Judy Garland - ©Theda Bara

The actress I highlight in this post is Judy Garland, who, in addition to acting in films, was an excellent singer. Judy was a very successful child actress in Hollywood.

Her only Oscar (“Baby Oscar” 1940 - a special statue half the size of a normal Oscar), was given for two films she acted in 1939: “The Wizard of Oz”, where she lived the unforgettable character: “Dorothy Gale” and “Babes in Arms”, where he gave life to the character: “Patsy”.

Judy Garland had a troubled life story since she was a child, which ended up becoming a film: “Judy” (2019), with actress Renée Zellweger playing the role of the actress and singer, ending up winning the Oscar for Best Actress in 2020. However, not everything is rosy, one of her ex-husbands, the American film producer. Michael Sidney Luft, using a diary written by Judy, published a biography: “Judy and Me: My Life with Judy Garland”, where he reports that the actress was molested by dwarfs who played the “Munchkins”, from “The Wizard of Oz”. The dwarfs allegedly raped the teenager on the film set, and the girl was only 16 years old at the time: “They thought they could do anything because they were so small. They made Judy’s life a nightmare on the set by putting their hands under her dress. The men were over 40 years old.” This is one of the many revelations that are in the actress's posthumous book.

Judy Garland has a star on the Los Angeles Walk of Fame at 1715 Vine Street, in the Film category.

Judy Garland, born Frances Ethel Gumm, on June 10, 1922, Grand Rapids, Minnesota, United States, having died on: June 22, 1969, Cadogan Lane, London, United Kingdom, still young, twelve days after turning 47 years old, from an overdose of barbiturates and alcohol.

Judy Garland was married five times. First with the British-born American pianist and conductor David Daniel Rose (1910-1990) from 1941 to 1944; from whom she was separated in the third year of her marriage; the second marriage was with the director of musical films, the American Vincente Minnelli, pseudonym: Lester Anthony Minnelli (1903-1986), father of the actress, dancer and singer Liza Minnelli (1946-), from 1945 to 1951; whom she also divorced; then married American film producer Michael Sidney Luft (1915-2005), from 1952 to 1965, another divorce; in 1965, she married in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States, with the American actor Truman Mark Herron (1928-1996), whom she divorced in 1969, after being assaulted by him several times; and lastly, she had a quick union with American musician Michael DeVinko Jr. (1934-2003), which lasted until her death in 1969.