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
Murder, She Wrote
Kit Parkins
Murder, She Wrote
Martha Neilson
The Golden Girls
Sarah
On the Town
Brunhilde Esterhazy
The Love Boat
Martha McCoy
All in the Family
Irene Lorenzo
All in the Family
Irene
Becker
Mrs. Firth
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self
Laverne & Shirley
Edna Babish
That's Entertainment!
(archive footage) (uncredited)
The Fugitive
Margaret Ruskin
Take Me Out to the Ball Game
Shirley Delwyn
Boston Public
Miriam Guber
That's Entertainment! III
(archive footage) (uncredited)
Neptune's Daughter
Betty Barrett
My Sister Eileen
Ruth Sherwood
Great Performances
Mary Hallen
The Shadow on the Window
Linda Atlas
That's Dancing!
Ruth Sherwood (archive footage)
Words and Music
Peggy Lorgan McNeil
Trail of the Screaming Forehead
Mrs. Cuttle
Dark and Stormy Night
Mrs. Hausenstout
The Long Way Home
Veronica
The Colgate Comedy Hour
Self
Big City
Shoo Shoo Grady
Gene Kelly: Anatomy of a Dancer
Self
Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There
Self
Mr. Merlin
Carol Channing: Larger Than Life
Self
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
Self (archive footage)
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
Self
Townies
Blacke's Magic
Dinah!
Self
All the Way Home
Catherine
Jack Lemmon: America's Everyman
Self
Union Square
Agnes
The Good Life
Phyllis