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Judy Garland
Intro
- An American singer, actress, television hostess and vaudevillian.
- She began performing as a child and her singing and acting abilities gained her international stardom, spanning the rest of her life as a performer in both musical and dramatic roles, and through many live concerts and acclaimed albums
Intro
Early Life
- Born Frances Ethel Gumm on June 10, 1922, in Grand Rapids, Minnesota
- The daughter of vaudeville professionals, she started her stage career as a child.
- Garland was called "Baby Gumm" and sang "Jingle Bells" at her first public performance at the age of two and a half.
- With her two older sisters, Susie and Jimmie, Garland soon began performing as part of the Gumm Sisters.
- In 1926, the Gumm family moved to California where Garland and her sisters studied acting and dancing.
- They played numerous gigs that their mother, Ethel, had arranged for them as their manager and agent.
- In the late 1920s, the Gumm sisters also appeared in several short films
- The Land Of Let's Pretend (Bubbles, 1929)
The Garland Sisters
- The Gumm sisters transformed into the Garland sisters at the World's Fair in Chicago in 1934.
- Traveling with their mother, the sisters played at a theater with comedian George Jessel, who reportedly suggested they become the Garland sisters.
- Garland shed her nickname "Baby" in favor of a more mature and vibrant Judy.
- The following year, she would become a solo act, signing a movie contract with MGM at the age of 13.
- It was on a radio broadcast that November, however, that Garland debuted one of the songs most closely associated with her, "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart." *
- Shortly after the program aired, Garland suffered a great personal loss when her father, Frank, died of spinal meningitis.
Early Career
- Despite her personal anguish, Garland continued on her path to film stardom.
- One of her first feature film roles was in Pigskin Parade (1936). * (The Balboa)
- Playing a girl-next-door type, Garland went on to co-star in Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938), with friend Mickey Rooney. The two proved to be a popular pairing, and they co-starred in several more Andy Hardy films. ("It Never Rains But When It Pours")
- Not only was she working a lot, Garland was under pressure from the studio about her looks and her weight.
- She was given amphetamines to boost her energy and control her weight.
- Unfortunately, Garland would soon become reliant on this medication, along with needing other substances to help her sleep.
- Drug problems would plague her throughout her career.
Films
- In 1939, Garland scored one of her greatest on-screen successes with The Wizard of Oz, which showcased her singing talents as well as her acting abilities. *
- Garland received a special Academy Award for her portrayal of Dorothy, the girl from Kansas transported to Oz.
- She soon made several more musicals, including Strike Up the Band (1940), Babes of Broadway (1942), with Mickey Rooney, and For Me and My Gal (1943), with Gene Kelly.*
- Thousand's Cheer (1943) "The Joint is Really Jumpin' in Carnegie Hall"**
Personal Life
Personal Life
- Garland married for the first time at the age of 19.
- Her union with bandleader David Rose was decidedly short-lived, however.
- On the set of Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), another of Garland's signature films, she met director Vincent Minnelli.
- She officially divorced Rose in 1945 and soon wed Minnelli.
- The couple also welcomed a daughter, Liza, in 1946.
- Unfortunately, Garland's second marriage only lasted a little longer than her first. The Garland-Minnelli union was practically over by 1949 (they officially divorced in 1952).
- Around this time, Garland began to break down emotionally.
- Likely exhausted from years of constant work and from all the medications she used to keep herself going, she developed a reputation for being unreliable and unstable.
- In 1950, MGM dropped her from her contract because of her emotional and physical difficulties.
- Her career appeared to be spiraling downward.
- Meet Me in St. Louis**
Singing and Acting
- In 1951, Garland started to rebuild her career with help from producer Sid Luft.
- She starred in her own show on Broadway at the Palace Theater, which drew large crowds and ran for more than 20 weeks.
- More than simply showcasing her powerful and expressive voice, the revue also proved that Garland was a dedicated performer, helping to dispel the earlier negative stories about her.
- She earned a special Tony Award for her work on the show and her contributions to vaudeville in 1952.
- Garland married Sid Luft in 1952, which was a stormy relationship by some reports.
- They had two children together—daughter Lorna in 1952 and son Joey in 1955.
- Whatever personal difficulty Garland and Luft had, he had a positive impact on her career and was instrumental in putting together one of her greatest films.
- Starring opposite James Mason, Garland gave an outstanding performance as a woman who obtains stardom at the price of love in A Star Is Born (1954). *
- Her rendition of "The Man That Got Away" is considered one of her best performances on film, and she was nominated for an Academy Award.
TV Appearances
- In the 1960s, Judy Garland spent more time as a singer than an actress, but she still managed to earn another Academy Award nomination for Judgment at Nuremberg.
- That same year, Garland won Grammy Awards for Best Solo Vocal Performance and Album of the Year, for Judy at Carnegie Hall.
- Despite all of her success as a singer, these were the only Grammy wins of her career.
- Garland also tried her hand at series television.
- From 1963 to 1964, she starred in The Judy Garland Show.
- The program went through many changes in its short run, but its strongest moments featured Garland showcasing her singing ability.
- Her two daughters, Lorna Luft and Liza Minnelli, made appearances on the show, as did her old co-star, Rooney.
- For her work on the show, Garland earned an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Performance in a Variety or Musical Program in 1964.
- Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli - Together Wherever We Go (1963)**
TV Appearances
Final Years and Death
Final Years and Death
- Although her television series ended, Garland was still in demand as an entertainer, playing gigs around the world.
- Her personal life was as troubled as ever.
- After many separations, Garland divorced Luft in 1965 after a bitter battle over child custody.
- She quickly remarried—this time to actor Mark Herron. But that union lasted only a few months before dissolving. The pair officially divorced in 1967, the same year Garland made a critically acclaimed return to Broadway for At Home at the Palace.
- The next year, Garland went to London. She was in personal and financial trouble by this time. During performances at London's Talk of the Town nightclub, Garland was clearly not in good shape on stage.
- Garland wed former bandleader and club manager Mickey Deans in March 1969.
- However, just a few months later, on June 22, 1969 (age 47), she died in London of what was reported to be an accidental overdose.
- Andy Hardy Meets The Debutante (1940) – "I'm Nobody's Baby"
- "Ballin the Jack" (For Me and My Gal) (1942) with Gene Kelly
Legacy
- The legacy of Garland has been carried on by her daughters Liza Minnelli and Lorna Luft, both of whom are singers and have had varying degrees of success.
- Lorna wrote about her life with Garland in her 1998 autobiography, Me and My Shadows: A Family Memoir.
- It became the basis for the 2001 television mini-series Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows.
- Nearly 50 years after her death, Garland continues to maintain a devoted following.
- "I've Got Rhythm," Girl Crazy 1943
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