As a teenager, American performer Betty Garrett won a scholarship to New York's Neighborhood Playhouse, and in 1938 she debuted onstage in the Mercury Theater production of Danton's Death. Later she danced with the Martha Graham company, sang in nightclubs and resort hotels, and held down odd jobs between engagements. In 1942 Garrett debuted on Broadway in the revue Let Freedom Ring, leading to other Broadway appearances. For her work in Call Me Mister she won the Donaldson Award in 1946, after which MGM signed her to a movie contract. She went on to make five musicals in the late '40s, impressing critics with her singing, dancing, and bright comic acting; as an energetic and effervescent second lead, she typically played the heroine's best friend. Garrett took two years off to give birth to two children; meanwhile, her husband, actor Larry Parks, admitted to the House Un-American Activities Committee that he had been a Communist. This ruined Garrett's screen career for several years, during which she and Parks appeared in a nightclub act and toured the U.S. with a play. In the mid-'50s she appeared in two more films and had the chance to renew her career; however, her husband was still blacklisted, so she chose to retire from the screen. She and Parks went on to work in stock and occasionally on TV, but they derived their income primarily from real estate. In the mid-'70s Garrett had a recurring role as Archie Bunker's neighbor on the TV sitcom All In the Family, and played landlady Edna Babish on Laverne and Shirley.

http://www.allmovie.com/artist/betty-garrett-p26020

Date of Birth 23 May 1919, St. Joseph, Missouri, USA

Date of Death 12 February 2011, Los Angeles, California, USA (aortic aneurysm)

Mini Bio (1)

A sunny singer, dancer and comic actress, Betty Garrett 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.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: rocknrollunderdawg

Spouse (1)

Larry Parks (8 September 1944 - 13 April 1975) (his death) (2 children)

Trivia (13)

Sons with Larry Parks: composer Garrett Parks and actor Andrew Parks.

Studied acting at New York City's Neighborhood Playhouse under Sanford Meisner.

Attended and graduated from the Annie Wright School in Tacoma, Washington.

Godmother of Jeff Bridges.

She and Larry Parks spent a month on their honeymoon in Malibu Beach, California, and then lived apart for the next two years while pursuing their careers.

She was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Live Theatre at 6706 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on May 23, 2003 (her 84th birthday).

Co-founder, with Carol Eve Rossen and Sandy Kenyon, of "Theatre West", an internationally acclaimed non-profit arts organization in Hollywood, in 1962.

Performed at the 1939 World's Fair.

Was under contract at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (1947-1949).

Her father was an alcoholic travelling salesman who died when she was still a child.

Made her theatrical debut in a 1938 Mercury Theatre production of "Danton's Death".

Best known by the public for her roles as Irene Lorenzo on All in the Family (1971) and as Edna Babish on Laverne & Shirley (1976).

Suzanne Collins, Donna Fuller, Sally Klein, Laurie O'Brien, Jennifer Parsons, Teri Ralston and she were awarded the 1983 Drama Logue Award for Outstanding Ensemble Performance for "Quilters" at the Mark Taper Forum Theatre in Los Angeles, California.

Personal Quotes (1)

[on working with Orson Welles and the Mercury Theatre] He had an unbroken string of successes. But unfortunately, I joined the company just in time for the first flop, "Danton's Death". He was a genius, but in that one he let his genius get slightly out of hand. He loaded up the little theater with thousands of dollars worth of lights, and tore out the stage and put in elevator platforms, so all the actors were constantly moving up and down out of the depths. I remember we all had to make noises in the night, in addition to our roles. I did animal noises. Joseph Cotten had to do sex noises. Can you imagine? Joseph Cotten?

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0308081/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm