas movie on the Lifetime network this year, Entertainment Tonight (ET) reported.

The 98-year-old iconic TV actress shows no sign of slowing down in the film in which she “helps whip would-be Santas into shape, spreading the true meaning of Christmas,” ET reported, adding that “all her work as a Santa whisperer leads everyone to wonder if she’s secretly Mrs. Claus.” 

The film will be White’s “first on-screen acting role since making guest appearances on the sitcom Young & Hungry and Fox’s Bones in 2017,” ET reported, noting that her most recent roles were voice roles in animated films, including the character Bitey White in Toy Story 4 and in the Disney+ animated TV series Forky Asks a Question which is a spinoff of the popular Toy Story franchise.

“In addition to White’s new movie, Lifetime revealed that this year’s slate of ‘It’s a Wonderful Lifetime,’ which runs from late October through Christmas, will also include Merry Liddle Christmas Wedding, a sequel to Merry Liddle Christmas starring Kelly Rowland, and Mario Lopez playing a single dad in Feliz NaviDad directed by Melissa Joan Hart,” ET reported.

Though the COVID-19 pandemic has halted TV and film production across the United States, Lifetime stated that “its slate of holiday movies are in various stages of production,” ET reported.

The only child of Christine Tess Cachikis and Horace Logan White, she was born in Oak Park, IL. The family moved to California during the Great Depression and it was while attending high school that Betty decided to become an actress.

A pioneer in the television industry, White worked in front of and behind the cameras as the first woman to produce her own TV sitcom. She won seven Emmy Awards during her long TV career most memorably for her work on The Mary Tyler Moore Show as Sue Ann Nevins and for The Golden Girls as Rose Nylund.

Among her other honors are three Screen Actors Guild awards, three American Comedy awards, a Grammy, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. White was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1995. As of 2013, she also holds the Guinness World Records for the longest television career for a female entertainer. White is also a longtime animal rights activist.