The Tragic Story of Dorothy "Out of Oz": The Unfabulous Life of Judy Garland

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Judy Garland starred in The Wizard of Oz, one of the most culturally significant and successful films of all time. Her image of the astonished Dorothy Gale, for which she received an Oscar, has become a symbol of Hollywood. In the late 60s, when Garland was in her forties, she was poor, almost homeless, and owed thousands of dollars to the IRS. She received a hundred dollars a night singing songs in bars and was suicidal, crushed by a string of setbacks and health problems.

1. Difficult childhood

Judy's early success was not so much the result of a fluke, but more of the long-term plans of her mother, Ethel Gamm. Gamm, a former vaudeville performer, pushed all her daughters into show business, but it was Judy who had the biggest talent.

She began touring the country as a soloist, and her mother fed her sleeping pills starting at the age of ten to help the girl fall asleep on the road. According to rumors, Judy called her mother a real wicked witch of the West, referring to all her atrocities in one of the most famous films "The Wizard of Oz". According to the girl, her mother constantly tortured her mentally, forcing her to work even when Judy complained of malaise. And all she heard in response was get out and sing, otherwise I will tie you to the bed …

2. Contract with the studio

At the age of thirteen, Judy signed with MGM after auditioning for studio co-founder Louis B. Mayer. Stunned by her beautiful singing voice, Mayer did not require her to pass a screen test and immediately signed a contract. It was a big breakthrough that Judy and her mother worked for, but instead of making her dreams come true, she soon realized that she was living in a real nightmare.

The studio treated her harshly. Concerned about her weight, the studio staff began to monitor how and how much she eats. Food was often taken from her, leaving her in a constant state of hunger. After that, Judy will remain insecure for the rest of her life. And that was just one of the gruesome ways that the old Hollywood studios mocked the actors.

Charles Waters, a filmmaker who worked with Judy, called her the ugly duck of the industry, thus adding even more fuel to the fire.

3. Hunger strike and pills

Judy not only starved from MGM, but she also began to suffer from drug addiction while in the studio. The studio often pushed its stars to their limits. Judy began to notice that she was working eighteen hours a day, six days a week, and to keep her "working" she was given amphetamines and sleeping pills to calm her down.

After the death of the legendary Dorothy of the beloved Wizard of Oz, film critic Roger Ebert wrote that, according to a woman who worked in the film crew, Judy was deliberately stuffed with pills, trying to make up for lost time if, for some reason, the film lagged behind. graphics. After all, the studio's motto was "drive and slow it down like a clock."

4. Hostage of harassment

Gerald Clarke, author of Get Happy: The Life of Judy Garland, revealed in his biography of Judy Garland (via The Seattle Times) that the star was sexually harassed in the studio. Since she was sixteen years old, the girl has repeatedly begun to make unambiguous suggestions and hints. But it wasn't until she was twenty that Judy finally had the courage to put an end to it.

5. Marriage

Desperate for love, Judy got married five times. At the age of nineteen, she married composer David Rose. Her mother and the studio tried to stop her, worried about how the marriage would affect the girl's image. Judy and Rose fled to Las Vegas, but their marriage was short-lived. They divorced in 1944.

The following year, she married director Vincent Minnelli. They had a daughter, Lisa, but this marriage was short-lived. Minnelli and Garland divorced in 1951, a decision partly influenced by Minnelli's attraction to other men.

A year later, she remarried businessman Sidney Luft, from whom she had two children. They divorced in 1965. Judy claimed that Sydney insulted and hit her, though he denied this.

The next time Judy said that her next husband, actor Mark Herron, also hit her, and they broke up after just a few months. Like Minnelli, Herron was also attracted to men, and he later entered into a long-term relationship with a fellow actor.

Judy was married to another man, Mickey Deans, for only three months when Deans found her dead in the bathroom. Mickey remained faithful to Garland's memory and never married again.

6. Abortion and three children

In life, Judy had three children, but they all came to her much later. Her first pregnancy, according to Vanity Fair, ended in abortion when she was only nineteen years old and married her first husband. Abortion was still illegal then, but her mother and the studio arranged everything so that the procedure would go smoothly.

Such abortions were common in Hollywood at the time, as the film studios did not want to spoil the image of their stars as ideals or, in Judy's case, child stars.

Many years later, when she became pregnant, her boyfriend, Sydney, convinced her to have an abortion. Although they later married, Luft only thought about her career, but later regretted his decision. In his autobiography, Judy and Me, he admitted that he was quite insensitive.

7. Depression and addiction

Judy's traumatic childhood, coupled with drug addiction, caused many upheavals in her adult life. She could not imagine her life without pills and in pursuit of an eternal ideal and a slender figure, starved herself, torturing herself with merciless diets. Judy also suffered from postpartum depression using handfuls of pills prescribed by her doctor.

8. Attempted suicide

Judy's self-destructive behavior was not limited to drug abuse. After leaving MGM in 1950, the singer tried to commit suicide twice. At the time, she was married to her second husband, Vincent Minnelli, and her depression contributed to the stress that led to their divorce.

9. She sang in a bar

By the end of her career, Judy had lost both fame and money. She sang in bars for just a hundred dollars a night. Her eldest daughter, Liza Minnelli, at this time began to experience success in her career and financially supported her mother. Friends claimed that Judy was in good spirits the night before she was found dead. In addition, at that time she was married to Mickey Deans, her fifth husband. According to the Los Angeles Times, Garland was delighted with this marriage. Finally, the star got everything she dreamed of, telling the press that she is truly happy and loved.

10. Mental disorder

According to one version, Judy suffered from bipolar disorder. The actress also suffered from nervous breakdowns. According to her obituary in The New York Times, she has been under psychiatric supervision since she was eighteen years old. None of Judy's treatments, including electroconvulsive therapy and psychoanalysis, helped her much.

11. Collapse

Judy had a reputation as not only one of the greatest actresses in Hollywood, but also one of the most difficult to work with. Her reputation was most likely associated with mental health problems and the abuse of various pills, as well as illegal drugs. Because of this, she was repeatedly suspended from work on the set, and then the contract was completely terminated.

12. Another failure

She has tried to revive her career more than once. In the winter of 1968, a few months before her death, Judy embarked on a five-week London talk show tour. But after the show was released, critics received far from unflattering reviews, who literally smashed the attempt to return the once legendary Garland to smithereens. This led to another nervous breakdown and attempted suicide.

13. "Legacy"

The story of suicide and illegal substances did not end even after Judy's death. Her daughters, Lorna Luft and Liza Minnelli, faced the same difficulties as their mother.

- Lisa told The Guardian.

Luft used cocaine and not only, but unlike her sister, she did not consider it a problem, even when someone pointed out to her that she was following in her mother's footsteps, claiming that, unlike Judy, she only took drugs at night. …

But be that as it may, despite all the difficulties that the pretty Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz had to face, Judy Garland to this day remains a legendary actress who was adored by millions of viewers … and adore now.

Unfortunately, Judy Garland is not the only movie star whose real life was different from the screen one. Veronica Lake's story is so touching and sadthat many screenwriters embodied her in their films, thereby paying tribute to the once gorgeous woman and far from the most talented actress.