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Judy garland Biography

Alt Text Judy Garland, born Frances Ethel Gumm, began performing on stage at the tender age of two. She had a hugely successful career in film and music that spanned over four decades and churned out hit records, films, and spectacular live concerts.

As one of the original child stars of Hollywood, she endured the rigorous demands of show business and a studio system that sought to manipulate and control her life to become a leading lady of musical films in the 1940s.

Judy hit many low notes in her career with an addiction to prescription pills, a nervous breakdown, a bout with hepatitis, and four divorces, but was heralded for staging comebacks and finding renewed fame with vaudeville acts in the early 1950s, giving an Oscar-nominating performance in 1954's "A Star is Born" and reemerging as a television star in the early 1960s.

Nicknamed 'Miss Show Business', Judy became not only an icon of Hollywood but also an icon of triumph and tragedy in the gay community.

Judy Garland passed away from an accidental overdose of painkillers in 1969 and is remembered as one of the greatest entertainers of all time.

Read Full Biography of Judy Garland»

INTERESTING FACTS

  • Judy Garland was born with the name Frances Gumm and although she began using the Garland stage name in her early teens, she didn't legally change her name until 1967.
  • Judy was nicknamed ‘Baby' by her family, ‘Jootes' by Mickey Rooney, ‘Miss Show Business' by the entertainment industry and press, and ‘The World's Greatest Entertainer' by legions of fans.
  • Judy Garland and fellow child star Mickey Rooney co-starred in an impressive 10 films together.
  • Shirley Temple was considered for the role of Dorothy in "The Wizard of Oz" before Judy Garland was cast in the part.
  • Judy was extremely petite, standing at a height of 4 feet and 11 inches.
  • Judy Garland's daughter Liza Minnelli made an uncredited cameo appearance at just 2 years old in Judy's 1949 film "In The Good Old Summertime".
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AWARDS & HONORS

  • Academy Juvenile Award (1939)
  • Special Tony Award (1952)
  • Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Actress in "A Star is Born" (1954)
  • Cecil B. DeMille Award (1962)
  • Grammy Award for Album of the Year – "Judy at Carnegie Hall" (1962)
  • Grammy Award for Best Vocal Performance, Female – "Judy at Carnegie Hall" (1962)
  • Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (1997)
  • Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
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FILMOGRAPHY

  • The Big Revue (1929)
  • A Holiday in Storyland (1930)
  • Bubbles (1930)
  • The Wedding of Jack and Jill (1930)
  • La Fiesta de Santa Barbara (1935)
  • Every Sunday (1936)
  • Pigskin Parade (1936)
  • Broadway Melody of 1938 (1937)
  • Thoroughbreds Don't Cry (1937)
  • Everybody Sing (1938)
  • Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938)
  • Listen Darling (1938)
  • The Wizard of Oz (1939)
  • Babes in Arms (1939)
  • Andy Hardy Meets Debutante (1940)
  • Strike Up the Band (1940)
  • Little Nellie Kelly (1940)
  • Ziegfeld Girl (1941)
  • Life Begins for Andy Hardy (1941)
  • Babes on Broadway (1941)
  • We Must Have Music (1942)
  • For Me and My Gal (1942)
  • Thousands Cheer (1943)
  • Presenting Lily Mars (1943)
  • Girl Crazy (1943)
  • Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
  • The Clock (1945)
  • The Harvey Girls (1946)
  • Ziegfeld Follies (1946)
  • Till the Clouds Roll By (1946)
  • Words and Music (1948)
  • The Pirate (1948)
  • Easter Parade (1948)
  • In The Good Old Summertime (1949)
  • Summer Stock (1950)
  • A Star Is Born (1954)
  • Pepe (1960)
  • Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
  • Gay Purr-ee (voice-animation) (1962)
  • A Child is Waiting (1963)
  • I Could Go On Singing (1963)
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NOTABLE SONGS

  • Over the Rainbow
  • (Dear Mr. Gable) You Made Me Love You
  • Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart
  • The Trolley Song
  • Meet Me in St. Louis
  • I'm Nobody's Baby
  • Get Happy
  • The Man That Got Away
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SELECTED JUDY GARLAND BIOGRAPHIES

  • "Judy" by Gerold Frank (1975)
  • "Get Happy: The Life of Judy Garland" by Gerald Clarke (2000)
  • "Judy Garland: The Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Legend" by Scott Schechte (2002)
  • "Judy Garland" by Paul Donnelley (2007)
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Judy Garland Timeline

  • 1922
      • Frances Ethel Gumm is born on June 10th in Grand Rapids, Minnesota to vaudeville performers Frank and Ethel. The youngest of three girls, she is nicknamed Baby by her family and at just 2 years old makes her debut performing at her father's theater The New Grand Movie Theater.
  • 1927
      • The family relocates to Lancaster, California in March and begins appearing onstage at the New Lancaster Theater in May.
  • 1928
      • Debuts on the radio with her older sisters Virginia and Mary Jane, calling themselves The Gumm Sisters, for "The Kiddies Hour" on Los Angeles' KFI station. The following year the sisters debut on film in the short "The Big Revue", singing "In the Good Old Sunny South".
  • 1935
      • She changes her name to Judy after she and her sisters change their group name to The Garland Sisters the year before.
      At just 13 years old, Judy signs with MGM studio after her father takes her to an audition in September. Just two months later, her father dies of complications from spinal meningitis, which Judy describes as "the most terrible thing that ever happened in my life".
  • 1936
      • Judy records her first record releases: "Swing Mr. Charlie" and "Stompin' at The Savoy" with Decca Records, but doesn't sign a contract with them until the following year. Over the next eleven years, she records and releases countless albums for Decca. She also makes her feature film debut in "Pigskin Parade".
  • 1939
      • Stars in her first color film "The Wizard of Oz", earning her stardom and a special Juvenile Academy Award the following year.
  • 1941
      • Elopes with songwriter David Rose on July 27th in Las Vegas. After studio heads pressure her to maintain a "girl next door" image, she aborts a pregnancy the following year.
  • 1943
      • Separates from David Rose and begins production on "Meet Me in St. Louis". The film's director, Vincente Minnelli, orchestrates a make-over, giving her more adult sex-appeal by altering her hair color, hairline, lip line, and eyebrow arch.
  • 1945
      • After her divorce to David Rose is finalized in June, she weds Vincente Minnelli on September 17th. Their child Liza Minnelli is born on March 12th, the following year.
  • 1947
      • Begins filming "The Pirate" with her husband Vincente Minnelli as director in February. After having a nervous breakdown on the set in April and attempting suicide in July, she is checked into Las Campanas sanitarium followed by Austin Riggs Center in Stockbridge, Massachusetts for a couple of weeks.
  • 1948
      • Even though she continues to record albums, she is frequently ill and absent from film sets and is suspended by MGM in July and replaced in the film "The Barleys of Broadway".
  • 1949
      • Judy announces her separation from Vincente Minnelli in March, is suspended by MGM again and replaced from yet another film, "Annie Get Your Gun" in May. Soon after, she checks into the Brent Bringham Hospital in Boston for about 6 weeks and requests to be released from her MGM contract.
  • 1950
      • After failing to show up for pre-production on the film "Royal Wedding" in June, Judy is suspended again and dropped from the film. Two days later the public learns that Judy has 'attempted suicide' by cutting her neck with broken glass. MGM finally releases her from her contract in September.
  • 1951
      • Judy continues singing and performing and, under the management of Sid Luft, she kicks off a vaudeville act at the Palace Theater in New York that runs for 19 weeks and breaks box office records. The performance run is deemed her "comeback".
  • 1952
      • Having divorced Minnelli the previous year, she marries Sid Luft on June 8th in Hollister, California and gives birth to their daughter Lorna on November 21st.
  • 1954
      • "A Star Is Born" premieres, marking Judy's return to film. She wins a Globe Globe for her critically acclaimed performance.
  • 1955
      • Judy is nominated for an Academy Award for "A Star is Born" but loses out to Grace Kelly in a huge upset.
      She gives birth to son Joey Luft on March 29th and signs with Capitol Records in August, an association that lasts until 1966. On September 24th, she makes her first television appearance on the CBS "Ford Star Jubilee" show and receives huge ratings, leading to a $300,000 contract with the network.
  • 1959
      • Takes ill with hepatitis and enters the New York Doctors Hospital for treatment in November. Even though she is not expected to fully recover, she is released from the hospital two months later.
  • 1960
      • Judy returns to singing and recording in April and in July, she performs with Frank Sinatra at a fundraiser in Los Angeles for John F. Kennedy's campaign. By the end of July she takes up residency in England's Chelsea neighborhood.
  • 1961
      • Performs at Carnegie Hall on April 23rd to rave reviews by critics who herald it as one of her greatest performances. The subsequent live recording album spends thirteen weeks as number one on the Billboard charts and garners five Grammy awards.
  • 1963
      • Files for divorce from Sid Luft the previous year and begins taping "The Judy Garland Show", which debuts in December and runs until it is cancelled the following year after 26 episodes.
  • 1965
      • Weds tour promoter Mark Herron in Las Vegas, Nevada on November 14th, but they divorce a mere six months later.
  • 1967
      • She is cast in the film adaptation of the book "Valley of The Dolls", but is fired from the production in April.
  • 1968
      • Checks into the Peter Bent Bringham Hospital in Boston as part of a substance withdrawal program.
  • 1969
      • Marries discotheque manager Mickey Deans on March 15th in London, England.
      Judy Garland is found dead at 47 years old in her Chelsea home in England on June 22nd. Her blood level indicated a lethal level of barbiturates that had been ingested over a long period of time and her death was subsequently listed as an accident.
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