Actress Betty Garrett dies in LA at 91; played Sinatra sweethearts, appeared in 70s sitcoms

Sunday, Feb 13, 2011 04:15 am | Andrew Dalton, The Associated Press

FILE - Actress Betty Garrett poses at her home in Los Angeles on in this Dec. 16, 1997 file photo. Garrett, who played Frank Sinatra's sweetheart in two MGM musicals before her career was hampered by the Hollywood blacklist, died Saturday Feb. 12, 2011 in Los Angeles. Later in life she became well-known to TV audiences with recurring roles in the 1970s sitcoms "All in the the Family" and Laverne and Shirley. She was 91. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Betty Garrett, who played Frank Sinatra's sweetheart in two MGM musicals before her career was hampered by the Hollywood blacklist, has died in Los Angeles. She was 91.

Son Garrett Parks says Garrett died Saturday at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, most likely from an aortic aneurysm.

Garrett played the flirtatious girl in love with the shy Sinatra in "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" and "On the Town," both in 1949.

Her movie career was cut short after congressmen forced her husband, actor Larry Parks, to testify in 1951 about his earlier membership in the Communist Party.

Later in life she became well-known to TV audiences with recurring roles in the 1970s sitcoms "All in the the Family" and "Laverne and Shirley."

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