Actors - Judy Garland

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	Actors - Judy Garland

Judy Garland (June 10, 1922 – June 22, 1969), born Frances Ethel Gumm, was an American film actress considered by many to be one of the greatest singing stars of Hollywood's Golden Era of musical film. She was known for her intense acting, charming wit, and great sense of humor. Garland also excelled in the ability to depict emotion in a song, and maintain her amazingly strong, quivering voice.

Childhood and early life

At the age of 2, the young Frances Gumm made her first appearance on stage singing the chorus of Jingle Bells, as part of a trio with her two sisters under the name of the Gumm Sisters. In 1934, the sisters performed in Chicago at the Oriental Theater with George Jessel. He encouraged the group to choose a more appealing name after "Gumm" received small laughter from the audience. They settled on the Garland Sisters, and young Frances soon afterwards picked the name Judy after a popular song of the day by Hoagy Carmichael. A rumor persists that Jessel came up with the last name Garland after Carole Lombard's character Lily Garland in the film Twentieth Century, which was currently playing at the Oriental; another rumor is that the sisters came up with the surname Garland after drama critic Robert Garland (reference: "Judy: Beyond the Rainbow", A&E/Biography television special), although Lorna Luft stated in her book Me and My Shadows that her mother chose the name when Jessel announced that the trio of singers looked prettier than 'a Garland of flowers'.

In 1935, at the age of 13, Garland was signed to a contract with MGM, allegedly without a screen test (in fact, she actually had done a test for the studio several months earlier). Garland's first notice by studio executives came after singing "You Made Me Love You" to Clark Gable at a birthday party held by the studio for the King of Hollywood. Her rendition proved so popular that MGM placed Garland and the song in their all-star extravaganza Broadway Melody of 1938
(1937).

After a string of minor roles, at the age of sixteen she landed the role of "Dorothy" in the MGM film The Wizard of Oz (1939), and has been associated ever since with the song "Over the Rainbow". After Oz, Garland became one of MGM's most bankable stars, proving particularly popular when teamed with her longtime friend Mickey Rooney in a string of "let's put on a show!" musicals. The duo first appeared together in the 1937 b-movie Thoroughbreds Don't Cry. They became a sensation and they teamed up again in Love Finds Andy Hardy
, and then soon after in Babes in Arms
. Garland eventually would star with Rooney in nine films.

To keep up with the frantic pace of making one movie after another, Garland, Rooney, and other young performers were constantly given amphetamines, as well as barbiturates to take before bedtime (reference: "Judy Garland: By Myself" in the American Masters series on PBS). This constant dose of drugs would lead to addiction and a lifelong struggle for Garland as well as her eventual demise. In her later life, she would resent the hectic work and she felt that her youth was stolen from her by MGM. She was plagued with self-doubt throughout her life and needed constant reassurance that she was talented, despite her ability to fill concert halls with fans eager to hear her, high critical praise, and several awards.

Movie star

Throughout the 1940s her films increased in popularity, making her the most critically and financially successful female musical star of the time. Among her most successful 1940s films is the 1944 classic Meet Me in St. Louis
, in which she introduced three standards: "The Trolley Song," "The Boy Next Door," and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." Her other famous films include The Harvey Girls
(1946) (in which she introduced "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe"), Easter Parade
(1948), A Star is Born (1954) (considered by many to be her best dramatic performance), and Judgment at Nuremburg
(1961).

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Judy Garland ]

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Actors - Judy Garland

Childhood and early life

Movie star

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