Judy Garland

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Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922 – June 22, 1969) was an American actress, singer, and dancer.

She achieved international recognition as an actress, as an actor, and on the concert stage during a career spanning 45 years.

She has been lauded for her versatility, received a Juvenile Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Special Tony Award.

Garland received the Grammy Award for Album of the Year for her 1961 double LP live recording Judy at Carnegie Hall, the first woman to win in this category. Garland debuted in vaindeville as a child with her two older siblings, and was later sold to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as a youth.

She appeared in more than two dozen films for MGM and is best known for her portrayal of Dorothy Gale in 1939's Wizard of Oz.

Garland was a regular on-screen companion of both Mickey Rooney and Gene Kelly, and she often collaborated with director and second husband Vincente Minnelli.

Early life

Frances Ethel Gumm was born in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, on June 10, 1922. She was the youngest child of Ethel Marion (née Milne, 1893-1953), and Francis Avent "Frank" Gumm (1886-1935). Her parents, who were vainists who moved to Grand Rapids to run a vaudeville show, were vain. She was of Irish, English, Scottish, and French Huguenot descent, named after both of her parents and baptized at a local Episcopal church.

The family's "Baby" (as she was named by her parents and siblings) shared her family's passion for song and dance. She appeared on "Jingle Bells" for the first time at the age of two when she joined Mary Jane "Suzy/Suzanne" Gumm and Dorothy Virginia "Jimmie" Gumm on the stage of her father's movie theater during a Christmas show and performed a chorus of "Jingle Bells" with her father. The Gumm Sisters appeared on piano for the next few years, often accompanying their mother.

Following rumors that her father had homosexual tendencies, the family was relocated to Lancaster, California, in June 1926. Frank bought and operated another theater in Lancaster, and Ethel began overseeing her children and filming to get them into motion pictures.

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Early career

The Gumm Sisters began enrolling in Ethel Meglin's dance troupe's proprietress in 1928. At the troupe's annual Christmas display, they appeared with the troupe. They made their film debut in a short time titled "That's the Good Old Sunny South" (1929), where they appeared on a song-and-dance number. The Wedding of Jack and Jill was followed by appearances in two Vitaphone shorts the following year: A holiday in Storyland (featuring Garland's first on-screen solo) and The Wedding of Jack and Jill. They all appeared in Bubbles for the first time. Their last on-screen appearance was in La Fiesta de Santa Barbara (1935), MGM Technicolor short.

By the time they appeared in Chicago with George Jessel in 1934, the three appeared on the vaindeville circuit as "The Gumm Sisters." After the audience erupted with laughter at "Gumm," he encouraged the group to choose a more appealing name. Their performance was once incorrectly billed at a Chicago theater as "The Glum Sisters," according to a Chicago theater legend.

Several reports regarding the source of Garland's use remain. One of the reasons is that Jessel invented it after Carole Lombard's character Lily Garland in the film Twentieth Century (1934), which was then playing at the Oriental in Chicago; another is that the girls selected the surname after drama critic Robert Garland. Lorna Luft of Garland claimed that her mother selected the name when Jessel announced that the trio "looked prettier than a garland of flowers." On September 29, 1954, a television special was shot in Hollywood at the Pantages Theatre premiere of A Star Is Born, in which Jessel said: "Jessel stated:

Jessel appeared on Garland's television show in 1963 as a guest. He said he had sent actress Judith Anderson a telegram containing the word "garland" and it stuck in his mind. However, Garland asked Jessel if this news was true, and he blithely replied "No".

The Gumm Sisters had renamed themselves to the Garland Sisters by late 1934. Soon after, Frances converted her name to "Judy," influenced by a famous Hoagy Carmichael song. Suzanne Garland left Reno, Nevada, and married musician Lee Kahn, a member of the Jimmy Davis orchestra playing at Lake Tahoe, broke up by August 1935.

Louis B. Mayer ordered songwriter Burton Lane to attend the Garland Sisters' performance in downtown Los Angeles in September 1935 and to alert him. Judy and her father were escorted to an impromptu audition at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios in Culver City just a few days later.

Garland performed "Zing!

"Went the Strings of My Heart" and "Eli, Eli," a Yiddish song written in 1896 and frequently performed in vaindeville, were on display in vaudeville. Garland was immediately signed to a MGM deal, presumably without a screen test, though she had conducted a test several months before. The studio had no idea what to do with her; at thirteen years old, she was older than the average child actor but too young for adult roles.

MGM's physical appearance was a mystery. She was only 4 ft 1121 cm (151 cm) and her "cute" or "girl-next-door" appearances did not exemplify the most glamorous of female performers. She was both worried about her appearance and was very worried about her appearance. Garland went to school at Metro with Ava Gardner, Lana Turner, Elizabeth Taylor, "tru beauties," according to Charles Walters, who directed her in a number of films. "Judy was the biggest money-maker at the time, a huge success, but she was the ugly duckling..." It seems that she had a long-term affect on her emotional stability. "I think it lasted a long time." Her insecurity was exacerbated by the studio's attitude, who referred to her as his "little hunchback."

She was photographed and dressed in plain clothing, frilly juvenile gowns, and costumes to match her "girl-next-door" photograph. To reshape her nose, she was required to wear removable caps on her teeth and rubberized discs. Dorothy "Dottie" Ponedel, a makeup artist for MGM, met Garland on the set of Meet Me in St. Louis when she was 21 years old. Garland was shocked when Ponedel said that the caps and discs that Garland had been using were not needed because she was "a pretty girl" after analyzing the changes to her appearance. Ponedel became Garland's makeup artist. The work that Ponedel did on Garland for Meet Me in St. Louis made Garland so proud that Ponedel became Garland's advisor every time she worked on a film for MGM.

On November 16, 1935, 13-year-old Garland was in the middle of a radio performance on the Shell Chateaux Hour when she learned that her father had been hospitalized with meningitis and had gone back to the hospital. Frank Gumm died at the age of 49 in the morning, leaving her devastated.

Shell Chateau Hour's song was her first professional interpretation of "Zing!" In many of her performances, Went the Strings of My Heart, a song that has become a staple. Garland appeared in various studio performances and was eventually cast opposite Deanna Durbin in the musical-short Every Sunday (1936). The film compared her vocal range and swing style with Durbin's operatic soprano and served as an extended screen test for them, as studio executives were questioning the wisdom of having two female singers on the roster.

When Garland sang a special version of "You Made Me Love You (I Didn't Want to Do It)" to Clark Gable at a birthday party that the studio arranged for the actor, she attracted the attention of studio executives. When she sang to a photograph of him, she was so popular that she performed the song in the all-star extravaganza Broadway Melody of 1938 (1937).

When MGM paired Garland with Mickey Rooney in a series of "backyard musicals," it was a winner. In the B movie Thoroughbreds Don't Cry (1937), the two characters appeared together as supporting characters. In Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938), Garland was then cast as a real girl-next-door to Rooney's character Andy Hardy, although Hardy's love interest was played by Lana Turner. For the first time in Babes in Arms (1939), they appeared in five more films, including Hardy Meets Debutante (1940) and Life Begins (1941).

Garland said she, Rooney, and other young actors were consistently told amphetamines to stay awake and keep up with the frantic pace of making one film after another. They were also given barbiturates to take before going to bed to sleep. She said that this regular use of drugs resulted in heroin use and a life-long battle. She later resented the craziness and discovered that MGM stole her youth. Rooney, on the other hand, denied that their studio was to blame for her drug use: "Judy Garland was never given any drugs by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer." Judy was not punished by Mr. Mayer, who didn't do anything for her. Judy Garland's death was not caused by any one on the lot. Judy regretfully chose that path."

Garland's weight was within a healthy range, but the studio demanded that she maintain her diet. When she ordered a regular meal, they went so far as to offer her only a bowl of soup and a plate of lettuce. Throughout her life, she suffered with self-doubt; despite her success in film and recording, awards, laud, and her ability to fill concert halls around the world, she needed constant reminder that she was both gifted and attractive.

Garland appeared in The Wizard of Oz (1939), a film based on L. Frank Baum's 1900 children's novel, when she was sixteen years old. She sang the song "Over the Rainbow" in the film, which she would not be able to recall afterward. Despite the fact that producers Arthur Freed and Mervyn LeRoy had intended to have her in the role from the start, studio chief Mayer first tried to borrow Shirley Temple from 20th Century Fox, but they declined. Deanna Durbin had been asked but was later found to be unavailable, resulting in Garland being cast.

Garland was first dressed in a blonde wig for the role, but Freed and LeRoy decided against it shortly after filming began. Her blue gingham dress was chosen for its blurring effect on her figure, which made her appear younger. On October 13, 1938, shooting began on October 13, 1938, and it was completed on March 16, 1939, at a total cost of more than $2 million (equivalent to $39 million in 2021). MGM kept Garland busy with promotional tours and the shooting of Babes in Arms (also 1939), directed by Busby Berkeley. Rooney and her co-star were sent on a cross-country promotional tour, culminating in the opening of the Capitol Theater in August 17th, which included a five-show-a-day appearance schedule for the two actors.

Garland's reports of a diet based on cigarettes, chicken soup, and coffee are inaccurate; historians Jay Scarfone and William Stillman's book The Road to Oz: The Origins, Production, and Legacy of a Motion Picture Masterpiece At that time, Garland was an anti-smoker and she was allowed solid food. However, her diet was supplemented by swimming and hiking outings, numerous games of tennis, and badminton with her stunt double Bobbie Koshay, in an effort to minimize her curves.

The Wizard of Oz was a huge critical success, but its high budget and promotion prices, which was reduced in 2020, meant that the film did not get a return until it was revived in the 1940s and again. Garland received her first Academy Award, an Academy Juvenile Award for her 1939 appearances, including The Wizard of Oz and Babes in Arms, at the 1939 Academy Awards dinner. She was the fourth individual to receive the award as well as only one of the 12 in history to be given one. Garland was one of the most bankable actresses in the United States after the film.

Later career

Garland appeared on Kraft Music Hall, hosted by her companion Bing Crosby. Crosby, who knew she was anxious and running out of funds, welcomed her on to his radio show on October 11, 1950, the first of the new season, following Garland's second suicide attempt.

Garland made eight appearances during the 1951–51 season of The Bing Crosby – Chesterfield Show, which subsequently revived her career. She toured for four months in Europe and soon after, selling out crowds.

Garland began a four-month concert tour of Britain and Ireland in 1951, where she performed to sold-out audiences throughout England, Scotland, and Ireland. The successful concert tour was the first of her many comebacks, with performances focusing on Al Jolson's songs and the revival of vain "tradition" in Quebec. In her appearances at the London Palladium in April and at the Palace Theater in New York later this year, Garland performed complete shows as tributes to Jolson.

"I immediately knew that this was the start of a new life," Garland said after the Palladium show "I immediately knew that this was going to be the start of a new life"; later came the glorious opportunity to perform at the London Palladium, where I can confidently say Judy Garland was reborn." Her appearances at the Palladium lasted for four weeks, with rave reviews and a ovation lauded by the Palladium's chairman as the most he's ever heard.

Garland's appearance at the Palace Theatre in Manhattan in October 1951 surpassed all previous performances for the theater and for Garland, and was described as "one of the finest personal triumphs in show business history." Garland was given a Special Tony Award for her contribution to vaudeville's revival.

In the same year, Garland divorced Minnelli. Sidney Luft, her tour manager and producer, married in Hollister, California, on June 8, 1952. Lorna Luft, who was born on November 21, 1952, became a writer and singer. She gave birth to son Joey Luft on March 29, 1955.

In the Warner Bros. film A Star Is Born (1954), the first restoration of the 1937 film, Garland appeared with James Mason. Warner Bros. provided finance, production equipment, and crew. Sidney Luft, her then-husband, produced the film through their production company, Transcona Enterprises, while Warner Bros. supplied the footage, production equipment, and crew. It was a huge undertaking to which she first completely dedicated herself, and it was led by George Cukor.

However, as the shooting progressed, she began making the same excuses of illness that she had so often during her last films at MGM. Production delays resulted in cost overruns and tense discussions with Warner Bros. head Jack L. Warner. On March 17, 1954, principal photography was published. The "Born in a Trunk" medley was filmed as a showcase for her and included over director Cukor's concerns, who feared that the extra time would result in layoffs in other departments, according to Luft's comment. On July 29, it was completed.

The film's world premiere on September 29, 1954, it was met with critical and widespread acclaim. It was edited at Jack Warner's instructions before being released; theater owners were worried that they were losing money because the film was only available for three or four shows per day rather than five or six, demanding that the studio make further cuts. About 30 minutes of footage were deleted from the company's first-run appearances, igniting outrage among critics and filmgoers. Although A Star is Born was still popular, attracting huge audiences and earning over $6 million in its first year, it didn't make it back, and ended up losing money. As a result, Garland's solid financial position as a result of the profits did not materialize. No more films with Warner were made by Transcona.

In the run-up to the 27th Academy Awards, Garland was nominated for Best Actress, and it was expected to win for A Star Is Born. She couldn't attend the service because she had just given birth to son Joseph Luft, so a television crew was in her hospital room with cameras and wires to broadcast her eager acceptance address. The Oscar was won by Grace Kelly for The Country Girl (1954). Before Kelly could even reach the stage, the camera crew was packing up. After the awards ceremony, Groucho Marx gave Garland a telegram announcing her death as "the biggest robbery since Brinks." "Just about the best one-woman show in modern cinema history," Time rated her performance as "about the best one-woman show in modern cinema history." For the part, Garland received the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Musical.

After A Star Is Born (1961), Garland's films include Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) (for which she was Oscar- and Golden Globe-nominated for Best Supporting Actress), A Child Is Waiting (1963) with Burt Lancaster (1963). I Could Go On Singing (1963), co-starring Dirk Bogarde, was her last film.

Starting in 1955, Garland appeared in a number of television specials. This was Ford Star Jubilee's first full-scale color show on CBS, earning a 34.8 Nielsen rating. She has been with the network for three years, $300,000.00 per person. In 1956, a live concert-edition of GM's General Electric Theater, only one additional special was shown before the Lufts and CBS lost contact in a fight over the new specials' planned layout.

Garland worked at the New Frontier Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip for four weeks, making her the highest-paid entertainer to work in Las Vegas. Despite a brief bout of lyngitis, where Jerry Lewis was on a one-day role as she watched from a wheelchair, her appearances were so good that her run was extended an extra week. She returned to the Palace Theatre, the scene of her two-day triumph earlier this year. She opened in September and received rave reviews and high praise.

Since being diagnosed with acute hepatitis in November 1959, Garland was hospitalized. Several quarts of fluid were withdrawn from her body over the next few weeks until she was released from the hospital in January 1960, when she was still in a fragile state. Doctors told her that she probably lived for five years or less, and that if she did, she would be a semi-invalid and would never sing again. She was initially "greatly relieved" by the illness. "For the first time in my life, the heat was off me." However, she recovered over the next several months and in August of this year, she returned to the Palladium stage. She felt so warmly welcomed by the United Kingdom that she declared her intention to return to England permanently.

Garland wrote her autobiography at the start of 1960 and then decided to write her autobiography for Random House. The book was supposed to be called The Judy Garland Story and was to be a collaboration with Fred F. Finklehoffe. Garland was paid in advance of $35,000, and she and Finklehoffe recorded their experiences in order to write a book. Garland worked on her autobiography on and off throughout the 1960s but never finished it. In the 2014 biography, Judy Garland on Judy Garland: Interviews and Encounters by Randy L. Schmidt, portions of her unfinished autobiography were included.

Her concert appearance at Carnegie Hall on April 23, 1961 was a major highlight, many of whom called "the best night in show business history." Judy at Carnegie Hall was rated gold by Billboard for 95 weeks, including 13 weeks at number one, and she appeared in Billboard's Top 100 for 93 weeks. It received four Grammy Awards, including Best Female Vocal of the Year and Album of the Year.

Garland and CBS settled their employment disputes with the support of her new agent, Freddie Fields, and negotiated a new round of specials in 1961. Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, the first, titled The Judy Garland Show, aired on February 25, 1962, and featured guests Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. Following this success, CBS made a $24 million bid (equivalent to $160.4 million in 2020) to her for a weekly television series of her own, as well as The Judy Garland Show, which was dubbed "the biggest talent deal in television history" at the time. Although she had stated as early as 1955 that she would never do a weekly television show, in the early 1960s, she was still in a financial precarious situation. She owed several hundred thousand dollars to the Internal Revenue Service after failing to pay taxes in 1951 and 1952, and the cancellation of A Star is Born meant she got nothing from the investment.

Judy Garland and Her Guests, Phil Silvers and Robert Goulet, Garland's weekly broadcast premiered on September 29, 1963, following a third special. The Judy Garland Show had been lauded nationally, but the show was cancelled in 1964 after 26 episodes, owing to a number of factors (including being placed in the time slot opposite Bonanza on NBC). Despite its brief life, the series was nominated for four Emmy Awards, including Best Variety Series.

Garland had a six-month relationship with actor Glenn Ford during this period. Gerald Clarke, Ford's son Peter, singer Mel Tormé, and her partner Sid Luft wrote about the affair in their respective biographies. When Garland was doing her television show, the friendship began in 1963. Although Garland sang, Ford would attend tapings of the show from the front row. Ford is credited with giving Garland one of her later life's most stable relationships. When Ford (a notorious womanizer, according to Peter Ford), Garland decided to marry him, the whole affair was ended.

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