Judy Garland

Judy Garland (June 10, 1922 - June 22, 1969) was a American actress who is considered one of the greatest singing stars of Hollywood's Golden Era of musical film.

Child star

Born Frances Ethel Gumm in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, Garland was signed at the age of 13 by Louis B. Mayer to a contract with MGM without a screen test. At the age of 16, she got the role of Dorothy in the film of The Wizard of Oz (1939), and was forever afterwards associated with the song, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". After Oz, Garland became one of MGM's most important stars, proving particularly popular when teamed with Mickey Rooney in a string of "let's put on a show!" musicals.

Movie star

Throughout the 1940s her films increased in popularity, the most critically and financially successful being Meet Me in St. Louis, in which she introduced three classics standards: "The Trolley Song," "The Boy Next Door," and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." Her other famous films include The Harvey Girls (1946), in which she introduced "On the Atchison Topeka and the Santa Fe," Easter Parade (1948), A Star Is Born (1954), and Judgment at Nuremberg (1962). She received an honorary Academy Award for her performance in The Wizard of Oz, and was nominated for Best Actress in A Star is Born, and Best Supporting Actress for Judgment at Nuremberg.

Renewed stardom in television

When her MGM contract was terminated in 1950, Garland turned to television and live concert appearances. Throughout the 1950s and most notably in the early 1960s she made enormously successful appearances in both mediums. Her appearance at Carnegie Hall was a considerable highlight, called by many the "greatest single night in show business," and the live recording made of the event was a best seller and won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year and Grammy Award for Best Female Vocal of the Year. She had a critically praised if short-lived television series in 1963 to 1964.

Untimely death

The shortcomings of her childhood years became more apparent as Garland struggled to overcome various personal problems, including weight gain, heavy drinking, and drug addiction. Her children were Liza Minnelli, Lorna Luft, and Joey Luft. Of Garland's five marriages, the first four marriages all ended in divorce. She died in 1969 (at the age of 47) in London from an accidental overdose of barbituates. Garland was interred in the Ferncliff Cemetery, Hartsdale, New York.

Legacy in gay rights

A gay icon, Garland always had a large fan base in the gay community Her burial in Manhattan resulted in an outpouring of New York City fans, more than 20,000 came to view her body, including hundreds of gay men. That night during a routine police raid at the Stonewall gay bar in Greenwich Village mourning gays fought back and sparked days of "gay liberation" riots. Out of Garland's death, the modern gay rights movement was born.