Critical response
Janet Maslin of The New York Times questions the need for another Garland biography at all, given the number of biographies already available, but cited the previously unavailable autobiographical materials as providing some justification. Disputing other reviewers' comments about pathography, Maslin describes Get Happy as placing Garland "on the kind of pedestal that comes complete with pigeon droppings". She deplores the tone of some of the anecdotes Clarke relates and questions his sourcing, noting that some of the worst anecdotes come from anonymous sources. Clarke, she concludes, " winds up wavering awkwardly between the tut-tut outing of Garland's secrets and the clammy hyperbole of the reverential fan". [5]
Garland's daughter Lorna Luft, who wrote her own Garland biography, criticized Clarke's book. "I didn't like that one at all. If you're going to write a biography of somebody, it'd be nice if you'd talk to their family. The man never picked up a phone and talked to me. Then he had the nerve, when I said certain things weren't right in it, to say I wouldn't know. He never spoke to me." [3] Clarke claimed that none of Garland's children cooperated with him. [6]
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Though 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.
Judith Davis is an Australian actress known for her work in film, television and stage. With a career spanning over 40 years, she is commended for her versatility and regarded as one of the finest actresses of her generation with frequent collaborator Woody Allen describes her as, "one of the most exciting actresses in the world". She is known for her portrayals of brittle, neurotic women and is the recipient of numerous accolades, including nine AACTA Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards and two Golden Globe Awards, and two nominations for Academy Awards.
Truman "Mark" Herron was an American actor and the fourth husband of singer and actress Judy Garland. They were married on November 14, 1965, in Las Vegas, Nevada, but they separated after five months of marriage. Seventeen months later, Garland was granted a divorce after testifying that Herron had beaten her. He said he had "only hit her in self defense."
Lorna Luft is an American actress, author, and singer. She is the daughter of Judy Garland and Sidney Luft.
The Judy Garland Show is an American musical variety television series that aired on CBS on Sunday nights during the 1963–1964 television season. Despite a sometimes stormy relationship with Judy Garland, CBS had found success with several television specials featuring the star. Garland, who for years had been reluctant to commit to a weekly series, saw the show as her best chance to pull herself out of severe financial difficulties. Despite it being cancelled relatively early on, it is now revered and considered an important piece of television history.
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. An adaptation of L. Frank Baum's 1900 children's fantasy novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the film was primarily directed by Victor Fleming, and stars Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr, Jack Haley, Billie Burke and Margaret Hamilton. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson, and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but others made uncredited contributions. The songs were written by Edgar "Yip" Harburg and composed by Harold Arlen. The musical score and incidental music were composed by Herbert Stothart.
The Boy from Oz is a jukebox musical based on the life of singer and songwriter Peter Allen, featuring songs written by him. The book commissioned for the musical is by Nick Enright, based on Stephen MacLean's 1996 biography of Allen. Premiering in Australia in 1998 starring Todd McKenney, a revised version of the musical, written by Martin Sherman, opened on Broadway in 2003, with Hugh Jackman in the title role.
In gay slang, a "friend of Dorothy" (FOD) is a gay man; and more broadly, any LGBTQ person. Stating that, or asking if someone was a friend of Dorothy was a furtive shibboleth used for discussing sexual orientation while avoiding hostility.
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Janet R. Maslin is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for The New York Times. She served as a Times film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000 Maslin helped found the Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville, New York. She is president of its board of directors.
Gerald Clarke is an American writer, best known for the biographies Capote (1988) and Get Happy: The Life of Judy Garland (2000).
Actress Judy Garland (1922–1969) is widely considered as a gay icon. The Advocate has called Garland "The Elvis of homosexuals". The reasons frequently given for her standing as an icon among gay men are admiration of her ability as a performer, the way her personal struggles seemed to mirror those of gay men in America during the height of her fame, and her value as a camp figure. Garland's role as Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz is particularly known for contributing to this status.
Every Sunday is a 1936 American musical short film about two adolescent girls and their efforts to save a public concert series, which was being threatened by poor attendance.
The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life (ISBN 0553805096) is a biography of Warren Buffett by Alice Schroeder.
Mildred Cram was an American writer.
True You: A Journey to Finding and Loving Yourself is a self-help book co-authored by American singer Janet Jackson and biographer David Ritz, released on February 15, 2011. In the book, Jackson opens up about her struggles with food, body image, and relationships. It topped The New York Times Best Seller list in the Hardcover Advice and Misc. section the week of March 6, 2011.
Chronicles: Volume One is a memoir written by American musician Bob Dylan. The book was published on October 5, 2004, by Simon & Schuster.
