In the film Judy, Zellweger portrays the figure of the classic Hollywood actress Judy Garland. This classic actress was formerly known as Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz (1939) and A Star Is Born (1954). The glamorous life of a celebrity is displayed on his trailer. Although living in a sparkling world and a good career pace, on the one hand it has also been aggressively heard that Garland’s life is filled with tragedy. However, the film by Rupert Gold seems to be exploring the career struggles of a Judy Garland and her motherhood rather than focusing on her tragic story.
Since many of the current generation who do not know the figure of Garland, there is no harm in knowing a few facts from his life that can not be separated from the tragedy which is also part of his success story. Without intending to ‘Schadenfreude’ (feel happy to witness the suffering of others) or gossiping about change, here are some bitter stories that color the life of the actress:
Since childhood, Judy has become a ‘doll’ for his mother who is too ambitious. Born Frances Ethel Gumm in 1922, he was a baby who failed abortion. Since the age of two years Garland has been forced to go on stage by Mrs. Gumm, the mother.
This makes little Garland not live as a child in general. It becomes a means of investment for the mother so that she cannot freely play like children. This later led him to label his mother as “the evil witch of the true West.”
Garland’s father, Frank Gumm is a stage performer and he marries his mother only because they look good on stage rather than solely because of love. Reportedly Frank has an affair with a teenage boy (bisexual) who often attends his family theater. This also encouraged their families to move to California.
The problematic household life of his parents caused concern in him. He claimed to be afraid if they separated forever. Frank Gumm died in 1935, not long after Garland contracted with MGM.
At the age of 13, Judy signed her first contract with MGM. He will play a character that has the nature of children. His appearance in this first film must look immature for a predetermined time. To fulfill the studio’s request, he was forced to go on a diet, he also pressed the corset on his chest so it didn’t look like a teenager.
MGM studio’s head, Louis Mayer, often calls Garland “My Little Hunchback”, who knows what that means, but it is said that besides being too familiar with the strange call, Mayer’s hands often grope Judy’s body parts. Mayer contributed to the actress’s fitting process in the film Wizard of Oz. When Judy confronted this, Mayer was surprised and said that Judy was like her own child. Due to the mental stress he experienced, the actress was fired from MGM in 1950.
Garland was only 17 when he starred in The Wizard of Oz, who skyrocketed his name. For the sake of perfection, MGM always strives to starve the actresses to look thin, Garland is no exception. To keep his body slim, he went on a strict diet, drank black coffee and smoked as much as possible, he was also fed with anti-depressant drugs while promoting the film to a series of tours. Games Online dan Offline
Pressure from his biological mother and the studio made Garland think that having a husband would free him from misery. When he was 19 years old, Garland decided to marry David Rose. Regardless of the ultimatum of his mother and Louise Mayer who disagreed with the decision, Garland was determined to get married on July 28, 1941. Soon he was pregnant, but Rose and those around her advocated abortion. Finally, Garland and Rose separated after 8 months and officially divorced in 1944.
It’s no secret that Garland’s second husband, Vicente Minneli led an openly gay life in New York, where at that time gay life was still unacceptable in the Hollywood film industry. Garland met her second husband at Meet Me in St. Louis and married on June 15, 1945. They were blessed with a daughter named Liza. In 1948, Garland caught her husband hugging a man, immediately, Garland ran to the bathroom and almost injured his veins. A year later, they separated and officially divorced in 1951.
Garland’s career was in decline when he met Sidney Luft. They married in 1952, and Luft became Garland’s manager. Both produced A Star Is Born, a film that rekindled Garland’s career and got him nominated for an Academy Award. On the one hand, Luft is a compulsive gambler and alcoholic who consumes most of Garland’s income. Garland finally divorced Luft in 1960 after going bankrupt. Luft tried to sell the 1939 honorary Oscar Garland in 1993, but the Academy demanded that Luft go to court, and he was forced to pay compensation of $ 60,000.
Garland has a history of involvement with gay men before he met Mark Herron. The two married in Las Vegas in November 1965 even though Herron openly had a male lover. One day, Garland’s son Liza Minneli caught Herron with her husband, Peter Allen in his room. Herron and Garland finally separated after five months and officially divorced in 1967. Herron returned to his girlfriend until 25 years later.
Garland had issues with drugs and alcohol in his lifetime and worsened in the 1950s-60s. Liza Minneli had to support the lives of her mother and younger siblings and several times rescued her mother from an overdose and committed suicide plunging from a hotel window. After success, Minneli gave up on supporting her mother emotionally and financially. He refused phone calls from his mother and blocked Garland from coming to his apartment in Manhattan.
In 1968, Garland exiled his children, his colleagues, and anyone who could help him professionally. He was so poor that he lived on the mercy of the fans who would take him in and let him sleep on the couch.
One of the people who helped him, John Meyer, owns a gay link bar in Manhattan. Garland will sing a few songs and get paid $ 100.
Aged After Three Months of Marriage to the Fifth Husband
When he met Garland, Mickey Deans ran a nightclub in New York in 1966. Dean became one of the many men who tried to save Garland and reignite his career in the years that followed. Dean, 10 years younger than Garland, dated the actress for several years before marrying him on March 15, 1969. Dean found Garland died in the bathroom on June 22, 1969. His death at the age of 47 was convicted of an overdose
