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