Tribute: Betty Garrett
Posted on February 17, 2011 at 8:00 am
The talented musical comedy star Betty Garrett died this week at the age of 91. She was known for playing brassy, warm-hearted but outspoken roles in musicals like On the Town and My Sister Eileen
. She was on television with recurring roles in “Laverne and Shirley” and “All in the Family.” She won me over forever when I happened on her first film appearance in a sweet film 1948 film with Margaret O’Brien called “Big City.” She plays a dancer named Shoo-Shoo who does a nonsense musical number called “Okle Baby Dokle.” In “Neptune’s Daughter,” she helped to introduce “Baby It’s Cold Outside.”
I was lucky enough to see her one-woman autobiographical live show, “Betty Garrett and Other Songs,” one of the most purely enjoyable evenings I have ever spent in a theater.