Betty Garrett
Known for: Acting
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.
Filmography
Series
Grey's Anatomy
Eleanor
2005
Series
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self
1962
Series
The Love Boat
Martha McCoy
1977
Series
Murder, She Wrote
Kit Parkins
1984
Series
Murder, She Wrote
Martha Neilson
1984
Series
Great Performances
Mary Hallen
1971
Series
The Fugitive
Margaret Ruskin
1963
Series
The Golden Girls
Sarah
1985
Series
Boston Public
Miriam Guber
2000
Series
All in the Family
Irene Lorenzo
1971
Series
All in the Family
Irene
1971
Series
Becker
Mrs. Firth
1998
Series
Laverne & Shirley
Edna Babish
1976
Series
The Colgate Comedy Hour
Self
1950
Series
Dinah!
Self
1974
Series
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
Self
1956
Series
Mr. Merlin
1981
Series
Union Square
Agnes
1997
Series
Blacke's Magic
1986
Series
Townies
1996
Film
Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There
Self
2003
Film
On the Town
Brunhilde Esterhazy
1949
Series
The Good Life
Phyllis
1994
Film
That's Entertainment! III
(archive footage)
1994
Film
That's Entertainment!
(archive footage) (uncredited)
1974
Film
My Sister Eileen
Ruth Sherwood
1955
Film
Neptune's Daughter
Betty Barrett
1949
Film
The Shadow on the Window
Linda Atlas
1957
Film
Words and Music
Peggy Lorgan McNeil
1948
Film
That's Dancing!
Ruth Sherwood (archive footage)
1985
Film
The Long Way Home
Veronica
1998
Film
Big City
Shoo Shoo Grady
1948
Film
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
Self (archive footage)
1972
Film
Carol Channing: Larger Than Life
Self
2012
Film
Take Me Out to the Ball Game
Shirley Delwyn
1949
Troupers
2011
Film
The Costume Designer
Self (archive footage)
1950
Film
Gene Kelly: Anatomy of a Dancer
Self
2002
Film
Jack Lemmon: America's Everyman
Self
1996
Film
Dark and Stormy Night
Mrs. Hausenstout
2009
Film
All the Way Home
Catherine
1981
Film
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1940s: Stars, Stripes and Singing
(archive footage)
2009
Film
Frank Sinatra Memorial
Self
2000
Film
Trail of the Screaming Forehead
Mrs. Cuttle
2007
Film
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1920s: The Dawn of the Hollywood Musical
Self
2008