Hollywood Child Stars

The Career of Judy Garland

It could be said that the yellow brick road of stardom was paved for Frances Ethel Gumm even before she arrived in this world on June 10, 1922 in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. Her birth into a family of vaudevillians would set the stage for her future fame as an American singer and actress. She was first known as “Baby Gumm”, and did not adopt the stage name of Judy Garland until more than a decade later.

The Early Years
Baby Gumm made her debut appearance on stage in a Christmas play at her father’s theater where she crooned “Jingle Bells” much to the delight of the audience. Soon after, she would join her siblings to form a family trio called “The Gumm Sisters.” After their move to California in 1926, the sisters played many gigs and were even featured in a handful of short films from 1929 to 1935 including ‘The Big Revue’, ‘A Holiday in Storyland’, and ‘La Fiesta de Santa Barbara’. By the end of 1935, however, The Gumm Sisters were no more, and Baby Gumm had changed her name to Judy Garland. She was on her own.

MGM
Due to her early exposure as a member of The Gumm Sisters, and her mother’s persistence, Judy signed a contract with MGM in 1935. At the awkward age of 13, producers debated as to whether to feature her in child or adult roles. Considering her petite stature and “girl-next-door” looks, they decided on the former, and at the age of sixteen, she was cast in the role that would solidify her place in Hollywood history—Dorothy in ‘The Wizard of Oz’.
Even as she grew well into her teens, Judy Garland struggled to escape the ‘girlish box’ she had been put into by the film industry. Unfortunately, many producers considered her too short and too plain to compete with the glamorous leading ladies of the time such as Elizabeth Taylor and Ava Gardner. Even so, she experienced some success in “grown-up” films such as ‘Little Nellie Kelly’, ‘For Me and My Gal’, and ‘Meet Me in St. Louis’. However, after suffering a nervous breakdown and missing several shootings while filming ‘The Barkleys of Broadway’, Garland was suspended from MGM.

Vaudeville and Beyond
In 1951, Judy Garland made a bit of a comeback on Broadway, returning to her vaudeville roots. She performed at the Palace Theatre for a record nineteen weeks and received a Tony Award for her work. Just narrowly missing the Academy Award for Best Actress in the 1954 musical remake of ‘A Star is Born’ (an honor that many thought she rightly deserved), she won The Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Musical instead.

Television
Although best known for her work in films and musicals, Garland also appeared in several television specials including the first full-color broadcast on the network CBS which was met with unexpectedly high ratings. In 1962, the actress worked with CBS again; but this time she had her own series ‘The Judy Garland Show’. Unfortunately, competition from NBC’s ‘Bonanza’ forced the series off air after just one season, despite being critically acclaimed and nominated for multiple Emmy Awards.

Final Appearances
In 1964, Judy Garland sang onstage at the London Palladium with her now-famous daughter Liza Minnelli. A few years later, her final appearances were made on the stage of The Palace Theater in Broadway, where she performed with two of her children—Lorna and Joey Luft. She died in 1969 from an accidental drug overdose at the young age of 47. Her legend lives on.

More on Judy Garland
Judy Garland Biography, Judy Garland's Career