Betty Garrett

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

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

The Fugitive

The Love Boat

Murder, She Wrote

Murder, She Wrote

Great Performances

The Golden Girls

All Movies (24)

• Carol Channing: Larger Than Life2012 · as Self
• Troupers2011
• Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1940s: Stars, Stripes and Singing2009 · as (archive footage)
• Dark and Stormy Night2009 · as Mrs. Hausenstout
• Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1920s: The Dawn of the Hollywood Musical2008 · as Self
• Trail of the Screaming Forehead2007 · as Mrs. Cuttle
• Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There2003 · as Self
• Gene Kelly: Anatomy of a Dancer2002 · as Self
• Frank Sinatra Memorial2000 · as Self
• The Long Way Home1998 · as Veronica
• Jack Lemmon: America's Everyman1996 · as Self
• That's Entertainment! III1994 · as (archive footage)
• That's Dancing!1985 · as Ruth Sherwood (archive footage)
• All the Way Home1981 · as Catherine
• That's Entertainment!1974 · as (archive footage) (uncredited)
• Hollywood: The Dream Factory1972 · as Self (archive footage)
• The Shadow on the Window1957 · as Linda Atlas
• My Sister Eileen1955 · as Ruth Sherwood
• The Costume Designer1950 · as Self (archive footage)
• On the Town1949 · as Brunhilde Esterhazy
• Neptune's Daughter1949 · as Betty Barrett
• Take Me Out to the Ball Game1949 · as Shirley Delwyn
• Words and Music1948 · as Peggy Lorgan McNeil
• Big City1948 · as Shoo Shoo Grady

All TV Shows (21)

• Grey's Anatomy2005 · as Eleanor
• Boston Public2000 · as Miriam Guber
• Becker1998 · as Mrs. Firth
• Union Square1997 · as Agnes
• Townies1996
• The Good Life1994 · as Phyllis
• Blacke's Magic1986
• The Golden Girls1985 · as Sarah
• Murder, She Wrote1984 · as Kit Parkins
• Murder, She Wrote1984 · as Martha Neilson
• Mr. Merlin1981
• The Love Boat1977 · as Martha McCoy
• Laverne & Shirley1976 · as Edna Babish
• Dinah!1974 · as Self
• Great Performances1971 · as Mary Hallen
• All in the Family1971 · as Irene Lorenzo
• All in the Family1971 · as Irene
• The Fugitive1963 · as Margaret Ruskin
• The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson1962 · as Self
• The Dinah Shore Chevy Show1956 · as Self
• The Colgate Comedy Hour1950 · as Self