Garrett later became known for the roles she played in two prominent 1970s sitcoms: Archie Bunker's politically liberal neighbor Irene Lorenzo in All in the Family and landlady Edna Babish in Laverne & Shirley.

In later years, she appeared in television series such as The Golden Girls, Grey's Anatomy, Boston Public and Becker as well as in several Broadway plays and revivals.

[citation needed] Shortly after her birth, her parents relocated to Seattle, Washington, where her mother managed the sheet music department at Sherman Clay, and her father worked as a traveling salesman.

His alcoholism and fiscal irresponsibility eventually led to their divorce, and Garrett and her mother lived in a series of residential hotels in order to minimize expenses.

At the same time, her mother's friend arranged an interview with Martha Graham, who was in Seattle for a concert tour, and the dancer recommended her for a scholarship at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City.

[5] During the summer months, Garrett performed in the Borscht Belt, where she had the opportunity to work with Danny Kaye, Jerome Robbins, Carol Channing, Imogene Coca, and Jules Munshin, and she was encouraged to hone her singing and dancing skills.

[6] She joined Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre as an understudy in what was to be its last stage presentation, a poorly-reviewed and short-lived production of Danton's Death that gave her the opportunity to work with Joseph Cotten, Ruth Ford, Martin Gabel, and Arlene Francis.

[10] It closed after only eight performances, but producer Mike Todd saw it and signed her to understudy Ethel Merman[11] and play a small role in the 1943 Cole Porter musical Something for the Boys.

[18] The Jolson Story had been a huge hit in the United Kingdom, so Garrett and her husband Larry Parks decided to capitalize on its popularity by appearing at the London Palladium and then touring the U.K. with their nightclub act.

[19] Garrett then was cast opposite Janet Leigh and Jack Lemmon in My Sister Eileen, a 1955 musical remake of a 1940 theatrical adaptation of stories by Ruth McKenney.

Irene was Catholic—a source of annoyance for Protestant Archie—and assumed many of the handyman household duties normally associated with husbands, and she therefore presented a kind of nemesis to Archie Bunker.

In 1981, when the series was extended beyond what had been intended to be its final season, Garrett was forced to drop out because she had committed to performing with Sandy Dennis, Jack Gilford, Hope Lange, and Joyce Van Patten in The Supporting Cast on Broadway.

The play closed after only eight performances, but returning to Laverne & Shirley was not an option as the writers had explained Edna's disappearance by having her divorce Frank, although this was not directly addressed until the series' final season.

[23] In the ensuing years, Garrett appeared on television in Murder, She Wrote, The Golden Girls, Harts of the West, Union Square, Boston Public, Becker (for which she was nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series), and Grey's Anatomy, and on stage in Plaza Suite (with Parks), And Miss Reardon Drinks A Little, Meet Me in St. Louis as Katie, the feisty Irish maid, and the 2001 Broadway revival of Follies, receiving excellent notices for singing "Broadway Baby."

[27] Their film Neptune's Daughter was screened at the pool of the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood, California, while a Williams-inspired synchronised swimming troupe, The Aqualilies, performed.

Parks formed a highly successful construction business, and eventually the couple owned many apartment buildings scattered throughout the Los Angeles metropolitan area.