Friars Club to Roast Betty White

NEW YORK - Betty White will be the latest honoree to sit in the "hot seat" for the annual Friars Club Roast here in May.



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The event is scheduled to take place May 16 at Manhattan's Sheraton Ballroom.
 
Past recipients of the honor include Milton Berle, Frank Sinatra, Johnny Carson, Lucille Ball, Billy Crystal and, last year, Quentin Tarantino.
 


“Those Friars may think I'm an easy mark, but I have 90 years of comebacks waiting for them," White said. "This is such an honor to be roasted by the Friars Club. It will be an afternoon filled with dirty words, risque jokes & sex talk.....and that's just what I plan on saying!”
 


The roast will be produced by TV executive Gary Smith, a former executive producer of the Tony and Emmy Awards.
 


"Betty White is one of those unique talents that comes along once every generation," said Freddie Roman, dean of The Friars Club. "She has been making people laugh all her life, and our Roasters will need to be on their toes to handle Betty’s razor sharp wit.” 
 


The Friars Club was founded in 1904 as a place for entertainers. Its historic members have included Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Lucille Ball and Milton Berle. Current Friars include Barbra Streisand, John Travolta, Whoopi Goldberg, Robert DeNiro, Joy Behar, Bruce Willis and Jimmy Fallon.

Email: Georg.Szalai@thr.com

Twitter: @georgszalai