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Betty White shares moving tribute for 'Mary Tyler Moore' co-star Georgia Engel

Betty White honored her former co-star Georgia Engel, who died last Friday.
/ Source: TODAY

Betty White is paying tribute to her former "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" co-star Georgia Engel.

The 97-year-old TV legend took to Instagram on Tuesday to share a photo of herself and Engel cozying up to a tame grizzly bear.

"'Friends Forever' says it all," White captioned the sweet pic.

Engel, who played Georgette Franklin, the gentle-voiced companion of oafish weatherman Ted Baxter (Ted Knight) on the landmark sitcom, died last Friday in Princeton, New Jersey, at age 70.

The cause of death was unknown because Engel was a Christian Scientist and didn’t see doctors, her close friend John Quilty told the The New York Times.

Engel joined "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" in its third season in 1972 and would go on to earn a pair of Emmy nominations for her work on the show.

The Mary Tyler Moore Show
The "Mary Tyler Moore Show" cast in 1975 (left to right) Betty White, Ted Knight, Georgia Engel, Gavin McLeod, Mary Tyler Moore and Ed Asner.CBS Photo Archive / Getty Images

“It was only going to be one episode and I was just supposed to have a few lines in a party scene, but they kept giving me more and more to do,” she told the Toronto Star in 2007.

Engel remained a television staple — earning three more Emmy nominations — throughout her long career, with memorable recurring roles on "Everybody Loves Raymond," "Passions" and more.

Betty White and Georgia Engel
Former "Mary Tyler Moore Show" co-stars Betty White and Georgia Engel appeared together again in White's sitcom "Hot In Cleveland."Courtesy Everett Collection

Forty years after they first worked together, Engel and White teamed up again on White's TV Land sitcom "Hot In Cleveland." Engel appeared as a guest star on the series, playing the role of Mamie Sue from 2012-2015.

When Engel's death was announced on Monday, White remembered her longtime friend in a statement to NBC News.

“Georgia was one of a kind," she gushed. "The absolute best!"