Betty Garrett facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Betty Garrett
Garrett in 1950
Born	(1919-05-23)May 23, 1919 St. Joseph, Missouri, U.S.
Died	February 12, 2011(2011-02-12) (aged 91) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Education	Annie Wright School
Alma mater	Neighborhood Playhouse
Occupation	Actress comedian dancer singer
Years active	1938–2011
Television	All in the Family, Laverne & Shirley
Spouse(s)	Larry Parks ​ ​ (m. 1944; died 1975)​
Children	2, including Andrew Parks

Betty Garrett (born May 23, 1919 – died February 12, 2011) was a talented American actress, comedian, singer, and dancer. She started her career performing on Broadway, which is a famous theater district in New York City. Later, she signed a movie deal with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, a big film studio.

Betty Garrett appeared in several musical movies. After her film career, she returned to Broadway and also made guest appearances on many TV shows. She became well-known in the 1970s for her roles in two popular TV comedies: All in the Family, where she played Irene Lorenzo, and Laverne & Shirley, where she was the landlady Edna Babish. In her later years, she continued to act in TV series like The Golden Girls, Grey's Anatomy, and Becker. She also performed in several Broadway plays.

Early Life and Training

Betty Garrett was born in St. Joseph, Missouri. Soon after she was born, her family moved to Seattle, Washington. Her mother worked in a music store, and her father was a traveling salesman. Her parents later divorced, and Betty and her mother lived in different hotels to save money.

When Betty was eight, her mother remarried, and they moved to Regina, Saskatchewan in Canada. A year later, Betty and her mother returned to Seattle. After finishing elementary school, Betty went to the Annie Wright School in Tacoma, Washington. She received a special scholarship to attend. The school didn't have a drama club, so Betty often organized her own musical shows and plays.

After a performance in a school play, a bishop encouraged her to become an actress. A friend of her mother's also helped her get an interview with the famous dancer Martha Graham. Martha Graham suggested Betty apply for a scholarship at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City.

Betty and her mother moved to New York in 1936, and Betty started her classes. She learned dance from Martha Graham, acting from Sandy Meisner, and music from Lehman Engel. She thought she would be a serious dramatic actress, but she soon found out she was also very good at comedy.

Starting Her Career

During her summer breaks from school, Betty performed in a popular entertainment area called the "Borscht Belt." This gave her the chance to work with famous performers like Danny Kaye and Carol Channing. She improved her singing and dancing skills a lot during this time.

She also joined Orson Welles's Mercury Theatre as a backup actress for a play called Danton's Death. This allowed her to work with well-known actors like Joseph Cotten. Betty also danced with Martha Graham's dance company and sang at the Village Vanguard, a famous club. She also performed in funny and political shows with a group called the American Youth Theatre.

Broadway Shows

Betty Garrett made her first appearance on Broadway in 1942 in a show called Of V We Sing. Even though that show didn't last long, it led to her being cast in another show, Let Freedom Sing. A producer named Mike Todd saw her and hired her to be a backup for the famous actress Ethel Merman in the musical Something for the Boys. When Ethel Merman got sick, Betty got to play the main role for a week!

Another producer saw her and cast her in a musical called Jackpot. This show also closed quickly, so Betty started traveling around the country with her own singing and dancing act.

Hollywood Movies

After performing on Broadway in Laffing Room Only, Betty toured with the show in other cities. Then she returned to New York and was cast in Call Me Mister. She received great reviews for her performance in this show. A famous cartoonist even drew her in The New York Times!

Because of her success, Louis B. Mayer, the head of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) studio, offered her a one-year movie contract. Betty arrived in Hollywood in 1947 and made her first film, Big City. MGM liked her work and renewed her contract. She quickly appeared in several musical films, including Words and Music, On the Town, Take Me Out To The Ball Game, and Neptune's Daughter.

Later, Betty starred with Janet Leigh and Jack Lemmon in My Sister Eileen in 1955. This was a musical remake of an older play. For the next twenty years, she worked occasionally, appearing in a few Broadway plays and making guest appearances on TV shows like The Fugitive.

Later Career and TV Success

In 1973, the popular TV show All in the Family added new characters to the neighborhood: Frank Lorenzo and his lively wife, Irene. Betty Garrett was a top choice for the role of Irene. The first actress chosen for the part decided to leave, which opened the door for Betty.

Betty's character, Irene, was Catholic, which often annoyed the main character, Archie Bunker. Irene was also very handy and often did jobs around the house that husbands usually did, which made her a bit of a challenge for Archie. She even worked with Archie at his job, driving a forklift! Betty stayed on the show from 1973 to 1975 and won a Golden Globe Award for her performance in 1974.

Betty Garrett in 1976

The next year, Betty was performing her one-woman show when she was offered the role of Edna Babish in Laverne & Shirley. Edna was a landlady who had been divorced five times and eventually married Laverne's father, Frank. Betty felt she wasn't always given enough to do on the show, but she liked that her singing talents were sometimes included in the story. In 1981, Betty had to leave the show because she had committed to a Broadway play. The play didn't last long, but she couldn't return to Laverne & Shirley because her character had been written off the show.

In the years that followed, Betty Garrett appeared on TV shows like Murder, She Wrote, The Golden Girls, Boston Public, Becker (for which she was nominated for an Emmy Award), and Grey's Anatomy. She also performed on stage in plays like Plaza Suite and the 2001 Broadway revival of Follies, where she received great reviews for her singing.

Betty Garrett helped start a theater group called Theatre West. There, she directed plays and acted in others. She won the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award twice for her stage work.

In 2003, Betty Garrett received a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame, which is a great honor. In 2009, when she turned 90, Theatre West held a special celebration for her.

In 2010, Betty Garrett appeared with her former co-star Esther Williams at a film festival. Their movie Neptune's Daughter was shown by a pool, and a synchronized swimming group performed, inspired by Esther Williams.

Awards and Nominations

Betty Garrett received several awards and nominations for her work:

Golden Globes

• 1974: She won the award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Irene Lorenzo in the TV series All in the Family.

Primetime Emmy Awards

• 2003: She was nominated for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her role as Molly Firth in the CBS show Becker.

Ovation Awards

• 2009: She was nominated for Lead Actress in a Play for her role as Sarita Myrtle in the Theatre West production of Waiting in the Wings.

Personal Life

While performing in Los Angeles, Betty Garrett met Larry Parks, who was an actor and producer. He quickly told her he was going to marry her, and they spent two weeks together before she left for a job in Chicago. Larry later joined her there.

Betty called Larry and proposed marriage before she started rehearsals for a new show. They got married on September 8, 1944, just four months after they first met. Actor Lloyd Bridges was Larry's best man. Betty and Larry were married until Larry's death in 1975. They had two sons, Garrett Parks, who became a composer, and Andrew Parks, who became an actor. Betty also had a granddaughter, Madison Claire Parks.

Facing Challenges

Because of some past connections that were seen as controversial at the time, Betty and her husband Larry faced difficulties finding work in Hollywood. Larry was asked to testify before a government committee. He admitted he had been part of a group but at first refused to name others. Later, he did name some people. Even so, he ended up on the Hollywood blacklist, which was a list of people who were not allowed to work in the film industry.

Betty also found it hard to get acting jobs. However, as a mother of two young sons, she didn't mind being unemployed as much as her husband did. Larry started a very successful construction business, and they eventually owned many apartment buildings in Los Angeles. Instead of selling them, Larry decided to keep them and collect rent, which became very profitable. During this time, Betty and Larry still performed together occasionally in Las Vegas and in touring stage shows.

Death

Betty Garrett passed away on February 12, 2011, in Los Angeles, at the age of 91. She died from an aortic aneurysm, which is a serious medical condition.

Filmography

Television Work

• Becker (2003) as neighbor Mrs. Girth, episode, Nightmare On Becker Street

Stage Work

See also

In Spanish: Betty Garrett para niños