Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows | |
---|---|
Based on | Me and My Shadows: A Family Memoir by Lorna Luft |
Written by | Robert L. Freedman |
Directed by | Robert Allan Ackerman |
Starring | Judy Davis Tammy Blanchard Victor Garber Hugh Laurie |
Narrated by | Cynthia Gibb |
Music by | William Ross |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Executive producers | Craig Zadan Neil Meron Lorna Luft Robert Allan Ackerman Kirk Ellis |
Producers | Robert L. Freedman John Ryan |
Cinematography | James Chressanthis |
Editor | Dody Dorn |
Running time | 170 minutes |
Production companies | Alliance Atlantis In-Motion Storyline Entertainment |
Original release | |
Network | ABC |
Release | February 25 – February 26, 2001 |
Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows is a 2001 American two-part, four-hour biographical television miniseries based on the 1998 book Me and My Shadows: A Family Memoir written by Lorna Luft, the daughter of legendary singer-actress Judy Garland. The miniseries was directed by Robert Allan Ackerman and originally broadcast in two parts on ABC on February 25 and 26, 2001.
The miniseries is notable for its meticulous recreations of Garland's films and concerts, and verisimilitudinous impressions of her by Tammy Blanchard and Judy Davis. Her original recordings are used to dub Davis' singing.
The miniseries, which chronicles Garland's life from her first public performance in 1924 until her death in 1969, is divided into two parts: the first part depicts her rise to fame in the 1930s, her descent into drugs, and her fall from grace in the 1950s. The second part begins with her marriage to Sid Luft, and proceeds to chronicle her successful return to movies with A Star Is Born , concert performances, her personal issues and her death at the age of 47.
Christmas 1924: Two-year-old Frances Gumm performs in public for the first time, singing "Jingle Bells" in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. Her mother, Ethel, watches from the audience while her father, Frank, watches from backstage. Ethel is unhappy with her marriage because of Frank's romantic interest in men. To help herself cope, she moves her family to Hollywood with the hope that her daughters will break into the movie business.
1935: Frank takes Frances, now using her stage name of "Judy Garland," to the studios of Metro Goldwyn Mayer to audition. MGM chief Louis B. Mayer is not impressed with her rendition of "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart', but when she sings a different song an impressed Mayer says, "Little girl. Big voice." Thirteen-year-old Judy (played by Tammy Blanchard) signs an MGM contract but, because of her age, they do not know what to do with her and keep giving her radio appearances. Tragedy strikes one night when she is told her father has been rushed to the hospital. She is also told that the doctors have put a radio beside his bed, so he will be listening. While her sisters, Suzy and Jimmie, are in tears over their ill father, Ethel shows no emotion at all. He dies the next day.
1938-1939: Judy's movie career is now blooming. Now sixteen, she finds herself in competition with MGM's new glamorous star, Lana Turner, who is everything she is not: tall, thin, and blond. Judy also becomes jealous as Lana steals everybody's, including Mickey Rooney's, attention on her birthday. MGM purchases the rights to L. Frank Baum's classic children's book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz . Rumors spread that Shirley Temple might be playing Dorothy, but when 20th Century Fox refuses to lend her out to them, Judy is cast. She is prescribed some pills to help her sleep and to give her energy to work, and she is also forced to lose weight. She is then seen filming the "Yellow Brick Road" sequence with the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion. On the first take, they all close in and shut her out, prompting director Victor Fleming to yell, "You three dirty hams! Let that little girl in there!" The film turns out to be a huge success and she is catapulted to international stardom.
Early 1940s: Judy begins a romance with bandleader Artie Shaw, who has already been married twice. This causes much concern, especially for Ethel, who has now remarried. Judy continues to see him and is shocked when he elopes with Lana Turner, leaving her heartbroken and reluctant to return to the studio since she feels she has to compete with all the goddesses. While filming the "I Got Rhythm" sequence for Girl Crazy , she is continually being reprimanded by the director, the no-nonsense Busby Berkeley, over not putting enough energy into her performance. Eventually, she collapses on the set and is granted three weeks rest, despite the doctor's instruction that she needs six. Aged just nineteen, she marries composer David Rose, but the marriage lasts only nine months.
1944: Judy (now played by Judy Davis) meets Vincente Minnelli (Hugh Laurie), who is the director of her next film, Meet Me in St. Louis . She is then shown filming "The Trolley Song" sequence. She and Vincente marry in 1945. On their honeymoon, she tells him she plans to quit MGM when her contract expires and that she is pregnant. She then throws away a bottle of her pills and vows never to take them again.
1947: Now mother to Liza, Judy is forced to renew her contract with MGM. While filming The Pirate , she has a mental breakdown and Vincente finds out she's taking the pills again. The marriage spirals downward from there.
1950: Judy is suspended from MGM and from filming Annie Get Your Gun (she was replaced with Betty Hutton). She also tries to commit suicide by slashing her throat with a broken glass. She is fired by MGM and her marriage to Vincente falls apart due to his exhaustion at her mood swings. During this time, she meets Sid Luft (Victor Garber). He helps her with her show business comeback at the Palace Theatre on Broadway.
Early 50s: Judy marries Sid in 1952 and a few months later she gives birth to her second child, Lorna. In 1953, Ethel dies in a parking lot after suffering a heart attack. Initially, Judy does not react to the news, having been estranged from her for years, but while filming "The Man That Got Away" sequence for A Star Is Born , her first film since MGM fired her, she misses her mark, and starts crying in her dressing room, not exactly sure if she is upset over Ethel's death. She receives an Academy Award nomination for her performance. However, shortly after the film's initial release, Sid is enraged to see some of their best scenes (and important ones too) have been cut under orders from distributors who felt the film was too long, thus killing both the flow of the story as well as its box office potential. In 1955, a day before the 27th Academy Awards, Judy gives birth to her third child, Joey, but on the night she loses the award to Grace Kelly, much to the shock and disappointment of her friends, and much of the film world.
Late 1950s: Judy is now struggling with debts, her weight has ballooned, and at this stage, her marriage to Sid is starting to crumble.
Early 1960s: After overcoming a life-threatening illness and slimming down, Judy tours America, the high point being a concert at Carnegie Hall. As her marriage to Sid continues to collapse, she wins custody of their children.
Mid 1960s: Judy gets her own television series, but she is forced to go on the road again after it is cancelled, due to low ratings, for playing in the same time slot as "Bonanza" and for critics at the studio complaining about her touching the other guests on the show, which was a strict taboo at that time on the networks. [1] Her tour of Australia starts off well, but her concert in Melbourne is a flop; she has trouble remembering the words to her songs, stumbles, and is heckled by the audience before being booed off stage. She later marries for a fourth time, this time to Mark Herron. This marriage lasts a mere five months as he turns out to be gay and is discovered in bed with a male pool cleaner, and she throws him out. Lorna begins to understand the connection between her mother's erratic behaviour and her medication. Judy reconciles with Sid, who books her at the Palace Theatre, this time with Lorna and Joey. He gives Lorna some instructions on how to take care of her mother. However, life with Judy (which included constantly—and secretly—moving from one place to another because of her inability to pay bills) and looking after her and Joey becomes too much for Lorna, who collapses from exhaustion. Fearing for his children's safety, Sid takes them to live with him in Los Angeles.
1969: Judy marries for a fifth and final time. Her new husband is Mickey Deans. They settle in London. Liza, Lorna, and Joey call her on her 47th birthday, and say they will come and spend the summer with her when school finishes in two weeks. Twelve days later, she dies from an accidental overdose of sleeping pills. A hysterical Lorna sobs in Sid's arms. The film ends with Judy performing "Get Happy".
Year | Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2001 | Artios Awards | Best Casting for Mini-Series | Mary V. Buck and Susan Edelman | Won | [2] |
Online Film & Television Association Awards | Best Miniseries | Nominated | [3] | ||
Best Actress in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Judy Davis | Won | |||
Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Victor Garber | Nominated | |||
Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Tammy Blanchard | Nominated | |||
Best Direction of a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Nominated | ||||
Best Writing of a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Nominated | ||||
Best Ensemble in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Nominated | ||||
Best Costume Design in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Won | ||||
Best Editing in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Nominated | ||||
Best Lighting in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Nominated | ||||
Best Makeup/Hairstyling in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Nominated | ||||
Best Music in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Nominated | ||||
Best New Theme Song in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Nominated | ||||
Best Production Design in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Nominated | ||||
Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Miniseries | Peter Alan Sussman, Ed Gernon, Craig Zadan, Neil Meron, Robert Allan Ackerman, Lorna Luft, Kirk Ellis, Philip von Alvensleben, John Ryan, and Robert L. Freedman | Nominated | [4] | |
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie | Judy Davis | Won | |||
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie | Victor Garber | Nominated | |||
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie | Tammy Blanchard | Won | |||
Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries or a Movie | Robert Allan Ackerman | Nominated | |||
Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries or a Movie | Robert L. Freedman | Nominated | |||
Outstanding Art Direction for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special | Dan Davis, Ian Hall, and Stephanie Ziemer (for "Part 1") | Nominated | |||
Outstanding Casting for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special | Deirdre Bowen, Mary Buck, Susan Edelman, and Tina Gerussi | Nominated | |||
Outstanding Cinematography for a Miniseries or a Movie | James Chressanthis (for "Part 1") | Nominated | |||
Outstanding Costumes for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special | Dona Granata, Ann Peiponen, and Brian Russman (for "Part 1") | Won | |||
Outstanding Hairstyling for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special | Marie-Ange Ripka and Andrea Traunmueller | Won | |||
Outstanding Makeup for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special | Debi Drennan, Kevin Haney, and Pamela Roth | Won | |||
Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special | Dody Dorn (for "Part 1") | Nominated | |||
Television Critics Association Awards | Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries and Specials | Won | [5] | ||
2002 | American Cinema Editors Awards | Best Edited Motion Picture for Commercial Television | Dody Dorn | Nominated | [6] |
American Film Institute Awards | Actor of the Year – Female – TV Movie or Mini-Series | Tammy Blanchard | Nominated | [7] | |
Judy Davis | Won | ||||
Costume Designers Guild Awards | Excellence in Period/Fantasy for Television | Dona Granata | Won | [8] | |
Critics' Choice Awards | Best Picture Made for Television | Won | [9] | ||
Best Actress in a Picture Made for Television | Judy Davis | Won | |||
Directors Guild of America Awards | Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television or Miniseries | Robert Allan Ackerman | Nominated | [10] | |
Directors Guild of Canada Awards | Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing | Brandon Walker, Angie Pajek, Janice Ierulli, Phong Tran, Grant Bone, Kathy Choi, and Garrett Kerr | Won | ||
Golden Globe Awards | Best Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television | Nominated | [11] | ||
Best Actress in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television | Judy Davis | Won | |||
Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television | Tammy Blanchard | Nominated | |||
Golden Reel Awards | Best Sound Editing in Television – Dialogue & ADR, Long Form | Brandon Walker, Janice Ierulli, Angie Pajek, and Phong Tran | Nominated | [12] | |
Best Sound Editing in Television – Music, Movies and Specials | Yuri Gorbachow and Jim Harrison | Nominated | |||
Prism Awards | TV Movie, Miniseries or Dramatic Special | Won | |||
Producers Guild of America Awards | David L. Wolper Award for Outstanding Producer of Long-Form Television | Nominated | [13] | ||
Satellite Awards | Best Miniseries | Won | [14] | ||
Best Actress in a Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television | Judy Davis | Won | |||
Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television | Tammy Blanchard | Nominated | |||
Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie | Judy Davis | Won | [15] | |
Writers Guild of America Awards | Long Form – Adapted | Robert L. Freedman; Based on the memoir Me and My Shadows: A Family Memoir by Lorna Luft | Nominated | [16] | |
Young Artist Awards | Best Family Movie or Special (Network or Cable) | Nominated | [17] |
The miniseries was released on DVD in region 1 on January 22, 2002, and re-released on DVD on May 22, 2012.
It was released in Australia by Starz Home Entertainment as a full-length film in a "Limited Edition 3 Disc Gift Set" of region 4 DVDs together with Beyond the Sea and The Buddy Holly Story .
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. She attained international stardom and critical acclaim 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.
Liza May Minnelli is an American actress, singer, dancer, and choreographer. Known for her commanding stage presence and powerful alto singing voice, Minnelli is one of the very few performers awarded a non-competitive Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony (EGOT). Minnelli is a Knight of the French Legion of Honour.
Meet Me in St. Louis is a 1944 American Christmas musical film made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Divided into a series of seasonal vignettes, starting with Summer 1903, it relates the story of a year in the life of the Smith family in St. Louis leading up to the opening of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in the spring of 1904. The film stars Judy Garland, Margaret O'Brien, Mary Astor, Lucille Bremer, Tom Drake, Leon Ames, Marjorie Main, June Lockhart and Joan Carroll.
Michael DeVinko, Jr., known as Mickey Deans, was an American musician and entrepreneur, and the fifth husband and widower of actress and singer Judy Garland.
Lorna Luft is an American actress, author, and singer. She is the daughter of Judy Garland and Sidney Luft, the sister of Joey Luft and the half-sister of Liza Minnelli.
Vincente Minnelli was an American stage director and film director. He directed the classic movie musicals Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), An American in Paris (1951), The Band Wagon (1953), and Gigi (1958). An American in Paris and Gigi both won the Academy Award for Best Picture, with Minnelli winning Best Director for Gigi. In addition to having directed some of the best-known musicals of his day, Minnelli made many comedies and melodramas. He was married to Judy Garland from 1945 until 1951; the couple were the parents of Liza Minnelli.
Michael Sidney Luft was an American show business figure, the second husband of actress Lynn Bari, and later the third husband of actress and singer Judy Garland.
The Harvey Girls is a 1946 Technicolor American musical film produced by Arthur Freed for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It is based on the 1942 novel of the same name by Samuel Hopkins Adams, about Fred Harvey's Harvey House waitresses. Directed by George Sidney, the film stars Judy Garland and features John Hodiak, Ray Bolger, and Angela Lansbury, as well as Preston Foster, Virginia O'Brien, Kenny Baker, Marjorie Main and Chill Wills. Future star Cyd Charisse appears in her first speaking role on film.
Kay Thompson was an American author, singer, vocal arranger, vocal coach, composer, musician, dancer, actress, and choreographer. She became famous for creating the Eloise children's books and for her role in the movie Funny Face.
Roger Edens was a Hollywood composer, arranger and associate producer, and is considered one of the major creative figures in Arthur Freed's musical film production unit at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during the "golden era of Hollywood".
The Pirate is a 1948 American musical film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. With songs by Cole Porter, it stars Judy Garland and Gene Kelly with costars Walter Slezak, Gladys Cooper, Reginald Owen, The Nicholas Brothers, and George Zucco.
Me and My Shadows: A Family Memoir is a 1998 memoir written by Lorna Luft, the daughter of singer-actress Judy Garland.
Robert L. Freedman is an American screenwriter and dramatist. He is best known for his teleplays for Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella (1997) and Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows (2001), and for his Tony-winning book and lyrics of A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder (2014).
American actress and singer 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. In the 1960s, when a reporter asked how she felt about having a large gay following, Garland replied, "I couldn't care less. I sing to people!"
Minnelli on Minnelli: Live at the Palace was a concert presented by Liza Minnelli at the Palace Theatre on Broadway from December 8, 1999 through January 2, 2000. The show consisted of songs featured in films directed by her father, Vincente Minnelli (1903-1986).
Judy is a 2019 biographical drama film based on the life of American entertainer Judy Garland. Directed by Rupert Goold, it is an adaptation of the Olivier- and Tony-nominated West End and Broadway play End of the Rainbow by Peter Quilter. The film stars Renée Zellweger, Jessie Buckley, Finn Wittrock, Rufus Sewell, and Michael Gambon. It was Gambon's final film appearance before his death in 2023.
The Haldeman House at 10000 Sunset Boulevard is a house designed by Wallace Neff for Henry F. Haldeman and his wife. It is situated on Sunset Boulevard in Holmby Hills, Los Angeles. Hadleman was the owner of a Chrysler car dealership in Los Angeles. He was not related to Harry F. Haldeman who was the father of President Richard Nixon's White House Chief of Staff H. R. Haldeman. The house was completed in 1939 and was sold by the Haldemans to J. M. Friedman in 1947. The businessman Howard Hughes was the first person to rent the house from the Friedman. Hughes rented the house for his future wife Jean Peters. The actress Terry Moore, who claimed she was married to Hughes, first met him at the house.