Random Tragic Stories From The Life Of Judy Garland (15 items)

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  (#1) Her Childhood Was Dominated By Her Ambitious Stage Mom

  Judy Garland was born Frances Ethel Gumm in Grand Rapids, MN, on June 10, 1922. She almost wasn't born at all; her mother - who had two children at the time - initially consulted doctors about the possibility of abortion, but doctors talked her out of it.

  Mrs. Gumm, a frustrated vaudevillian, put young Frances onstage when she was only two-and-a-half years old, adding her to an act with her two sisters. The Gumms relocated to Lancaster, CA, when Frances was 4 years old; Ethel wanted to get her children as close as possible to the film and entertainment center of Los Angeles.

  Later, the actress remembered her mom as "the real Wicked Witch of the West."
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  (#15) She Died Three Months After Marrying Her Fifth Husband

  Mickey Deans was managing a nightclub in New York in 1966 when he met Garland; a friend asked him to deliver some pills to her in her hotel suite. Deans became one of the many men who attempted to rescue Garland and re-ignite her career in her later years, though most gave up due to her erratic behavior and drug use. Deans, who was 10 years younger than Garland, dated the actress off and on for several years before proposing to her in 1969. They were married in London on March 15, 1969. Judy commented at the time about the marriage: "I finally got the right man to ask me, I've been waiting for a long time."

  Deans discovered 47-year-old Garland dead in their bathroom on June 22, 1969. A coroner ruled her death an accidental overdose of barbiturates.

  Despite her very public fall from grace, Garland's viewing in New York City was attended by 20,000 people. She was eulogized by her A Star is Born co-star James Mason, and her star-studded funeral was a sad affair honoring a great talent who was never really able to grow up.
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  (#6) Her First Marriage Was An Ill-Fated Escape Attempt From Her Mother

  Between dealing with harassment and ridicule from studio executives, hostility toward her domineering mother, and a belief that having a husband would shield her from all of the various bullies in her life, 19-year-old Garland decided to get married to bandleader David Rose. Despite ultimatums from both her mother and Louis Mayer, who both disliked the idea of the public no longer being able to perceive Garland as a young and innocent waif, Garland went through with the marriage on July 28, 1941.

  Garland quickly became pregnant, but Rose – and several others – convinced her to have an abortion. Garland and Rose separated after only eight months, and officially divorced in 1944.
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  (#13) She Got A Book Contract In 1960 But Never Finished The Manuscript

  In 1959, Garland was recuperating from hepatitis and cirrhosis of the liver in a Manhattan hospital when she was visited by Random House editor Bennett Cerf. He offered her a $35,000 contract for her autobiography, a memoir that she promised would be a frank and open tell-all about her turbulent career and emotional life. She made it through 65 pages of tape recordings before returning to Los Angeles, but the book was never completed.

  In 1966, desperate for a payday, Garland approached Random House, hoping to rekindle the deal. The publishing house declined the offer. The $35,000 was long gone, like most of her assets at the time.
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  (#11) She Threw A Knife At Her Son

  After Liza Minnelli got married and began to establish her own career, the job of being Garland's full-time caretaker fell to her younger daughter, Lorna Luft. Luft recalled talking her mother down from suicide threats and the difficulty of managing a parent with addiction issues as severe as her mother's. Once, Garland even hurled a knife at her son, Luft's younger brother Joey.

  Luft blamed her mother's behavior on a massive drug problem in which she consumed Ritalin and amphetamines at 20 times the normal dosage. Luft finally left her mother at the age of 16, unable to cope with her demanding and out-of-control parenting.
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  (#7) She Found Her Second Husband In Bed With Another Man

  Rumors of Vicente Minnelli's openly gay lifestyle in New York were swept under the rug in Los Angeles, where such behavior was unacceptable in the mainstream film industry.

  Garland met Minnelli, her second husband, when he directed her in Meet Me In St. Louis, a film that finally allowed Garland to appear as an attractive woman rather than a gawky child. They got married on June 15, 1945.

  Garland and Minnelli had a daughter, Liza, but a 20-year age difference and Garland's erratic personality and substance abuse put a strain on their relationship. Then, in 1948, Garland unexpectedly returned home to find her husband lovingly embracing their male employee. In response, she ran to the bathroom and attempted to cut her wrists. Minnelli stopped her before she seriously hurt herself.

  The couple separated in 1949 and officially divorced in 1951.

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