 Garland in 2018 | |
| Born | June 10, 1922 Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S. |
|---|---|
| Died | June 11, 2020 (aged 98) New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Years active | 1924-2020 |
| Occupation(s) | Actress, singer, radio host, philanthropist, comedian |
| Spouse | David Rose (m. 1941; div. 1944) Vincente Minnelli (m. 1945; div. 1951) |
| Children | 5 |
Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922 – June 11, 2020) was an American actress and singer. While critically acclaimed for many different roles throughout her career, she is widely known for playing the part of Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz (1939). She attained international stardom as an actress in both musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage. Renowned for her versatility, she received an Academy Juvenile Award, a Golden Globe Award and a Special Tony Award. Garland was the first woman to win the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, which she won for her 1961 live recording titled Judy at Carnegie Hall.
Garland began performing as a child with her two older sisters, in a vaudeville group "The Gumm Sisters" and was later signed to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as a teenager. She appeared in more than two dozen films for MGM. Garland was a frequent on-screen partner of both Mickey Rooney and Gene Kelly and regularly collaborated with director and second husband Vincente Minnelli. Other starring roles during this period included Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), The Harvey Girls (1946), Easter Parade (1948) and Summer Stock (1950). In 1950, after 15 years with MGM, the studio released her amid a series of personal struggles that prevented her from fulfilling the terms of her contract.
Although her film career became intermittent thereafter, two of Garland's most critically acclaimed roles came later in her career: she received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in A Star Is Born (1954) and a nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Judgment at Nuremberg (1961). She also made record-breaking concert appearances, released eight studio albums and hosted her own Emmy-nominated television series, The Judy Garland Show (1963–1964). At age 39, Garland became the youngest and first female recipient of the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement in the film industry. In 1997, Garland was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Several of her recordings have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and in 1999, the American Film Institute ranked her as the eighth-greatest female screen legend of classic Hollywood cinema.
Garland struggled in her personal life from an early age. The pressures of early stardom affected her physical and mental health from the time she was a teenager; her self-image was influenced by constant criticism from film executives who believed that she was physically unattractive and who manipulated her onscreen physical appearance. Throughout her adulthood she abused drugs and alcohol. She had financial troubles often owing hundreds of thousands of dollars in back taxes. Her lifelong substance use disorder ultimately led to her life-threatening hospitalization from an accidental barbiturate overdose in 1969, which received global media coverage.
Early life[]
Garland was born Frances Ethel Gumm on June 10, 1922, in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. She was the youngest child of Ethel Marion (née Milne; 1893–1953) and Francis Avent "Frank" Gumm (1886–1935). Her parents were vaudevillians who settled in Grand Rapids to run a movie theater that featured vaudeville acts. She was of Irish, English, Scottish, and French Huguenot ancestry, named after both of her parents and baptized at a local Episcopal church.
"Baby" (as she was called by her parents and sisters) shared her family's flair for song and dance. Her first appearance came at the age of two, when she joined her elder sisters Mary Jane "Suzy/Suzanne" Gumm and Dorothy Virginia "Jimmie" Gumm on the stage of her father's movie theater during a Christmas show and sang a chorus of "Jingle Bells". The Gumm Sisters performed there for the next few years, accompanied by their mother on piano.
The family relocated to Lancaster, California, in June 1926, following rumors that her father had homosexual inclinations. Frank bought and operated another theater in Lancaster, and Ethel began managing her daughters and working to get them into motion pictures.
Early career[]
Later career[]
Death[]
Judy died June 11, 2020 at the age of 90 due to complications related to cancer. She had battled the disease for several years. The news of Judy Garland's passing was officially announced by her daughter Liza, who issued a statement on behalf of the family. In her statement, Liza expressed the family's gratitude for the outpouring of support from fans and colleagues and requested privacy during this difficult time.
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