INTRODUCTION

HER STORY

QUOTES

Judy spent her final days with husband Mickey Deans at a small mews house on London's Cadogan Lane, near Sloane Square. Her final hours were spent listening to her hit records. Mickey later claimed that she played "Over The Rainbow" at least 30 times that day.

Judy Garland finally came to rest at Ferncliff Cemetery and Mausoleum in Hartsdale, in New York's Westchester County, 25 miles north of midtown Manhattan. In death, Judy's neighbors at Ferncliff include Joan Crawford, John Lennon and Ed Sullivan. It's ironic that Harold Arlen, composer of "Over The Rainbow," is also interred at Ferncliff.

Her ex husband, Sid Luft, attempted to auction off the Oscar Judy had won in 1939 for Best Juvenile Actress in "The Wizard of Oz." The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences sued him and won, claiming it had first option to buy back the Oscar at the price of $10. When he attempted to sell the Oscar again in 2002, the Academy sued him once more, and the court ordered him to pay $60,000 in damages.

In one of the great mistakes of the Academy Awards, the Oscar in 1954 went to Grace Kelly for her performance in "The Country Girl" instead of to Judy for "A Star Is Born." Of all the letters and telegrams Judy received, the one from Groucho Marx best summed it al up: "Dear Judy, This is the biggest robbery since Brinks."

During the filming of "Summer Stock," Judy was so addicted to the drug paraldehyde that her breath stank, and even when Gene Kelly complained that kissing her was an endurance test, she refused to use a spray.

Judy was given many nicknames by friends and peers: Jootes (Mickey Rooney), Judalein (Oz director Victor Fleming), Baby (family), Little Miss Leather Lungs (billing by her stage mother Ethel), The Little Girl with the Big Voice, Miss Show Business (in England), Queen of the Musicals (critics), The World's Greatest Entertainer (fans) and The Greatest Entertainer of the 20th Century (fans)."

Whenever somebody asked her, "Who would you like to look like?", Judy's instantaneous reply was always, "Lana Turner. That is beauty."

During the making of "The Wizard of Oz" her growing breasts were tightly bound and corseted beneath her simple gingham dress, all in an effort to make her look like a young girl rather than the blossoming teenager she was.

At the height of her drug addiction Judy would rifle other people's medicine cabinets. She would simply knock on friends' doors to ask if she could use the bathroom.  Word of her acquisitive habits soon got round, and when Judy was expected, bathrooms were emptied of almost everything but shaving cream and toothpaste.

Jacqueline Susann, modeled the character of Neely O'Hara in "Valley of the Dolls" after Judy.

During shooting of "A Star is Born" her thermos contained a stiff combination of vodka and grapefruit juice. Later, for the picture's premiere, Judy asked Michael Woulfe, her dress designer, to make her a hand muff big enough to hide a bottle of vodka.

Unbeknown to Judy and her daughter Liza, the men they were sleeping with-- Mark Herron and Peter Allen-- were also sleeping with each other.

Her mother tried to abort her. Once a star, Judy claimed her mother took delight in telling rooms full of people about the botched attempt at aborting her.

She told an interviewer in 1964 that she had had so many comebacks that every time she returned from the bathroom it was a comeback.

Had a love affair with Tyrone Power at the same time Lana Turner was having an affair with Power.

When she was about five her father was caught in a compromising situation with a young man of seventeen and in order to avoid a scandal the family moved from Grand Rapids to Los Angeles.

She gave Gene Kelly his start in movies when in 1942 she refused to have anyone but Kelly co-star with her in the movie "For Me and My Gal" which made him a star and led to two more films together, "The Pirate" and her last MGM film "Summer Stock."

Was replaced in the 1967 movie "Valley of the Dolls" by Susan Hayward after having been absent from the set for over 20 days.

Judy heard the same phrase in two movies: "For Me and My Gal" and "Easter Parade". In both, her love interest says : "Why didn't you tell me I was in love with you?"

Although she was America's most famous child star of her day she failed an audition for "Our Gang."

Her funeral was held on 27 June 1969 in Manhattan at the Frank E. Campbell funeral home at Madison Avenue and Eighty-first Street. Twenty-two thousand people filed past Judy's open coffin over a twenty-four hour period.

She was already considered a gay icon in the 1950's and 1960's. 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.

Judy wasn't the only actress to portray the fictional character of Dorothy. Diana Ross played Dorothy in "The Wiz" (1978).

Judy's body was 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 Judy to a permanent resting spot. Liza was under 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 Judy properly buried.

When a reporter asked her:"I understand you have a very large gay following, Miss Garland?", Judy replied: "I sing to people!"

During the making of "The Wizard of Oz" (1939), MGM forced her to fast on alternate days so that she would more closely resemble the gaunt eleven-year-old Dorothy.

Married five times in all. When she invited her daughter Liza Minnelli to her fifth wedding, Minnelli replied, "I can't make it, Mama, but I promise I'll come to your next one."

The site of the home in Grand Rapids, Minnesota where she spent the first five years of her life is now occupied by a multiplex cinema in the town's only shopping center.

Her death was caused by an incautious self-overdosage of "Seconal" which had raised the barbiturate level in her body beyond its tolerance.

Never won an Oscar for Best Actress but in 1939 she did win a special Oscar for Juvenile Acting in "The Wizard of Oz."

In 1934 the Gumm Sisters (Mary Jane, Virginia and Frances) performed in Chicago during the World's Fair. That is where Frances Gumm was advised to change her name to Judy Garland.

Shirley Temple was originally supposed to appear in "The Wizard of Oz" (1939) but couldn't be released from her studio for contractual reasons, which was why Judy Garland got the part.

Her 1961 album "Judy Garland at Carnegie Hall" topped the Billboard charts for two months and earned her 5 Grammy Awards.

She started her own television variety show in 1963, which had to be canceled after one season because the competition, "Bonanza," was too strong.