A fan wrote to Betty White on a boring day in the '90s and it turned into a 20-year friendship

A man, stuck in an awful job, once wrote a letter to actor Betty White, perhaps with no expectations of a reply. However, that changed when "The Golden Girls" star became his trusted pen pal and spent the next two decades responding to his letters. Peter Zachari (@peterzachari on Instagram), a playwright from NYC, shared his heartfelt friendship with White on April 14.

Zachari used to write letters to several celebrities, but he never expected a response, even once. In the 1990s, among other celebs, he also wrote to White, and like always, he almost forgot about it until Zachari received her picture with a heartwarming note. "To Peter, many thanks..." she had written. Life continued, and in 2000, the playwright honored the actress by using her name as a mantra in his first-ever play, "Lighten Up!" Zachari thought he must let White know about the special tribute. And to his surprise, she replied again with a picture and a letter. "To the cast of 'Lighten Up!' What a great title! It says it all... much success and fun," White wrote.

Zachari had grown so fond of the actress that he continued to use her name in his plays. Once, he even sent White a snapshot of her from the show "Match Game," and she replied exactly how Zachari had wanted. Despite being pen pals, they had never met until the actress attended a book signing event in New York. "She was as sweet and as kind as you could imagine," the playwright confessed. Their friendship continued for quite a long time, and each response from the actress left a profound effect on Zachari. "She was just a presence on that small screen for my whole life, and, well, I think this slideshow demonstrates how much I adored her," he wrote in his post. In fact, White had also admitted her special bond with Zachari. "To Peter, many thanks for being a friend," she had mentioned in her letters.

A report by Guinness World Records revealed that late actress Shirley Temple used to receive over 60,000 pieces of fan mail a month. Similarly, Charlie Chaplin had once received 73,000 in the first three days of returning to his London residence in 1921. "Clara Bow (1905-1965) received 33,727 items of mail during the month of April 1928," the report added. While writing letters was once the only way to communicate with celebrities, it has largely been replaced by social media nowadays. Zachari, who also loved writing to his favorite stars, was just lucky to have received not one but several responses from White, which is not something many experienced back then. 

Meanwhile, reacting to the wholesome story, @4uparties_murder_mystery_kits commented, "What a privilege to be able to call Betty White your friend. Clearly, she cared for you. You seem like a very wonderful human, even before we knew this beautiful story." Similarly, @mindelicious7 wrote, "I love this — I always wanted to meet them all as I watched them since I was a kid, staying overnight at my grandparents' house many years ago!"

You can follow Peter Zachari (@peterzachari) on Instagram for more lifestyle stories.

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