Judy Garland

Judy Garland, born Frances Ethel Gumm on June 10, 1922, in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, was an American actress and singer whose career extended across four decades. The youngest child of vaudevillians Ethel Marion Milne and Francis Avent Gumm, she was of Irish, English, Scottish, and Huguenot ancestry. Her parents, who had met and married in Wisconsin before settling in Grand Rapids, operated a movie theater that featured vaudeville acts. Known within her family as "Baby," Garland made her first stage appearance at age two, joining her older sisters Mary Jane and Dorothy Virginia Gumm to sing a chorus of "Jingle Bells" during a Christmas show at her father's theater. The family relocated to Lancaster, California, in June 1926, where her father operated another theater and her mother began managing the sisters' careers. Garland worked as a contralto and performed across musicals, comedies, and dramas throughout her life. She died on June 22, 1969, from an accidental barbiturate overdose at age 47.

The Gumm Sisters enrolled in a dance school run by Ethel Meglin in 1928 and appeared with the Meglin Kiddies troupe, making their film debut in the short subject The Big Revue that year. Additional short film appearances followed, including A Holiday in Storyland and The Wedding of Jack and Jill in 1930, Bubbles the same year, and the MGM Technicolor short La Fiesta de Santa Barbara in 1935. While performing in Chicago at the Oriental Theater with George Jessel in 1934, the sisters adopted a new surname after "Gumm" drew laughter from the audience. Several accounts exist regarding the origin of the name Garland, including that Jessel derived it from Carole Lombard's character Lily Garland in the film Twentieth Century, that the sisters chose it after drama critic Robert Garland, and that Garland's daughter Lorna Luft recalled her mother selecting it after Jessel said the trio looked prettier than a garland of flowers. By late 1934 the group had formally become the Garland Sisters, and Frances soon renamed herself Judy, inspired by a Hoagy Carmichael song. The group disbanded in August 1935.

In September 1935, following an impromptu audition at MGM's Culver City studios at which she performed "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart" and the Yiddish vaudeville song "Eli, Eli," Garland signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer at age 13. The studio initially cast her in supporting roles in ensemble musicals, including Broadway Melody of 1938 and Thoroughbreds Don't Cry, both released in 1937. International recognition came with her portrayal of Dorothy Gale in the musical film The Wizard of Oz in 1939, which also introduced her signature song "Over the Rainbow." She went on to lead MGM musicals including Meet Me in St. Louis in 1944, Easter Parade in 1948, and Summer Stock in 1950. Her dramatic range expanded with A Star Is Born in 1954 and Judgment at Nuremberg in 1961, both of which earned her Academy Award nominations.

Garland recorded 11 studio albums between 1939 and 1962. The soundtrack album Meet Me in St. Louis and Miss Show Business, released in 1955, each peaked in the top ten of the U.S. Billboard 200. Judy in 1956, Alone in 1957, and The Garland Touch in 1962 reached the top 40. Her live recording Judy at Carnegie Hall, released in 1961, made her the first woman to win the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. That same year she became the first female recipient and youngest honoree of the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award. Six of her recordings have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, and in 1997 she was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. The American Film Institute ranked her the eighth greatest star of classic Hollywood cinema in 1999. Her accolades also include one Golden Globe Award, the Academy Juvenile Award, and nominations for three Emmy Awards. Several of her performances are preserved in the National Film Registry and the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress.

Garland's Broadway career ran from 1951 to 1967 and included the productions Judy Garland "At Home at the Palace" and Judy Garland. In 1952 she received the Tony Award Special Award in recognition of her contributions to the stage. In her personal life, Garland married five times and had three children, among them actresses and singers Liza Minnelli and Lorna Luft. From her teenage years onward she faced health challenges compounded by studio pressure regarding her appearance and performance, and she developed dependencies on prescription medications that affected her physical and mental well-being. Substantial tax debts added further difficulty to her later years.