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Judy Garland (June 10, 1922 - June 22, 1969) was a American film actress who is considered one of the greatest singing stars of Hollywood's Golden Era of musical film.
Child star
Born Frances Ethel Gumm in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, she was born into a family of vaudeville players. One year, her parents and her two older sisters were performing in a Christmas show. Young Frances got on the stage and stole the show with a rendition of Jingle Bells; she was two and a half years old. The family soon moved to Lancaster, California and the Gumm Sisters began work on stage and in movies. Frances was soon known as Baby Gumm.
In 1934, the Gumm Sisters were performing in Chicago with George Jessel. Jessel encouraged the group to choose a less humorous name. They settled on the Three Garlands, and young Frances chose the name Judy.
Garland was signed at the age of 13 by Louis B. Mayer to a contract with MGM without a screen test. At the age of 16, she got the role of Dorothy in the film of The Wizard of Oz (1939), and was forever afterwards associated with the song, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". After Oz, Garland became one of MGM's most important stars, proving particularly popular when teamed with Mickey Rooney in a string of "let's put on a show!" musicals.
Movie star
Throughout the 1940s her films increased in popularity, the most critically and financially successful being Meet Me in St. Louis, in which she introduced three classics 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), and Judgment at Nuremberg (1961). 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.
Renewed stardom in television
When her MGM contract was terminated in 1950, Garland turned to television and live concert appearances. Throughout the 1950s and most notably in the early 1960s she made enormously successful appearances in both mediums. Her appearance at Carnegie Hall on April 23, 1961, was a considerable highlight, called by many the "greatest single night in show business," and the live recording made of the event was a best seller and won Grammy Awards as the Album of the Year and Best Female Vocal of the Year. She had a critically praised if short-lived television series in 1963-64.
Untimely death
The shortcomings of her childhood years became more apparent as Garland struggled to overcome various personal problems, including weight gain, heavy drinking, and drug addiction. Her children were Liza Minnelli, Lorna Luft, and Joey Luft. Of Garland's five marriages, the first four marriages all ended in divorce. She died in 1969 at the age of 47 in London from an accidental overdose of barbituates. Garland was interred in the Ferncliff Cemetery, Hartsdale, New York.
Legacy in gay rights
A gay icon, Garland always had a large fan base 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 hundreds of gay men. Five days after her death, mourning gay fans fought back against police during a routine police raid at the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in Greenwich Village, which set off several days of "gay liberation" riots. Garland's death is often noted as a cause of one of the key events of the modern gay rights movement.
Marriages
- David Rose (1910-1990; married 1941-1945)
- Vincente Minnelli (1903-1986, married 1945-1951)
- Sidney Luft (1951-1964)
- Mark Herron (1928-1996, married 1964-1967) (might not have been a legal marriage, as it is unsure whether the divorce from Luft was yet effective and the marriage was under dubious circumstances)
- Mickey Deans (née Michael DeVinko, 1934-2003) (married 1967-1969)
Filmography
- The Graduate 1967
- Our Mother's House MGM, 1967
- Valley of the Dolls Red Lion/Fox, 1967
- Harlow Electronovision, 1965
- The Unsinkable Molly Brown MGM, 1964
- I Could Go On Singing UA/Barbican, 1963
- A Child Is Waiting UA, 1963
- Irma la Douce 1963
- It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World 1963
- Gay Purr-ee Warner Bros/UPA, 1963
- Judgment at Nuremberg UA, 1961
- Pepe Columbia, 1960 (voice only)
- South Pacific Fox, 1958
- The Three Faces of Eve 1957
- The Helen Morgan Story Warner Bros, 1957
- Carousel 20th Century Fox, 1956
- A Star Is Born Warner Bros, 1954
- Royal Wedding MGM, 1951
- Show Boat MGM, 1951
- Summer Stock MGM, 1950
- Annie Get Your Gun MGM, 1950
- In the Good Old Summertime MGM, 1949
- The Barkleys of Broadway MGM, 1949
- Words and Music MGM, 1948
- Easter Parade MGM, 1948
- The Pirate MGM, 1948
- Till the Clouds Roll By MGM, 1946
- Ziegfeld Follies of 1946 MGM, 1946
- The Harvey Girls MGM, 1946
- The Clock MGM, 1945
- Meet Me in St. Louis MGM, 1944
- Thousands Cheer MGM, 1943
- Girl Crazy MGM, 1943
- Presenting Lily Mars MGM, 1943
- For Me and My Gal MGM, 1942
- Hold Back the Dawn Paramount, 1941
- We Must Have Music MGM short subject, 1941
- Babes on Broadway MGM, 1941
- Life Begins for Andy Hardy MGM, 1941
- Ziegfeld Girl MGM, 1941
- Little Nellie Kelly MGM, 1940
- Strike Up the Band MGM, 1940
- Andy Hardy Meets Debutante MGM, 1940
- If I Forget YouMGM short subject, 1940
- Babes in ArmsMGM, 1939
- The Wizard of OzMGM, 1939
- Listen, DarlingMGM, 1938
- Love Finds Andy HardyMGM, 1938
- Everybody SingMGM, 1938
- Silent Night MGM Christmas Trailer, 1937
- Thoroughbreds Don't Cry MGM, 1937
- Broadway Melody of 1938 MGM, 1937
- Pigskin Parade Fox, 1936
- Every Sunday MGM short subject, 1936
- La Fiesta de Santa Barbara MGM short subject, 1935
- By the Beautiful Sea Paramount short subject, 1931
- Bubbles Vitaphone short subject, 1929
- The Wedding of Jack and Jill Vitaphone short subject, 1929
- A Holiday in Storyland Vitaphone short subject, 1929
- The Big Revue Meglin short subject, 1929
Proposed films
Biographies of: Gertrude Lawrence, Fannie Brice, Edith Piaf, Aimee Semple McPherson
A Richard Rogers musical with a story by Abby Mann