She was considered an icon in the gay community in the 1950s and 1960s. Her death and the loss of that emotional icon in 1969 has been thought to be a contributing factor to the feeling of the passing of an era that helped spark the Stonewall Riots that began the militant gay rights movement.
Sister of Mary Jane Gumm and Virginia Gumm.
Mother of Liza Minnelli and Lorna Luft.
She married Mark Herron on June 12th 1964, although her divorce from Sid Luft was not settled. They were married in the Mandarin by a Buddhist priest, and the validity of this marriage is not clear.
Her record "Judy Garland at Carnegie Hall" from 1961 garnered 5 Grammy Awards and remained at the top of Billboards charts for two months.
Footage exists of Garland performing the lead role in Annie Get Your Gun (1950) before she was fired, and this footage has been used in numerous documentaries.
Originally screen-tested and signed to play in Valley of the Dolls (1967); ultimately replaced by Susan Hayward.
Her funeral was held 27 June 1969 in Manhattan at the Frank E. Campgell funeral home at Madison Avenue and Eighty-first Street. Twenty-two thousand people filed past Judy's open coffin over a twenty-four hour period. Judy's ex-husband, 'Vincent Minnelli' did not attend the funeral. James Mason delivered the eulogy. Her body had been stored in a temporary crypt for over one year. The reason for this is that no one had come forward to pay the expense of moving her to a permanent resting spot at Ferncliff Cemetary in Ardsley, New York. Liza Minnelli has the impression that Judy's last husband, Mickey Deans has made the necessary arrangments but Deans claimed to have no money. Liza then took on the task of raising the funds to have her properly buried. Death was caused by an "incautious self-overdosage of Seconal" which had raised the barbiturate level in her body beyond its tolerance.
Interred at Ferncliff Cemetery, Hartsdale, New York, USA.
Judy heard the same phrase in two movies: For Me and My Gal (1942) and Easter Parade (1948). In both, her love interest (played by Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire, respectively) says this: "Why didn't you tell me I was in love with you?"
The day she died, there was a tornado in Kansas.
Liza Minnelli said that Judy planned on calling her autobiography "Ho-Hum".
Her portrayal of Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz (1939) was the inspiration for the character of Mary Ann on "Gilligan's Island" (1964). (From Kansas, pigtails, lived on a farm with an aunt and uncle...)
Mother of Joey Luft.
Mother-in-law of Jack Haley Jr.
Liza Minnelli originally wanted Mickey Rooney to deliver Garland's eulogy, but she was afraid that he wouldn't be able to get through it. So James Mason did it instead.
According to singer Mel Tormé, she had a powerful gift of retention. She could view a piece of music once and have the entire thing memorized.
Pictured on one of four 25¢ US commemorative postage stamps issued 23 March 1990 honoring classic films released in 1939. The stamp shows Judy Garland as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz (1939), along with Toto. The other films honored were Beau Geste (1939), Stagecoach (1939), and Gone with the Wind (1939).
In 1997, Judy Garland was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
Garland's album, "Judy at Carnegie Hall" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998.
First cousin three times removed of President 'Ulysses S. Grant' .
A Los Angeles federal judge barred Sidney Luft from selling the replacement Juvenile Oscar she received for The Wizard of Oz (1939). Luft was also ordered to pay nearly $60,000 to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to end their second lawsuit against him for repeatedly trying to sell the statuette. (September 2002)
Favorite actor was Robert Donat (best known for his portrayal of the title character in the film Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)).
Her soulful and iconic performance of "Over The Rainbow" from The Wizard of Oz (1939) claimed the #1 spot on June 22, 2004 in The American Film Institute's list of "The 100 Years of The Greatest Songs". The AFI board said "Over The Rainbow" have captured the nation's heart, echoed beyond the walls of a movie theater, and ultimately stand in our collective memory of the film itself. It has resonated across the century, enriching America's film heritage and captivating artists and audiences today.
She discouraged her children from entering show business pointing out her financial and health problems resulting from the nature of the entertainment business. Nevertheless, two of her children, Liza Minnelli and Lorna Luft both became entertainers. Her son, Joe lives in relative anonomity as a freelance photographer.
She experienced financial difficulties in the 1960s due to her overspending, periods of unemployment, owing of back taxes and embezzlement of funds by her business manager. The IRS garnished most of her concert revenues in the late 1960s. Her financial difficulties combined with her erratic behavior due to her drug dependencies helped break up her marriages and estrange her children from her a year before her death.
Was a member of The International Order of Job's Daughters.
She was voted the 23rd Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly.
Groucho Marx called her not winning an Oscar for A Star Is Born (1954), "the biggest robbery since Brink's." Hedda Hopper later reported that her loss to Grace Kelly for The Country Girl (1954) was the result of the closest Oscar vote up till that time that didn't end in a tie, with just six votes separating the two. In any event, it was a heartbreak from which she never really recovered and which has remained a matter of some controversy ever since.
Wore fake teeth for The Wizard of Oz (1939).
Is the former mother-in-law of Jack Haley Jr., who is the son of The Wizard of Oz (1939) co-star Jack Haley.
Has a special variety of rose named after her. The petals are yellow (Garland adored yellow roses) and the tips are bright red. It took devoted fans almost nine years after her death to find a rose company in Britain interested in naming a rose officially for her, and the Judy Garland rose didn't appear in the US until 1991. Several JG rose bushes are planted outside of her burial crypt, and at the Judy Garland museum in Grand Rapids.
She was three-quarters Scottish and one-quarter Irish in ancestry.
In 1952, received a Special Tony Award "for an important contribution to the revival of vaudeville through her recent stint at the Palace Theatre."
When she married Vincente Minnelli, Louis B. Mayer gave her away.
Her weight fluctuated much throughout her life. Sometimes she would be 80 pounds and then could gain 30 pounds in a a matter of days, only to lose it all again. An example of this weight fluctuation can be seen in Summer Stock (1950).
She was voted the 22nd Greatest Movie Star of all time by Premiere Magazine.
Was named #8 Actress on The AFI 50 Greatest Screen Legends
Pictured on one of four 25¢ USA commemorative postage stamps issued 23 March 1990 honoring classic films released in 1939. The stamp shows Judy Garland as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz (1939), along with Toto (portrayed by Terry). The other films honored were Beau Geste (1939), Stagecoach (1939), and Gone with the Wind (1939).
Judy Garland Detailed Biography
There are so many clichés about Judy Garland. To most she was the tragic figure tortured by what always seemed to be on the other side of the rainbow. Was she really though? How could someone who has brought joy to so many and who never considered herself as a tragic person—embody the epitome of the staged tragic figure?
Judy was born Frances Ethel Gumm on June 10, 1922. “Baby” Gumm was the daughter of Frank and Ethel Gumm who owned a theatre in her birthplace of Grand Rapids, Minnesota. At the age of two and a half, “Baby” got her first taste of an audience and soon became the third member of an act with her sisters, Susie and Virginia. Ethel pushed the girls into show business, hoping that they would achieve the success she did not. As Judy grew older, it was clear that she was going to make it. Her love affair with music was something genuine and sincere that her audiences found contagious.
The Gumm family moved to Lancaster, California in 1926. Judy adored her Father and often resented her mother's push and shove mentality. Grand Rapids was the closest thing Judy believed she had to a normal childhood. When the Gumms’ moved to California, Ethel pushed even harder to get the girls into show business. This worsened when Frank Gumm died, which was the day after Judy sang " Zing! Went The Strings Of My Heart" on her second appearance with Wallace Beery on the Shell Chateau Hour. This was a song Judy also used for her audition with MGM. Garland was signed a contract with MGM on October 1, 1935 with a starting salary of $100.00 per week. Frank could only imagine, but would never know how successful his "Baby" would become.
Garland made many musicals for MGM and almost every film brought in money. Films that lost money were those that had expensive shooting schedules due to accidents on the set, temperament (though Judy's temperament was not as bad as legend seems to have left the public), and plots that may have been a little too modern for audiences at the time such as The Pirate. Another film that was under financially after its release was The Wizard of Oz, Judy's first starring role in a film and the one that truly made her a legend and popular culture icon.
Judy's filmography is outstanding; she had two academy award nominations, one for A Star Is Born and another for Judgment at Nuremberg. Judy brought with her a human touch to her roles. You know Judy wants to get back to Kansas to see Auntie Em and Uncle Henry, because of her body language, you can see it all over her. Meet Me In St. Louis is a film in which you feel like you know Judy personally, her family is your family. You find yourself wanting more after the film has ended.
Not often is there a celebrity who has such a broad grasp to make people feel like they knew her and recognize the qualities she has that you possess yourself. Garland makes you feel connected to life. That's Judy! Garland could put you in tears and make you laugh in the same breath, like from the death scene in Little Nellie Kelly to her laughter in Girl Crazy from under an old jalopy.
Judy was just ridden with natural talent, though her acting was quite overlooked amidst her unique vocal qualities. The only person who had anything over Judy in song plugging was Alice Faye, but this was made up for in Garland's staying power. Unfortunately, Alice is far less remembered than Garland. Nearly anyone can identify with something in Judy's life and can understand her successes, dreams, failures, and doubts. Judy portrayed innocence on screen as Dorothy touching everyone's hearts from childhood and is the most recognizable characters in film history. Lines like "There's no place like home" are quoted constantly. Those that are lost can identify with Judy's real struggle to find herself.
Judy went beyond the silver screen, from vaudeville as "The Gumm Sisters," radio, television, and stage. In every field, Ms. Garland was a success. Garland hit everything but Broadway and even on Broadway she reopened the famed Palace Theatre in New York City. Every vaudevillian's goal was to play the Palace -- "I've played the State, the Capitol, but people say don't stop unless you've played the Palace, you haven't played the top!" Another great success was her performance at Carneagie Hall, those that were there have said that the night was magical and that it was a night they would never forget. Judy also had a successful variety show on television, The Judy Garland Show. The lack of apathy CBS possessed and Bonanza killed Garland's show and Judy continued on her concert career.
A life filled with laughter, joy, and tears—which experienced more realms of human emotion than most of us can imagine. Garland not only brought us a complete range of human emotions on reel to reel of her films and public appearances, but also lived them. Judy lived. Many of her critics couldn’t say the same. Judy Garland has had a substantial impact on people all over the world even decades after her death. Garland’s life will never be equaled because of the way she lived—therefore she stands alone in greatness. That's right kind readers, Judy Garland is the one and only.
