Betty Garrett
Acting
Born: 1919-05-23 in Saint Joseph, Missouri, USA
Biography
Betty Garrett (May 23, 1919 - February 12, 2011) was an American actress, comedian, singer and dancer, who starred in several Hollywood musicals and stage roles. She was at the top of her game when the Communist scare in the 1950s brought her career to a screeching, ugly halt. She and her husband Larry Parks, an Oscar-nominated actor, were summoned by the House UnAmerican Activities Committee and questioned about their involvement. As the drama played out, a very pregnant Garrett was never called to testify, but her husband was. With his admission of Communist Party membership from 1941-1945 and refusal to name names, he made it to the Hollywood Blacklist. After the incident, Garrett and Parks worked up nightclub singing/comedy acts along with appearing in legit plays. Although Parks never quite shook off the blacklist incident, he did win a role in John Huston's film, Freud (1962). Garrett went on to appear in roles in many television series.
Known For
Grey's Anatomy
Eleanor
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self
The Fugitive
Margaret Ruskin
The Love Boat
Martha McCoy
Murder, She Wrote
Kit Parkins
Murder, She Wrote
Martha Neilson
Great Performances
Mary Hallen
The Golden Girls
Sarah
Boston Public
Miriam Guber
All in the Family
Irene Lorenzo
All in the Family
Irene
Becker
Mrs. Firth
Laverne & Shirley
Edna Babish
The Colgate Comedy Hour
Self
Dinah!
Self
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
Self
Union Square
Agnes
Townies
Mr. Merlin
Blacke's Magic
On the Town
Brunhilde Esterhazy
The Good Life
Phyllis
Neptune's Daughter
Betty Barrett
That's Entertainment!
(archive footage) (uncredited)
That's Dancing!
Ruth Sherwood (archive footage)
Troupers
Take Me Out to the Ball Game
Shirley Delwyn
That's Entertainment! III
(archive footage) (uncredited)
My Sister Eileen
Ruth Sherwood
Words and Music
Peggy Lorgan McNeil
The Costume Designer
Self (archive footage)
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
Self (archive footage)
The Long Way Home
Veronica
Jack Lemmon: America's Everyman
Self
Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There
Self
Big City
Shoo Shoo Grady
The Shadow on the Window
Linda Atlas
Gene Kelly: Anatomy of a Dancer
Self
Carol Channing: Larger Than Life
Self
Dark and Stormy Night
Mrs. Hausenstout