Judy Garland

A detailed Summary of Judy Garland

Little do most people know that Frances Ethel Gumm was one of the greatest actor and singer of all time. I know you are probably thinking well than why have I never heard of her. The reason you have never heard of this astounding actress and singer is because she is better known as Judy Garland. My purpose for this paper is to inform many Garland fans of not only her achievements but to let you know of some of the obstacles she incurred behind the scenes of her acting/singing career.

Judy did not have much of a childhood due to her early start in the music business. It was at the age of thirty months when Judy held her first performance singing Jingle Bells on stage at her father's theater. From there performances never stopped for the young Judy. At age, five her and her other two sisters began the Gumm Trio whose name later changed to the Garland Trio. This was a suggestion made by George Jessel after he heard some of the audience poking fun of the girl's last name during a performance. Once the Garland Trio became more popular Judy finished elementary school and began school at Lawler's Professional School in Los Angeles. It was after one of the girl's concerts in 1935 that Judy signed a

Judy had much success in both the music and the acting business. After all how could one not have any success after working 45 of the 47 years of their life. Judy's works include 43 films, 31 movies, 22 feature films, more musicals than any other woman in history, she appeared on over a dozen television shows, performed over 1000 concerts, and recorded over 90 hits. Of all the hits she recorded five of them received Grammy's including Judy at Carnegie Hall. She also received a special Academy Award that was given just for her honor.

Now that a little bit of background has been given about Judy and all of her success it is important to know that Judy's life was not all glamour and fame. Judy was under a lot of pressure and in fact, her daughter Lorna believed that " it was the pressure of Hollywood that killed my mother, no one could save her but herself." The pressure of Hollywood began when Judy first saw herself on screen in her first movie. She had this to say about herself, "I was frightening-a fat little frightening pig with pigtails"(Wilson) After this comment MGM put Garland on amphetamines to help control her weight. It was once Judy started the pills that her life began to go down hill. From here, a great addiction took over Judy. Suicide entered Judy's mind several times and every time it entered Judy attempted to make it successful by overdosing on prescription pills. Not only did Judy have an addiction to pills but also a terrible problem with keeping her marriages. Judy was married 5 different times. These five men include: David Rose, Vincente Minnelli

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Approximate Word count = 1065
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: People