In a career that spanned more than forty years, Judy Garland performed on stage, screen and television. Garland appeared in 34 feature films. She was nominated for multiple Academy Awards and Golden Globe Awards, receiving an Academy Juvenile Award and one Golden Globe. Her film career was interrupted in 1951 after she was cast in a series of films she was unable to complete, but she returned to the screen in 1954 in A Star Is Born and continued to appear in films until 1963.
Although Garland appeared in concert as early as 1943, it was only when her film career stalled that she began regular concert appearances, beginning with a critically acclaimed 1951 concert series at the London Palladium. Garland set a record when she appeared for 19 weeks at the Palace Theatre in New York City, also in 1951, and her 1961 concert Judy at Carnegie Hall is often considered one of the greatest nights in show business history. She continued to tour until just three months prior to her death in 1969.
Garland starred in a series of television specials beginning in 1955, when she appeared in the first episode of Ford Star Jubilee . The success of these specials led CBS to offer Garland a regular series. The Judy Garland Show premiered in 1963. Although the show was critically well-received, it suffered in the Nielsen ratings from being scheduled across from Bonanza , which was then the most popular show on the air. The Judy Garland Show was canceled after one season but Garland and the series were nominated for Emmy Awards.
Title | Year | Role | Director | Studio | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Big Revue | 1929 | Herself (with the Gumm Sisters) | — | Mayfair Pictures | |
A Holiday in Storyland | 1930 | Roy Mack | Warner Bros. | Lost; includes Garland's first solo number, "Blue Butterfly" | |
Bubbles | |||||
The Wedding of Jack and Jill | Lost | ||||
La Fiesta de Santa Barbara | 1935 | Louis Lewyn | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | ||
Every Sunday | 1936 | Judy | Felix E. Feist | First role at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | |
Silent Night | 1937 | Herself | — | Performed "Silent Night" with St Luke's Episcopal Church Choristers of Long Beach | |
If I Forget You | 1940 | — | Performed "If I Forget You" for the Will Rogers Memorial Fund | ||
We Must Have Music | 1942 | Susan Gallagher | — | Performed "We Must Have Music" musical number deleted from Ziegfeld Girl | |
Title | Year | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
The Barkleys of Broadway | 1949 | Dinah Barkley | Garland was taking prescription sleeping medication along with illicitly obtained pills containing morphine. These in combination with migraine headaches led Garland to miss several shooting days in a row. After being advised by Garland's doctor that she would only be able to work in four- to five-day increments with extended rest periods between, MGM executive Arthur Freed suspended Garland on July 18, 1948. She was replaced with Ginger Rogers. [3] |
Annie Get Your Gun | 1950 | Annie Oakley | Garland was nervous at the prospect of playing Annie Oakley—a role strongly identified with Ethel Merman—anxious about appearing in an unglamourous role after breaking from juvenile parts for several years and disturbed by her treatment at the hands of director Busby Berkeley. She began arriving late to the set and would sometimes not show up at all. She was suspended from the picture on May 10, 1949, and replaced with Betty Hutton. [4] |
Royal Wedding | 1951 | Ellen Bowen | Having been called in to replace a pregnant June Allyson, Garland again failed to report to the set on multiple occasions after costume tests and rehearsals with Fred Astaire and director Charles Walters. The studio suspended her contract on June 17, 1950, and replaced her with Jane Powell. [5] |
Valley of the Dolls | 1967 | Helen Lawson | Garland was cast as Helen Lawson in the film version of Jacqueline Susann's bestseller featuring the character of Neely O'Hara, depicted by Patty Duke. Neely was largely based upon Garland herself. As with previous projects, Garland missed days of work, blew repeated takes and delayed production by refusing to leave her dressing room. She was replaced in April 1967 with Susan Hayward. [6] However, Patty Duke tells another story – that the director kept Garland waiting for hours until late in the day, by which time she was either too tired or too nervous to perform. [7] Another star of the film, Barbara Parkins, also defended Garland, stating on numerous occasions that "Miss Hayward was a pale imitation of what Garland could have made of the role." [8] |
At the height of her career, Garland was regularly ranked among the top movie stars in the US in the annual poll conducted by Quigley publishing: [9]
Garland appeared in concert over 1,100 times. [13] Listed below are some of her key concert performances.
Date | Location | Notes |
---|---|---|
July 10, 1943 | Philadelphia | Gave first solo concert at the Robin Hood Dell; Andre Kostelanetz conducted the orchestra. [14] |
April 9, 1951 | London | Garland opened her new show at the London Palladium; the show performed twice nightly with Wednesday and Saturday matinees. |
July 1, 1951 | Dublin | Performed in Ireland at the Theatre Royal, Dublin for 14 sold-out performances where her show was performed for 50,000 people which was unprecedented for the time. Upon arrival in Dublin, she was met by huge crowds to whom she sang from her dressing room window. [5] |
October 16, 1951 | New York City | The legendary Palace Theater opening – the show ran for 19 weeks and broke all box office records. She returned from 11/16/51–2/24/52. [15] |
1956 | Las Vegas, Nevada at the New Frontier Hotel | Garland performed a four-week stand for a salary of $55,000 per week, making her the highest-paid entertainer to work in Las Vegas to date. Despite a brief bout of laryngitis, her performances there were so successful that her run was extended an extra week. [16] |
May 11, 1959 | New York City | Opened at the Metropolitan Opera House, in New York for a 7 night run. |
October 3, 5, 1960 | Paris | Palais de Chaillot, dubbed by French critics "La Piaf Americaine" |
October 28, 29, 1960 | Paris | Concert at the famed Olympia |
October 1960 | Amsterdam | The concert is broadcast live on European radio and is considered to be on a par with the Carnegie Hall performance the following year. [5] |
April 23, 1961 | New York City | The legendary concert at Carnegie Hall. |
September 16, 1961 | Los Angeles, California | Performed the Carnegie Hall concert at the Hollywood Bowl to sold-out audience in spite of heavy rain. |
May 1964 | Sydney/Melbourne | Perhaps Garland's most unsuccessful tour and caused much controversy. The reviews for the two Sydney concerts were positive. However, the Melbourne portion of the tour was a disaster for her. The audience was angry over her late appearance, so much that she was unable to remember lyrics and slurred those that she did remember. She walked off the stage in tears after only 20 minutes and three numbers. It was the first time in her career that she had received negative notices and where she had been heckled and jeered by an audience. Later in Hong Kong she made an unpublicised suicide bid. [5] [17] |
November 8, 15, 1964 | London | Performed at the London Palladium with daughter Liza Minnelli in a one-off event for ITV. The concert was recorded and released as a 2 record album LP set by Capitol Records |
July 31, 1967 | New York City | Returned to the Palace Theatre for a 4-week sold-out run. |
August 31, 1967 | Boston | Largest audience; over 100,000 people attended her free outdoor concert on the Boston Common |
December 25, 27, 1967 | New York City | Appeared at Madison Square Garden's Felt Forum T theater |
July 20, 1968 | Philadelphia | Appeared at JFK Stadium, her last concert in the U.S. |
March 25, 1969 | Copenhagen, Denmark | Garland's final concert, at the Falkoner Centre in Copenhagen |
Key Garland television appearances include:
Date | Title | Network | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
September 24, 1955 [18] | Ford Star Jubilee | CBS | The first full-scale color telecast on CBS. [19] |
April 8, 1956 [20] | Judy Garland Musical Special | CBS | Slated to be the first of a series of CBS specials under a three-year, $300,000 contract with Garland, this was the only one produced before the relationship between Garland and husband Sid Luft and CBS broke down in a dispute over the planned format of upcoming specials. [21] |
February 25, 1962 | The Judy Garland Show | CBS | Featured Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. Nominated for four Emmy Awards. [22] |
March 19, 1963 [23] | Judy Garland and Her Guests Phil Silvers and Robert Goulet | CBS | Nominated for an Emmy. |
September 29, 1963 – March 29, 1964 | The Judy Garland Show | CBS | Garland's only regular series. Canceled after one season and 26 episodes. Garland and the series were Emmy-nominated. [24] |
December 1, 1964 | Judy and Liza at the London Palladium | ITV | Broadcast of the November 1964 appearance with Liza Minnelli. |
December 1968 | The Merv Griffin Show | First run syndication | |
January 19, 1969 [25] | Sunday Night at the London Palladium | ITV |
For a list of songs performed on the radio, see: Radio recordings (1935–1961)
Date | Program | Episode |
---|---|---|
1940-10-28 | Lux Radio Theatre | "Strike Up the Band" |
1941-01-26 | Silver Theater | "Love's New Sweet Song" |
1941-11-09 | The Screen Guild Theater | "Babes in Arms" |
1941-11-17 | Lux Radio Theatre | "Merton of the Movies" |
1942-10-12 | Lux Radio Theatre | "Morning Glory" |
1942-12-28 | Lux Radio Theatre | "A Star Is Born" |
1943-03-22 | The Screen Guild Theater | "For Me and My Gal" |
1945-02-15 | "Command Performance" Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS) | "Dick Tracy In B-Flat or For Goodness Sakes, Isn't He Ever Going To Marry Tess Trueheart?" |
1946-01-28 | Lux Radio Theatre | "The Clock" |
1946-11-21 | Suspense | "Drive-In" |
1946-12-02 | Lux Radio Theatre | "Meet Me in St. Louis" |
1950-12-25 | Lux Radio Theatre | "The Wizard of Oz" |
1953-02-16 | Lux Radio Theatre | "Lady in the Dark" |
Judy Garland was an American actress, singer, and vaudevillian. 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 a Golden Globe Award, a Special Tony Award and was one of twelve people in history to receive an Academy Juvenile Award.
Liza May Minnelli is an American actress, singer, and dancer. Known for her commanding stage presence and powerful alto singing voice, Minnelli has received numerous accolades including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and four Tony Awards. She is one of the few performers awarded a non-competitive EGOT having received two honorary Grammy Awards. Minnelli is a Knight of the French Legion of Honour. Her persona and her style has cemented her as a gay icon.
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 and singer. She is the daughter of Judy Garland and Sidney Luft, the sister of Joey Luft and the half-sister of Liza Minnelli.
"Over the Rainbow", also known as "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", is a ballad by Harold Arlen with lyrics by Yip Harburg. It was written for the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, in which it was sung by actress Judy Garland in her starring role as Dorothy Gale.
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 (MGM). Based on the 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, it was primarily directed by Victor Fleming, who left production to take over the troubled Gone with the Wind. It 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, while others made uncredited contributions. The music was composed by Harold Arlen and adapted by Herbert Stothart, with lyrics by Edgar "Yip" Harburg.
David Begelman was an American film producer, film executive and talent agent who was involved in a studio embezzlement scandal in the 1970s.
"The Man That Got Away" is a torch song written for the 1954 version of A Star Is Born. The song, with music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by Ira Gershwin, is performed in the film by Judy Garland. "The Man That Got Away" was ranked #11 by the American Film Institute on the AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs list. It was nominated for Best Original Song at the 27th Academy Awards but lost to "Three Coins in the Fountain".
Ziegfeld Follies is a 1945 American musical comedy film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), primarily directed by Vincente Minnelli, with segments directed by Lemuel Ayers, Roy Del Ruth, Robert Lewis, and George Sidney, the film's original director before Minnelli took over. Other directors that are claimed to have made uncredited contributions to the film are Merrill Pye, Norman Taurog, and Charles Walters. It stars many MGM leading talents, including Fred Astaire, Lucille Ball, Lucille Bremer, Fanny Brice, Judy Garland, Kathryn Grayson, Lena Horne, Gene Kelly, James Melton, Victor Moore, William Powell, Red Skelton, and Esther Williams.
Summer Stock is a 1950 American Technicolor musical film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed by Charles Walters, stars Judy Garland and Gene Kelly, and features Eddie Bracken, Gloria DeHaven, Marjorie Main, and Phil Silvers. Musical numbers were staged by Nick Castle and Kelly.
"Happy Days Are Here Again" is a 1929 song with music by Milton Ager and lyrics by Jack Yellen. The song is a standard that has been interpreted by various artists. It appeared in the 1930 film Chasing Rainbows and was the campaign song for Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1932 presidential campaign. It is the unofficial anthem of Roosevelt's Democratic Party. Its copyright was renewed in 1956, so it will enter the American public domain on January 1, 2025. Sound recordings from 1929 will follow on January 1, 2030, under the provisions of the Music Modernization Act.
Joseph "Joe" Bushkin was an American jazz pianist.
Judy at Carnegie Hall is the second live album by Judy Garland, released on July 10, 1961, by Capitol Records. The album is a live recording of a concert by Garland held at Carnegie Hall in New York City, with backing orchestra conducted by Mort Lindsey. It was recorded on the night of Sunday April 23, 1961 and re-released decades later as an extended, two-disc CD).
Valley of the Dolls is a 1967 American drama film directed by Mark Robson and produced by David Weisbart, based on Jacqueline Susann's 1966 novel. The film stars Barbara Parkins, Patty Duke, and Sharon Tate as three young women who become friends as they struggle to forge careers in the entertainment industry. As their careers take different paths, all three descend into barbiturate addiction. Susan Hayward, Paul Burke, and Lee Grant co-star.
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!"
Every Sunday is a 1936 American musical short film about two adolescent girls and their efforts to save a public concert series threatened by poor attendance.
"Live" at the London Palladium is a live album by Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli, released on July 25, 1965 by Capitol Records.