
Overview
Betty Garrett
Known For

Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1940s: Stars, Stripes and Singing
This is a two-hour in-depth exploration into the Hollywood musicals...

Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1920s: The Dawn of the Hollywood Musical
The 1920s was a time of great change in Hollywood....

Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There
Broadway: The Golden Age is the most important, ambitious and...

Gene Kelly: Anatomy of a Dancer
American Masters Series. Documentary on Gene Kelly that gives insight...
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.