Betty Garrett

"People think this is false modesty on my part," says 'City of Angels' Tony nominee Rene Auberjonois, "but the fact is, once our show was a hit, I was pretty sure I'd be nominated, because the role is the kind of role, as long as you don't screw it up completely, (that's likely to get you) nominated. "In the same breath, I'll say that just as I was not surprised to get the nomination, I am certain I will not be the recipient. This is not my year. That's the name of the game."

Betty Garrett, a comedic actress who was a fixture in such MGM musicals as "On The Town" and "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," a regular on the television series "All in the Family" and "Laverne & Shirley" and a star on Broadway and in Los Angeles theater productions, has died. She was 91. Garrett died early Saturday morning at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center of an aortic aneurysm, said her son Garrett Parks. Just last Wednesday, Garrett went to dinner with friends and afterward taught a weekly musical comedy class at Theatre West , the nonprofit theater she helped found in North Hollywood half a century ago. "She was a woman of boundless optimism," Miles Kreuger, president of the Los Angeles-based Institute of the American Musical, told The Times on Saturday.

At the beginning of "Betty Garrett: Closet Songwriter," a world premiere musical revue at Theatre West, Garrett jokes about how her son advised her to reveal her age early on in the show, just for the hearty round of applause it would surely elicit. At 88, Garrett gets points for sheer durability, but she also deserves high marks for undiminished wryness and charm.

Betty Garrett's life can be summed up by these lyrics from Stephen Sondheim's "I'm Still Here" from his 1971 masterwork "Follies": "Good times and bum times, I've seen them all and, my dear, I'm still here." The vivacious 90-year-old had a talented husband -- Larry Parks -- and has two equally talented sons, Garrett and Andrew. She appeared in such classic MGM musicals as "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" and "On the Town."

Betty Garrett's coffee table is stacked with photos: of her cuddling with Frank Sinatra in "On the Town," singing and dancing beside Janet Leigh in "My Sister Eileen," surrounded by everyone from Clark Gable to Lassie in a late-'40s group shot of MGM's contract players. These are just a few of the mementos the 78-year-old actress pulled from storage and scattered throughout her Studio City home as she worked on her autobiography.

Dan Goggin directs the premiere of a new, expanded version of his cheery comedy staple "Nunsense," about the Little Sisters of Hoboken who put on a song-and- dance fundraiser. The veteran cast includes Betty Garrett, Lee Meriwether and Bridget Hanley. * Theatre West 3333 Cahuenga Blvd. West, L.A. Opens 8 p.m. today. Runs 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays. Ends March 6. $30 (323) 851-7977

Your article on March 1 ("Poipu to Princeville: Lodgings With Aloha") was really quite excellent in regard to the Kauai recommendations for hotel stays. Having rented accommodations for 17 family members for a week at the Waimea Plantation Cottages in 1996, I could never find at this date a truer feeling of Old Hawaii. All the cottages are comfortable, and the Manager's Cottage is first-rate. BETTY GARRETT Ventura

Carl Reiner will be the emcee and Dale Gonyea, Carole Cook, Gogi Grant and Karen Culliver Parks are among those scheduled to perform in "Celebrating a Los Angeles Legend," a gala tribute to stage and screen's Betty Garrett, at the Pasadena Playhouse on May 17. A veteran of MGM musicals and the Broadway stage, Garrett is also known for her regular role on TV's "Laverne and Shirley" and as co-founder of Theatre West.

Betty Garrett is still amazed that fans remember her from her stints on "Laverne & Shirley" and "All in the Family." "You can't knock it," she says of the recognition. "But it's hard to believe those parts made such an impression. I always felt I had very little to do on the shows. I was lucky if I had one scene. Rue McClanahan, who was on 'Maude,' used to refer to us as the 'hi-bye girls.' You came through the door, said 'Hi,' told a joke, said 'Bye'--and that was your part for the week."

June Allyson breezes into the room tossing out hellos and interrupting conversation with the command, "Kiss me!" A reunion is underway as the headliners of "A Celebration of the Classic Hollywood Musicals"--a nostalgia-drenched program of reminiscences, songs and film clips to be presented Tuesday through next Sunday at Pasadena Civic Auditorium--gather to talk about the movie musicals in which they starred in the '40s and '50s.

At the beginning of "Betty Garrett: Closet Songwriter," a world premiere musical revue at Theatre West, Garrett jokes about how her son advised her to reveal her age early on in the show, just for the hearty round of applause it would surely elicit. At 88, Garrett gets points for sheer durability, but she also deserves high marks for undiminished wryness and charm.

Dan Goggin directs the premiere of a new, expanded version of his cheery comedy staple "Nunsense," about the Little Sisters of Hoboken who put on a song-and- dance fundraiser. The veteran cast includes Betty Garrett, Lee Meriwether and Bridget Hanley. * Theatre West 3333 Cahuenga Blvd. West, L.A. Opens 8 p.m. today. Runs 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays. Ends March 6. $30 (323) 851-7977

Betty Garrett feels a lot of good karma surrounding Theatre West's production of "Edgar Lee Masters' Spoon River Anthology," which opened on Garrett's 83rd birthday Thursday. Garrett, who appeared in the original production of "Spoon River" four decades ago, is directing the revival, which features longtime Theatre West members Lee Meriwether and Bridget Hanley. Musical director and supervisor Naomi Caryl, also an original cast member, wrote the music.

June Allyson breezes into the room tossing out hellos and interrupting conversation with the command, "Kiss me!" A reunion is underway as the headliners of "A Celebration of the Classic Hollywood Musicals"--a nostalgia-drenched program of reminiscences, songs and film clips to be presented Tuesday through next Sunday at Pasadena Civic Auditorium--gather to talk about the movie musicals in which they starred in the '40s and '50s.

Carl Reiner will be the emcee and Dale Gonyea, Carole Cook, Gogi Grant and Karen Culliver Parks are among those scheduled to perform in "Celebrating a Los Angeles Legend," a gala tribute to stage and screen's Betty Garrett, at the Pasadena Playhouse on May 17. A veteran of MGM musicals and the Broadway stage, Garrett is also known for her regular role on TV's "Laverne and Shirley" and as co-founder of Theatre West.

Your article on March 1 ("Poipu to Princeville: Lodgings With Aloha") was really quite excellent in regard to the Kauai recommendations for hotel stays. Having rented accommodations for 17 family members for a week at the Waimea Plantation Cottages in 1996, I could never find at this date a truer feeling of Old Hawaii. All the cottages are comfortable, and the Manager's Cottage is first-rate. BETTY GARRETT Ventura

Betty Garrett feels a lot of good karma surrounding Theatre West's production of "Edgar Lee Masters' Spoon River Anthology," which opened on Garrett's 83rd birthday Thursday. Garrett, who appeared in the original production of "Spoon River" four decades ago, is directing the revival, which features longtime Theatre West members Lee Meriwether and Bridget Hanley. Musical director and supervisor Naomi Caryl, also an original cast member, wrote the music.

Betty Garrett, a comedic actress who was a fixture in such MGM musicals as "On The Town" and "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," a regular on the television series "All in the Family" and "Laverne & Shirley" and a star on Broadway and in Los Angeles theater productions, has died. She was 91. Garrett died early Saturday morning at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center of an aortic aneurysm, said her son Garrett Parks. Just last Wednesday, Garrett went to dinner with friends and afterward taught a weekly musical comedy class at Theatre West , the nonprofit theater she helped found in North Hollywood half a century ago. "She was a woman of boundless optimism," Miles Kreuger, president of the Los Angeles-based Institute of the American Musical, told The Times on Saturday.

Betty Garrett's coffee table is stacked with photos: of her cuddling with Frank Sinatra in "On the Town," singing and dancing beside Janet Leigh in "My Sister Eileen," surrounded by everyone from Clark Gable to Lassie in a late-'40s group shot of MGM's contract players. These are just a few of the mementos the 78-year-old actress pulled from storage and scattered throughout her Studio City home as she worked on her autobiography.

In today's Hollywood, there is something called the Gray List, an inventory of established writers who many directors and producers think are too old to write about the young. Playwright Dan Keough has turned this notion on its head by writing a comedy-drama about the senior set--and he's nowhere near that age. Keough's "Tom Tom on a Rooftop" opens Friday night at Theatre West, and its stellar, mostly gray cast calls the characters they play "spunky."