Great Joy Collective

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This is an 8-page zine– Folding instructions here

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Judy Garland was born Frances Ethel Gumm to Frances and Ethel Gumm on June 10, 1922, but they just called her “Baby.” Her parents were vaudevillians and owned a theatre in Minnesota. Baby Gumm’s first stage performance was at just 2 years old.

“The only time I felt wanted as a kid was when I was on stage, performing.”

Her family moved to California when she was four years old to escape the scandal of her father’s affairs with young men. Mama Ethel turned her attention towards grooming her three daughters for Hollywood stardom and changed their name to The Garland Sisters.

In 1934, Baby changed her name to Judy and became a solo act.

In 1935, at barely 13 years old, Judy signed a 7-year contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) for $100 a week. Louis B. Mayer would call Judy his “little hunchback” and they made her wear a prosthetic nose, dental caps, and restricted her food intake. She was an instant hit and MGM scheduled her for up to four movies a year.

To keep up with filming, Judy was fed a cocktail of amphetamines and barbiturates that she called her “bolts and jolts.”

It is unclear if MGM first prescribed the pills or if it was Judy’s mother Ethel.

“They’d give us pep pills then they’d take us to the studio hospital and knock us cold with sleeping pills… after four hours they’d wake us up and give us pep pills again…that’s the way we worked, and that’s the way we got thin. That’s the way we got mixed up. And that’s the way we lost contact.”

Judy Garland was abused by multiple husbands, in addition to the control from her mother and MGM. She was forced into having at least three abortions. She got married five times and had three children, including Liza Minnelli.

She struggled with addiction and mental health throughout her life and had many suicide attempts.

Due to her instability, MGM fired Judy in 1950. She continued to have a successful career touring and won a Golden Globe for her comeback role in A Star is Born (1954).

Despite her many successes, she had financial hardship. Her home was repossessed in 1967 and she lived in hotels and rental properties until her death.

Judy Garland died of an accidental overdose on June 22, 1969 at 47 years old. She was found by her husband of three months, slumped over on the toilet with her head still being held up by her hands.

During her funeral, around 22,000 fans patiently lined up behind barricades in NYC to see to Judy eternally resting in her glass topped casket.

“I’ve heard how ‘difficult’ it is to be with Judy Garland. Do you know how difficult it is to be Judy Garland? And for me to live with me? I’ve had to do it—and what more unkind life can you think of than the one I’ve lived? I’m told I’m a legend. Fine. But I don’t know what that means. I certainly didn’t ask to be a legend. I was totally unprepared for it.”