Judy Garland (June 10, 1922 – June 22, 1969) was an American film actress considered by many to be one of the greatest singing stars of Hollywood's Golden Era of musical film. She was known for her intense acting, charming wit, and great sense of humor. Garland also excelled in the ability to depict emotion in a song, and maintain her amazingly strong, quivering voice.
In 1934, the Gumm Sisters were performing in Chicago at the Oriental Theater with George Jessel. He encouraged the group to choose a more appealing name after "Gumm" received small laughter from the audience. They settled on the Garland Sisters, and young Frances soon afterwards picked the name Judy after a popular song of the day by Hoagy Carmichael. A rumor persists that Jessel came up with the last name Garland after Carole Lombard's character Lily Garland in the film Twentieth Century, which was currently playing at the Oriental; another rumor is that Jessel came up with the surname Garland after drama critic Robert Garland (reference: "Judy: Beyond the Rainbow", A&E television special), although Lorna Luft stated in her book Me and My Shadows that her mother chose the name when Jessel announced that the trio of singers looked prettier than 'a Garland of flowers'.
In 1935, at the age of 13, Garland was signed to a contract with MGM, allegedly without a screen test. In fact, she actually had done a test for the studio several months earlier. Garland's first notice by studio executives came after singing "You Made Me Love You" to Clark Gable at a birthday party held by the studio for the King of Hollywood. Her rendition proved so popular that MGM placed Garland and the song in their all-star extravaganza Broadway Melody of 1938 (1937).
After a string of minor roles, at the age of sixteen she landed the role of "Dorothy" in the MGM film The Wizard of Oz (1939), and has been associated ever since with the song "Over the Rainbow". After Oz, Garland became one of MGM's most bankable stars, proving particularly popular when teamed with her longtime friend Mickey Rooney in a string of "let's put on a show!" musicals. The duo first appeared together in the 1937 b-movie Thoroughbreds Don't Cry. They became a sensation and they teamed up again in Love Finds Andy Hardy, and then soon after in Babes in Arms. Garland eventually would star with Rooney in nine films.
To keep up with the frantic pace of making one movie after another, Garland, Rooney, and other young performers were constantly given amphetamines, as well as barbiturates to take before bedtime (reference: "Judy Garland: By Myself" in the American Masters series on PBS). This constant dose of drugs would lead to addiction and a lifelong struggle for Garland as well as her eventual demise. In her later life, she would resent the hectic work and she felt that her youth was stolen from her by MGM. She was plagued with self-doubt throughout her life and needed constant reassurance that she was talented, despite her ability to fill concert halls with fans eager to hear her, high critical praise, and several awards.
Throughout the 1940s her films increased in popularity, making her the most critically and financially successful female musical star of the time. Among her most successful 1940s films is the 1944 classic Meet Me in St. Louis, in which she introduced three standards: "The Trolley Song," "The Boy Next Door," and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." Her other famous films include The Harvey Girls (1946) (in which she introduced "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe"), Easter Parade (1948), A Star is Born (1954) (considered by many to be her best dramatic performance), and Judgment at Nuremburg (1961).
The Clock (1945) was her first straight dramatic film opposite Robert Walker. Though the film was critically praised and did earn a profit, most movie fans expected her to sing. Therefore, it would be many years before she acted again in a non-singing dramatic role. Nevertheless, The Clock has become increasingly popular among Garland fans and is considered to be a true War/romance classic.
She received an honorary Academy Award for her performance in The Wizard of Oz, and was nominated for Best Actress in A Star is Born, and Best Supporting Actress for Judgment at Nuremberg. Many fans hold that Judy was robbed of her Oscar, and should have won for Best Actress of 1954 instead of Grace Kelly.
Garland's relationship with MGM crumbled as the 1950s began. She was originally signed to appear as Annie Oakley in Annie Get Your Gun, but the film put much strain on her health. After completing two musical numbers, she was released from the film and replaced by Betty Hutton. When June Allyson became pregnant during the filming of Royal Wedding, Garland was her replacement - this was supposed to be a second pairing between Garland and Fred Astaire - but likewise ended up leaving the production to be replaced by Jane Powell.
Subsequently, her MGM contract was terminated in 1950 (depending upon the source, she either asked to be released from the contract, or she was fired due her unreliability on the set of Royal Wedding), Garland turned to television and live concert appearances. (Although, as noted above, she did make a notable cinema comeback in A Star is Born during this time).
Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, she made enormously successful appearances in both media. Her concert appearance at Carnegie Hall on April 23, 1961 was a considerable highlight, called by many the "greatest single night in show business." The live recording made of the concert was a best seller (certified gold), charting for 73 weeks on Billboard (13 weeks at number one), and won five Grammy Awards including Album of the Year and Best Female Vocal of the Year.
After hugely successful television specials and guest appearances in the early 1960s, CBS made a $24 million offer to Garland for a weekly television series of her own, The Judy Garland Show, which was deemed at the time in the press to be "the biggest talent deal in TV history." The television series was critically praised, but, for a variety of reasons, including the fact it was placed in the same time slot as Bonanza, lasted only one season, and went off the air in 1964, after 26 episodes. Despite this, the show won four Emmy nominations. The demise of the series was personally and financially devastating for Garland.
Always highly-charged and emotional, Garland had sought solace in alcohol and, to a greater degree, prescription sedatives and stimulant drugs. It is generally agreed that MGM first introduced the young, chubby Garland to appetite suppressants and sleeping pills in an effort to transform her into the sleek American standards of beauty of the period. It is also well documented that Judy adopted these habits as her own and procured medication for herself. For intermittent periods during her life, Garland attempted detoxification at a private hospital or sanitarium, but these "clean" periods were short-lived. Her addictions reached the point where they paralleled those of Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe, wherein their tolerances to medications was such that they worked in reverse; diet pills made them fat, sleeping pills made them wake up. Photographs taken near the end of Judy's life show a nearly skeletal shell of her former self, and it is possible that anorexia nervosa would play a part in Judy's demise (although no evidence has proven this). It is also a point of contention whether liver disease was a factor. Some reports stated the coroner said at the time of Garland's death that "there is no evidence of alcoholism," whereas others stated that "there is no question of alcoholism."
Garland is interred in the Ferncliff Cemetery, in Hartsdale, New York.
Of Garland's five marriages, the first four ended in divorce. Her children are Liza Minnelli (now a legendary singer and actress in her own right), Lorna Luft (also an acclaimed singer), and Joey Luft (a scenic photographer).
The shortcomings of Garland's childhood years became more apparent as she struggled to overcome various personal problems, including weight gain and serious drug addiction. She was found dead in her bathroom by her last husband, Mickey Deans, on June 22, 1969. The stated exact cause of death by coroner Gavin Thursdon was accidental overdose of barbiturates; pathologist Dr. R. Pocock found 4.9 mg of Seconal in Garland's blood. Garland had turned 47 two weeks prior to her death. She was residing in a rented flat with her husband in the Chelsea section of London at the time of her death.
Upon Garland's inevitable premature passing, The Wizard of Oz co-star Ray Bolger commented sadly: "She just plain wore out."
A gay icon, Garland always had a large base of fans in the gay community. Her funeral in Manhattan resulted in an outpouring of New York City fans, with more than 20,000 coming to view her body, including 12,000 gay men. Five days after her death, gay men fought back against police during a routine raid at the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in Greenwich Village, which set off the gay liberation movement. Today, Gay Pride commemorates the Stonewall riots and the original gay rights movement during the month of June. Although Garland's death is often noted as a cause of one of the key events of the modern gay rights movement, it is more likely a case of synchronicity. See also Friends of Dorothy.
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