Biography for
Judy Garland (I) More at IMDb Pro »

Date of Birth

10 June 1922, Grand Rapids, Minnesota, USA

Date of Death

22 June 1969, Chelsea, London, England, UK (accidental barbiturate overdose)

Birth Name

Frances Ethel Gumm

Nickname

Baby Gumm
Miss Showbusiness
Joots

Height

4' 11½" (1.51 m)

Mini Biography

She immediately attracted attention in such films as Pigskin Parade (1936), Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938) and Broadway Melody of 1938 (1937), but Judy Garland didn't truly become a star until she was cast in The Wizard of Oz (1939). Her performance as Dorothy won her a special Juvenile Oscar, and it was this role, of course, that gave her her most famous song, "Over the Rainbow." She then appeared in a long string of classic MGM musicals, including Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), Easter Parade (1948) and several with her friend, Mickey Rooney. Unfortunately, the same studio that made her a star unwittingly made her a drug addict, providing her with amphetamines to keep her energy level high and her weight level down. This in turn kept her wide awake at night, unable to sleep, so she was given barbiturates to help her sleep. She soon couldn't live without these "wonder drugs." She also couldn't seem to live without a man, as she went through several affairs, often with older men, and by 1950 had been married twice, to bandleader David Rose and director Vincente Minnelli. She had a daughter, Liza Minnelli, with Vincente. All during this time her drug intake had increased dramatically, which led to increasingly erratic behavior and she often failed to show up on time at the studio. MGM eventually couldn't take it any more, and her contract was terminated in 1950. She divorced Minnelli the following year and married producer Sidney Luft. Luft, the father of her daughter Lorna Luft and son Joey Luft, took it upon himself to orchestrate her comeback with a series of very successful concert tours. He also produced the film A Star Is Born (1954), in which many feel she gave her greatest performance. By now she was concentrating on her career as a singer, which was winning her more legions of fans. She continued touring throughout the 1950s and 1960s, appearing in three more films and starring in her own television variety show in 1963, which had to be canceled after one season because the competition, "Bonanza" (1959), was too strong. She divorced Luft and married actor Mark Herron; she divorced him when she found out he was gay, and married disco manager Mickey Deans. Throughout this time, however, she still continued her dependency on prescription drugs, and finally the inevitable happened: on the night of June 22, 1969, she overdosed on barbiturates and died. Thousands mourned the world over. It was a sad way to end, but she has left a great legacy: her many films and recordings, as well as her children. Liza and Lorna are now singers as well, carrying on the family tradition.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Tommy Peter

Mini Biography

"But Ol' Man River, he jes' keepin rollin' along" was a line in one of the many songs that Judy Garland recorded. She was born in the Upper Mississippi River town of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, where the Judy Garland Museum takes up an entire floor of the old grade school. A block away is the site of the home where Garland spent the first five years of her life. That spot is now occupied by a multiplex cinema in the town's only shopping center. Garland's father operated the only movie theater in Grand Rapids until he moved the family to California in 1927. Garland made her stage debut at that Grand Rapids theater with her two older sisters. In 1934, the Gumm Sisters performed in Chicago during the World's Fair there. That is where Frances Gumm was advised to change her name to Judy Garland. Her voice got her into film acting when she was 13 and kept her in demand for stage and television performances after her film career was over. The Judy Garland in the later movies was much slimmer than the teenager who co-starred with Mickey Rooney and who played Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz (1939). The final display in The Judy Garland Museum blames the pills she started taking in the 1940s to achieve the streamlined figure Hollywood wanted her to have for her early death.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Dale O'Connor

Mini Biography

Judy Garland was born on 10th June 1922 as Frances Ethel Gumm, the youngest daughter and child to vaudevillians Frank and Ethel Gumm in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, America. At just 2-years-old in December 1924, Baby Frances was drafted into the dance act entitled 'The Gumm Sisters', which included her two older sisters Mary Jane Gumm and Virginia Gumm. It was only when she repeatedly sang 'Jingle Bells' and had to be dragged off the stage kicking and screaming by her maternal grandmother Eva Milne that her mother Ethel could see her youngest daughter was going to be the biggest star. Baby Frances' childhood was extremely unhappy as she spent most of it on the road with her mother and sisters looking for nightclubs and hotels to perform in, often living out of their rented automobile. In 1927, Baby Frances and her family moved to Lancaster, California having been run out of Grand Rapids due to her father's homosexuality and sexual advances on teenage boys. In 1932, Baby Frances left Lancaster and her father behind for a new life in Los Angeles with her mother and sisters where, yet again, there were practically living out of their automobile. Eventually in 1933 her father joined them and in September 1935, Frances signed a contract with leading film studio MGM at the age of 13 after singing before movie mogul Louis B. Mayer. She changed her name to Judy Garland, her surname after film critic Robert Garland and her first name after the song 'Judy'. She stubbornly refused to be called anything else, having always hated her given name Frances. She performed on radio, as MGM had nothing else to give its new singing star. However, with her newfound career came tragedy when her father Frank contracted meningitis and sadly passed away on 17th November 1935 whilst Judy was performing on radio. Judy was severely devastated by her father's death, being only 13 at the time, and spent the rest of her life looking for a father figure. The arrival of Deanna Durbin in December 1935 almost cost Judy her career when, having lost the film rights to certain films that both Judy and Deanna were going to star in, MGM found themselves with two teenagers and no prospects for them. A short was set up entitled Every Sunday (1936) which would be the girls' screen test. It was then decided that Deanna should go and Judy should stay. In June 1936, Judy made her film debut with Pigskin Parade (1936) at the age of 14, in which she played a barefoot, pigtailed hillbilly. The film proved to be a success, but Judy's career was left hanging in the balance, especially with Deanna's instant success with Fox Studios in December 1936. It was singing at a birthday party for Clark Gable in February 1937 that saved Judy this time, having sung the song 'You Made Me Love You', which was devised by her singing coach Roger Edens. MGM now found reasons to put Judy into films and throughout 1937 and 1938 she was kept busy. However, despite her film career now booming, the issue of Judy's weight caught serious problems and after trying to starve the poor teenager, they began feeding the girl pills, especially amphetamines, in order to give her the desired streamlined figure of movie stars. In 1939, Judy shot immediately to stardom with The Wizard of Oz (1939) at the age of 17, in which she portrayed Dorothy, an orphaned girl living on a farm in the dry planes of Kansas who gets whisked off into the magical world of Oz on the other end of the rainbow. Her poignant performance and sweet delivery of her signature song 'Over The Rainbow' earned Judy a special juvenile Oscar statuette on 29th February 1940 for Best Performance by a Juvenile Actor. Now growing up, Judy began to yearn for more meatier, adult roles instead of the virginal characters she had been playing since she was 14. She was now taking an interest in men and after starring in her final juvenile performance in Ziegfeld Girl (1941) alongside glamorous beauties Lana Turner and Hedy Lamarr, Judy got engaged to band leader David Rose in May 1941, just 2 months after his divorce to Martha Raye. Despite planning a big wedding, the couple eloped to Las Vegas and married during the early hours of the morning on 28th July 1941 when Judy was 19, with just her mother Ethel and her stepfather Will Gilmore present. However, their marriage went downhill as, after discovering that she was pregnant in November 1942, David and MGM persuaded her to abort the baby in order to keep her good-girl image up. She did so and, as a result, was haunted for the rest of her life by her 'inhumane actions'. The couple separated in January 1943 when Judy realized that David was too weak to fight for her and stand up to MGM for doing this to his wife. By this time, Judy had starred in her first adult role as a vaudevillian during WWI in For Me and My Gal (1942). Within weeks of separation, Judy was soon having an affair with actor Tyrone Power, who was married to French actress Annabella. Their affair ended in May 1943, which was when her affair with producer Joseph L. Mankiewicz kicked off. He introduced her to psychoanalysis and she soon began to make decisions about her career on her own, instead of the influence of the domineering MGM and her mother. Their affair ended in November 1943 and soon afterward, Judy reluctantly began filming Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), which proved to make her a big success. The director Vincente Minnelli highlighted Judy's beauty for the first time on screen having made the period musical in her color, her first color film since The Wizard Of Oz (1939). He showed off her large brandy-brown eyes and her full thick lips and after filming ended in April 1944, a love affair resulted between director and actress and they were soon living together. Vincente began to mold Judy and her career, making her more beautiful and more popular with audiences worldwide. He directed her in The Clock (1945) and it was during the filming of this movie that the couple announced their engagement on set on 9th January 1945. Judy's divorce from David Rose had been finalized on 8th June 1944 after almost 3 years of marriage and, despite her brief fling with Orson Welles who, at the time, was married to screen sex goddess Rita Hayworth, on 15th June 1945, Judy made Vincente her second husband after tying the knot with him that afternoon at her mother's home at the age of 23, with her boss Louis B. Mayer giving her away and her best friend Betty Asher serving as bridesmaid. They spent 3 months on honeymoon in New York and after wards, Judy discovered that she was pregnant. On 12th March 1946 in Los Angeles, California, Judy gave birth to their daughter Liza Minnelli via Caesarean section. It was a joyous time for the couple, but Judy was out of commission for weeks due to the Caesarean and her postnatal depression, so she spent much of her time re-cooperating in bed. She soon returned to work, but married life was never the same for Vincente and Judy after they filmed The Pirate (1948) together in 1947. Judy's mental health was fast deteriorating and she began hallucinating things and making false accusations of people, especially of her husband, making the filming a nightmare. She also began an affair with aspiring Russian actor Yul Brynner, but after the affair ended, Judy soon regained health and tried to salvage her failing marriage. She then teamed up with dancing legend Fred Astaire for the delightful musical Easter Parade (1948), which proved a successful comeback, despite having Vincente fired from directing the musical. Afterwards, Judy's health deteriorated and she began the first of several suicide attempts. In May 1949, she was checked into a rehabilitation center, which caused her much distress. She soon regained strength and was visited frequently by her lover Frank Sinatra, but never such much of Vincente or Liza. On returning, Judy made In the Good Old Summertime (1949), which was also her daughter's film debut, albeit Liza had an uncredited cameo. She had already been suspended by MGM for her lack of cooperation on the set of The Barkleys of Broadway (1949), which also resulted in her getting replaced by Ginger Rogers. After being replaced by Betty Hutton on Annie Get Your Gun (1950), Judy was suspended yet again, before making her final film for MGM entitled Summer Stock (1950). At 28, Judy received her third suspension and was fired by MGM and her second marriage was soon dissolved. Having taken up with Sidney Luft, Judy traveled to London to star at the legendary Palladium. She was an instant success and after her divorce to Vincente Minnelli was finalized on 29th March 1951 after almost 6 years of marriage, Judy traveled with Sid to New York to make an appearance on Broadway. With her newfound fame on stage, Judy was stopped in her tracks in February 1952 when she fell pregnant by her new lover Sid. She made him her third husband on 8th June 1952 at the age of 30 after tying the knot with him at a friend's ranch in Pasadena. Her relationship with her mother had long since been dissolved by this point and after the birth of her second daughter Lorna Luft on 21st November 1952, she refused her mother Ethel to see her granddaughter. Ethel then died on 5th January 1953 of a heart attack, leaving Judy devastated and guilty about not reconciling with her mother before her untimely demise. After the funeral, Judy signed a film contract with Warner Bros. to star in the musical remake of A Star Is Born (1937), which had starred Janet Gaynor, who had won the first ever Academy Award for Best Actress in 1929. Filming soon began and as a result, set off an affair between Judy and her leading man, British star James Mason. She also picked up on her affair with Frank Sinatra and after filming was complete, Judy was yet again immortalized for being a great film star. She won a Golden Globe for her brilliant and truly outstanding performance as Esther Blodgett, nightclub singer turned movie star, but when it came to the Academy Awards, a distraught Judy lost out to Grace Kelly for the Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of the wife of an alcoholic star in The Country Girl (1954). It is still argued today that Judy should have won the Oscar over Grace Kelly. Continuing her work on stage, Judy gave birth to her beloved son Joey Luft on 29th March 1955. She soon began to lose her millions of dollars due to her husband's strong gambling addiction and with hundreds of debts to pay, Judy and Sid began a volatile, on-off relationship which resulted in numerous attempts to file for divorce. In 1961, Judy returned to her ailing film career, this time to star in Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) at the age of 39, for which she received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress, but this time lost out to Rita Moreno for the coveted Academy Award, due to her performance in West Side Story (1961). Her battles with alcoholism and drugs led to Judy making thousands of headlines in newspapers, but she soldiered on, forming a close friendship with President John F. Kennedy. In 1963, Judy and Sid finally separated permanently and on 19th May 1965, their divorce was finalized after almost 13 years of marriage. By this time, Judy had made her final performance on film alongside Dirk Bogarde in I Could Go on Singing (1963) at the age of 41. She married her fourth husband Mark Herron on 14th November 1965 in Las Vegas, but they separated in April 1966 after 5 months of marriage due to his homosexuality. It was also that year that she began an affair with young journalist Tom Green. She then settled down in London after their affair ended and she began dating disk jockey Mickey Deans in December 1968, before getting engaged once her divorce from Mark Herron was finalized on 9th January 1969 after 3 years of marriage. She married Mickey, her fifth and final husband, in a register office in Chelsea, London on 15th March 1969. She continued working on stage, appearing several times with her daughter Liza. It was during a concert in Chelsea, London that Judy stumbled into her bathroom late one night and died of an overdose of barbiturates, the drug that had dominated her her whole life, on 22nd June 1969 at the age of 47. Her daughter Liza Minnelli paid for her funeral and her former lover James Mason delivered her touching eulogy. She is still an icon to this day with her famous performances in The Wizard of Oz (1939), Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), Easter Parade (1948) and A Star Is Born (1954).

IMDb Mini Biography By: s-cheyne@supanet.co.uk

Spouse

Mickey Deans	(15 March 1969 - 22 June 1969) (her death)
Mark Herron	(14 November 1965 - 9 January 1969) (divorced)
Sidney Luft	(8 June 1952 - 19 May 1965) (divorced) 2 children
Vincente Minnelli	(15 June 1945 - 29 March 1951) (divorced) 1 child
David Rose	(28 July 1941 - 8 June 1944) (divorced)

Trivia

She was considered an icon in the gay community in the 1950s and 1960s. Her death and the loss of that emotional icon in 1969 has been thought to be a contributing factor to the feeling of the passing of an era that helped spark the Stonewall Riots that began the militant gay rights movement.

Sister of Mary Jane Gumm and Virginia Gumm.

Mother of Liza Minnelli, Lorna Luft, and Joey Luft.

6/12/64: She married Mark Herron, although her divorce from Sidney Luft was not settled. They were married in Mandarin by a Buddhist monk, and the validity of this marriage is not clear.

1961: Her record "Judy Garland at Carnegie Hall" garnered five Grammy Awards and remained at the top of Billboard's charts for two months.

There is surviving footage of Garland performing the lead role of Annie Oakley in Annie Get Your Gun (1950) before she was replaced by Betty Hutton, and this has been included in many documentaries. Undoubtedly, the best is That's Entertainment! III (1994), which for the first time assembled raw unedited footage for two musical numbers and presented them as they would have looked had the film been completed with Garland. Also surviving today are Garland's prerecordings of all songs for the production.

Originally screen-tested and signed to play the main supporting role of Helen Lawson, in Valley of the Dolls (1967). The studio even provided her with a pool table in her dressing room at her request. Eventually she backed out of the film and was ultimately replaced by Susan Hayward. She kept her costume when she walked off the film, and proceeded to wear the sequined pantsuit while performing in concerts around the world. The character of Neely O'Hara in the film was partially based on her own history (with pills, alcohol, and failed marriages). Sadly, it was Garland's real-life pill addiction that contributed to her leaving this film.

6/27/69: Her funeral was held in Manhattan at the Frank E. Campbell funeral home at Madison Ave. and 81st St., and 22,000 people filed past her open coffin over a 24-hour period. Ex-husband Vincente Minnelli did not attend. James Mason delivered the eulogy. Her body had been stored in a temporary crypt for over one year. The reason for this is that no one had come forward to pay the expense of moving her to a permanent resting spot at Ferncliff Cemetery in Ardsley, NY. Liza Minnelli had the impression that Judy's last husband, Mickey Deans, had made the necessary arrangements but Deans claimed to have no money. Liza then took on the task of raising the funds to have her properly buried. Death was caused by an "incautious self-overdosage of Seconal" which had raised the barbiturate level in her body beyond its tolerance.

Interred at Ferncliff Cemetery, Hartsdale, New York, USA.

Judy heard the same phrase in two movies: For Me and My Gal (1942) and Easter Parade (1948). In both, her love interest (played by Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire, respectively) says this: "Why didn't you tell me I was in love with you?"

The day she died, there was a tornado in Kansas.

Liza Minnelli said that Judy planned on calling her autobiography "Ho-Hum".

Her portrayal of Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz (1939) was the inspiration for the character of Mary Ann on "Gilligan's Island" (1964). (From Kansas, ponytails, lived on a farm with an aunt and uncle...).

Liza Minnelli originally wanted Mickey Rooney to deliver Garland's eulogy, but she was afraid that he wouldn't be able to get through it. So James Mason did it instead.

According to singer Mel Tormé, she had a powerful gift of retention. She could view a piece of music once and have the entire thing memorized.

1997: Posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

1998: Garland's album, "Judy at Carnegie Hall" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

First cousin three times removed of US President Ulysses S. Grant.

September 2002: A Los Angeles federal judge barred Sidney Luft from selling the replacement Juvenile Oscar she received for The Wizard of Oz (1939). Luft was also ordered to pay nearly $60,000 to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to end their second lawsuit against him for repeatedly trying to sell the statuette.

Favorite actor was Robert Donat (best known for his portrayal of the title character in the film Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)).

Her soulful and iconic performance of "Over The Rainbow" from The Wizard of Oz (1939) claimed the #1 spot on June 22, 2004 in The American Film Institute's list of "The 100 Years of The Greatest Songs". The AFI board said "Over The Rainbow" have captured the nation's heart, echoed beyond the walls of a movie theater, and ultimately stand in our collective memory of the film itself. It has resonated across the century, enriching America's film heritage and captivating artists and audiences today.

She discouraged her children from entering show business, pointing out her financial and health problems resulting from the nature of the entertainment business. Nevertheless, two of her children, Liza Minnelli and Lorna Luft both became entertainers. Her son Joe lives in relative anonymity as a freelance photographer.

She experienced financial difficulties in the 1960s due to her overspending, periods of unemployment, owing of back taxes and embezzlement of funds by her business manager. The IRS garnished most of her concert revenues in the late 1960s. Her financial difficulties combined with her erratic behavior due to her drug dependencies helped break up her marriages and estrange her children from her a year before her death.

Was a member of The International Order of Job's Daughters.

She was voted the 23rd Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly.

Groucho Marx called her not winning an Oscar for A Star Is Born (1954), "the biggest robbery since Brink's." Hedda Hopper later reported that her loss to Grace Kelly for The Country Girl (1954) was the result of the closest Oscar vote up till that time that didn't end in a tie, with just six votes separating the two. In any event, it was a heartbreak from which she never really recovered and which has remained a matter of some controversy ever since.

Always had crooked front teeth, for which an MGM dentist fitted her with removable caps to wear in her films, including The Wizard of Oz (1939).

Her daughter Liza Minnelli was once married to Jack Haley Jr., the son of her The Wizard of Oz (1939) co-star Jack Haley, who played the Tin Man.

Has a special variety of rose named after her. The petals are yellow (Garland adored yellow roses) and the tips are bright red. It took devoted fans almost nine years after her death to find a rose company in Britain interested in naming a rose officially for her, and the Judy Garland rose didn't appear in the US until 1991. Several JG rose bushes are planted outside of her burial crypt, and at the Judy Garland museum in Grand Rapids.

She was three-quarters Scottish and one-quarter Irish in ancestry.

1952: Received a Special Tony Award "for an important contribution to the revival of vaudeville through her recent stint at the Palace Theatre.".

When she married Vincente Minnelli, Louis B. Mayer gave her away.

Had weight problems most of her life. Sometimes she would be 80 pounds and then could gain 30 pounds in a a matter of days, only to lose it all again. Drastic weight fluctuations often affected continuity in her films and can be seen in Words and Music (1948) and Summer Stock (1950).

She was voted the 22nd Greatest Movie Star of all time by Premiere Magazine.

Was named #8 Actress on The AFI 50 Greatest Screen Legends

3/23/90: Pictured on one of four 25¢ USA commemorative postage stamps honoring classic films released in 1939. The stamp shows Judy Garland as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz (1939), along with Toto (portrayed by Terry). The other films honored were Beau Geste (1939), Stagecoach (1939), and Gone with the Wind (1939).

Is portrayed by Judy Davis and Tammy Blanchard in Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows (2001) (TV), by Elizabeth Karsell in James Dean (2001) (TV) and by Andrea McArdle in Rainbow (1978) (TV).

The song "Quiet Please, There's A Lady On Stage" from the stage musical "The Boy From Oz" was written by Peter Allen (Liza Minnelli's former husband) as a tribute to her.

Was pregnant with her first child Liza Minnelli while filming her minor role in Till the Clouds Roll By (1946). In order to hide her pregnant stomach she was hidden behind stacks of dishes while singing "Look For The Silver Lining". She had also recorded a song "Do You Love Me", which was cut before release. Her scenes were directed by her then husband Vincente Minnelli.

After serving as the music director on her short-lived CBS series, Mel Tormé wrote a vicious tell-all book about his talented but challenging former boss. So frustrated from the experience, his words in "The Other Side of The Rainbow: With Judy Garland on the Dawn Patrol" portrayed Garland as hopelessly drug-addicted, unprofessional and a horror to work with.

2006: Her performance as Vicki Lester in A Star Is Born (1954) is ranked #72 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time.

Her performance as Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz (1939) is ranked #17 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.

During her first marriage to David Rose, Judy was forced to undergo an abortion at the insistence of MGM studio head Louis B. Mayer who feared that pregnancy would hurt her good-girl image. The event left her traumatized for the rest of her life.

6/10/06: Pictured on a 39¢ USA commemorative postage stamp in the Legends of Hollywood series.

The godparents of her daughter Liza Minnelli were Ira Gershwin and Kay Thompson

Grandmother of Vanessa and Jesse Richards, children of singer Lorna Luft.

Godfather of her daughter Lorna Luft was Frank Sinatra

Father was movie theater owner Francis 'Frank' Gumm (born 20 March, 1886 - died 17 November, 1935). Mother was Ethel Milne (born 17 November, 1893 - died 05 January, 1953).

Born in Grand Rapids, Minnesota and later lived up in Lancaster, California. John Wayne, then attending college at USC, was a neighbor of Judy's.

Gave birth to all three of her children via Caesarean section. She also suffered from postpartum depression after the birth of her two daughters Liza Minnelli and Lorna Luft.

The famous theme song David Raksin wrote for the film Laura (1944) was originally entitled "Judy" in honor of her.

Had intense fears of flying, horses, and guns.

Was considered for the role of Careen O'Hara in Gone with the Wind (1939), but the role was eventually given to Ann Rutherford, so Judy immediately began working on The Wizard of Oz (1939), a film which was considered for as early as 1937.

As a teenager on the MGM lots, she was good friends with Lana Turner and Ann Rutherford.

Johnnie Ray was best man at her wedding to fifth husband Mickey Deans.

Did not attend the 1955 Academy Awards, where she was nominated as Best Actress for her portrayal of Vicki Lester in A Star Is Born (1954), because she was in hospital after giving birth to her third child and only son Joey Luft.

She only performed "Over The Rainbow" twice during her many television appearances, which spanned 14 years. She performed it on her first TV Special, "Ford Star Jubilee" (1955) episode, "The Judy Garland Special" in 1955, and sang it to her children on The Christmas Edition of her weekly "The Judy Garland Show" (1963).

Betty Asher, who worked on the MGM lots, served as her maid of honor during her wedding to Vincente Minnelli in 1945.

Was close friends with Lauren Bacall, who had once been her neighbor during the 1950s. Had Judy won the 1955 Best Actress Oscar for A Star Is Born (1954), Lauren would have accepted the Oscar statuette on her behalf.

Offered the lead role in The Three Faces of Eve (1957), but turned down the role because the storyline bore too many resemblances to her own personal life. The role was then given to Joanne Woodward who went on to win the Best Actress Oscar for her performance.

Was Matron of Honor at the wedding of actor Don DeFore and Marian Holmes DeFore on February 14, 1942.

The only witnesses present at her Las Vegas wedding to David Rose in 1941 were her mother and stepfather.

Personal Quotes

[when told by a reporter that she had a large gay following] I couldn't care less. I sing to people!

How strange when an illusion dies. It's as though you've lost a child.

Well, we have a whole new year ahead of us. And wouldn't it be wonderful if we could all be a little more gentle with each other, and a little more loving, have a little more empathy, and maybe - next year at this time - we'd like each other a little more.

[MGM] had us working days and nights on end. They'd give us pep-up pills to keep us on our feet long after we were exhausted. Then they'd take us to the studio hospital and knock us cold with sleeping pills . . . Then after four hours they'd wake us up and give us the pep-up pills again so we could work another 72 hours in a row. I started to feel like a wind-up toy from FAO Schwarz.

Hollywood is a strange place if you're in trouble. Everybody thinks it's contagious.

[on her sadistic stage mother] She was the real Wicked Witch of the West.

I was born at the age of 12 on a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer lot.

I wanted to believe and I tried my damndest to believe in the rainbow that I tried to get over and couldn't. So what? Lots of people can't...

As for my feelings toward "Over the Rainbow", it's become part of my life. It is so symbolic of all my dreams and wishes that I'm sure that's why people sometimes get tears in their eyes when they hear it.

In the silence of night I have often wished for just a few words of love from one man, rather than the applause of thousands of people.

My mother had a marvelous talent for mishandling money - mine. When I was put under stock contract at Metro and had a steady income for the first time, we lived in a four-unit apartment building. I suggested to Mother that we buy it as an investment and rent the other three apartments. She hit me in the mouth and invested the money in a nickel mine in Needles, California, that has never been found. We never got a nickel back.

Some of the [midget] men used to tease me while we were making The Wizard of Oz (1939). They used to sneak under my dress! I told them if they ever went under there - and I found out about it - they were in big trouble!

[on daughter Liza Minnelli] I think she decided to go into show business when she was an embryo, she kicked so much.

[during her short stint as a cast member of Valley of the Dolls (1967)] The stage hands hadn't even built the set yet, and the press had me walking off it!

When you have lived the life I've lived, when you've loved and suffered, and been madly happy and desperately sad -- well, that's when you realize you'll never be able to set it all down. Maybe you'd rather die first.

From the time I was thirteen, there was a constant struggle between MGM and me - whether or not to eat, how much to eat, what to eat. I remember this more vividly than anything else about my childhood.

I'm a woman who wants to reach out and take 40 million people in her arms.

I have the unfortunate habit of not being able to have an affair with a man without being in love with him.

If I am a legend, then why am I so lonely?

[of the MGM Studio school] The teacher, I think, was named Ma Barker.

Salary

Gay Purr-ee (1962)	$50,000 + 10% gross
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)	$50,000
A Star Is Born (1954)	$100,000 + 50% of profits
Summer Stock (1950)	$150,000
Words and Music (1948)	$100,000
Easter Parade (1948)	$150,000
The Pirate (1948)	$150,000
The Harvey Girls (1946)	$3,000/week
Girl Crazy (1943)	$29,000
For Me and My Gal (1942)	$2,000/week
Babes on Broadway (1941)	$2,000/week
Strike Up the Band (1940)	$500/week
Babes in Arms (1939)	$8,900
The Wizard of Oz (1939)	$500/week
Listen, Darling (1938)	$500/week
Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938)	$300/week
Thoroughbreds Don't Cry (1937)	$300/week
Broadway Melody of 1938 (1937)	$200/week
Every Sunday (1936)	$100/week

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