Farewell, Betty Garrett...

Sad news today that one of the great MGM musical stars of the 1940's (and beyond) has died.  Betty Garrett was 91 and died at Ronald Reagan-UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles.  She had remained active right up to the end.  Her immensely likeable presence was apparently true both onscreen and off.  She only married once, to Larry Parks, who skyrocketed to instant stardom in 1946, when he was chosen to play the legendary Al Jolson in The Jolson Story, which was an enormous success--and he was nominated for "Best Actor," as well (he lost to Fredric March in The Best Years of Our Lives).  They wed in 1944 and stayed married until his death in 1975.  Theirs was, by all accounts, a true love story.  His career was left in ruins by the McCarthy "witch hunts" in Hollywood in the early 1950's, and her own career suffered by association.  They moved to England to try to start over there, but he could never quite regain the momentum and was, apparently, a broken man.  But she stood by him and slowly, she was able to rebuild her own career, mostly on television--and most memorably as "Irene Lorenzo" on All in the Family.  After Parks's death, she remained indomitable and refused to give way to bitterness, which would have been understandable, considering the nasty lot that was visited upon her and her husband during this incomprehensible time of lunacy.

(Above: Betty Garrett and Larry Parks)

Here is a marvellous montage of photos and clips from her life and career  This was prepared last year for her 90th birthday.  She really was a singularly talented and unique performer.  She will be missed....