To this day, the public remembers actress and singer Judy Garland as one of the greatest artists who ever graced Hollywood. Her charisma, beautiful voice, and great acting skills have earned her a special place in people's hearts. She's best known for her role in The Wizard of Oz, one of her first performances.
However, Judy's real life was far from happy-go-lucky. Other people controlled her even before she became a star, exploiting her throughout most of her lifetime. As a result, she struggled with depression, leading a tormented existence that would end with her unexpected death. Let's explore her tragic life outside the spotlight.
She Was Raised In An Unstable Environment
Judy’s mother and father often got into heated arguments that ended with her father leaving the house. Eventually, he would return home, and the cycle would repeat itself. Their relationship is believed to be a marriage of convenience in order to run the theater they owned.
Judy had bitter memories of these times. The frequent comings and goings of her father gave her a sense of insecurity. Furthermore, he was supposedly attracted to both men and women, constantly rumored to be having an affair with one or more of the theater's ushers.
Her Mother Threatened Her Into Joining Show Business
Judy's parents were both involved in show business only indirectly. It was said that her mother didn't have any talent, so she hoped her children would fulfill her dreams for her. As a result, she constantly sought opportunities for her three daughters to perform onstage.
It became clear that Judy was more talented than her sisters. She later said her mother had threatened her into performing since she was three years old, often scolding her out of envy. Because of her mother's ambition, she was denied the joys of childhood.
The Studio Drugged Her From An Early Age
At the time, actors had few to no rights, and the film studios controlled every aspect of their lives. During her time at MGM, Judy was treated like a machine. The studio ruthlessly ensured she had the energy to perform despite having little to eat on its orders.
Among the methods the studio used was giving Judy stimulant pills so she could film 18 hours a day all seven days of the week. She was only a teenager when this pernicious regime started, and she would be addicted for the rest of her life.
They Capped Her Teeth & Put Prosthetics On Her Nose
Judy signed a contract with MGM when she was only 13 years old. Shortly afterward, her father died of meningitis. She was devastated but never got a chance to mourn as her mother and the studio pushed her into performing, often telling her she was too ugly to become a star without working hard.
In addition to the tremendous pressure she was under to keep working, Judy endured constant criticism of her appearance. The studio would cap her teeth and apply prosthetics to her nose in an attempt to make her look more attractive while maintaining her image as the girl next door.
She Was Often Terrorized For Her Weight
Even though Judy's weight was normal for her height, the studio wanted her to be as thin as possible, so she was fed nothing but soup and lettuce. She didn’t even get to choose her own meals. The studio also often made her wear corsets.
Judy was urged to smoke as many cigarettes a day as possible in a further attempt to lose weight. As a result, she grew up thinking she was fat. These experiences scarred her for life so that she would always be worried about her weight.
Men At The Studio Harassed Her Constantly
If speaking up about harassment by an employer is difficult these days, it was nearly impossible in the '40s. According to many sources, the head of the MGM studio would feel Judy's chest without her permission, pretending to signify that she sang from the heart.
Eventually, Judy dared to call him out on what he was doing, but he said that it was all a misunderstanding and that he loved her like a daughter. Throughout her career, co-workers at the studio and other men in show business propositioned her often.
She Once Slit Her Own Throat
Although Judy said in many interviews that she was happy, her misery was almost palpable. Her emotional state frequently deteriorated to the point where she considered ending her life. According to numerous memoirs written by those close to her, she tried to commit suicide several times.
After years of traumatic experiences and drug use, Judy's mental health had clearly suffered. She would often slit her wrists, and it was said that on one occasion she slit her throat, though the cut wasn't deep enough to be fatal. These incidents would cause huge problems in her marriages.
Desperate For Love, She Married Five Times
Judy had felt unloved since her early childhood. With her demanding work at the studio and so little control over her own life, she often sought comfort through romance. In her quest to find love, she married five different men. Sadly, most of these marriages ended in heartbreak.
Judy's failed marriages depressed her even further, with feelings of unworthiness making her self-esteem very low. She was so terrified of being lonely that on more than one occasion she remarried within a year after she got divorced. Her troubled love life regularly headlined celebrity news.
Marriage Became Her Escape Route
Judy had spent her entire life under the thumb first of her mother and then of the studio. Desperate to find a way out of her situation, she turned to romance. When she was only 19 years old, she married composer and musician David Rose.
The studio thought Judy's relationship with David might spoil her image. No one approved of their engagement, so they had to elope, getting married in 1941. But by 1944, they had gone their separate ways. Her first attempt at freedom had only brought her more grief.
She Was Pressured Into Having Abortions Twice
During her first marriage, Judy conceived, but the studio said having the child would completely ruin her career. Both David and the studio pressured her to get rid of the child. Even though it was illegal at the time, the studio had someone who would carry out the procedure.
Later on, in 1951, Judy was expecting a child again, this time with her boyfriend and future husband Sid Luft. However, they were married to other people at the time, and he urged her to get rid of this child as well. These procedures also severely traumatized her.
She Married Gay Men On Two Separate Occasions
A psychiatrist would say that we often unconsciously look for partners who remind us of our mothers or fathers. Considering the rumors about her father's personal orientation, therefore, it doesn't really come as much of a shock that two of Judy's husbands were gay men.
The first was Judy's second husband, Vincente Minelli. Although they had a daughter together, Liza Minelli, his attraction to other men caused a rift in the marriage. It was said that she found out her fourth husband, Mark Herron, was gay after he started an affair with her daughter, Liza's, husband.
Her Third Husband Gambled Away Her Fortune
Judy's third husband was Sid, with whom she had two children: Joey and Lorna Luft. With her resources, he could indulge his gambling addiction as much as he wanted to, and multiple sources report that her subsequent fall into dire financial straits resulted from his irresponsible behavior.
Sid later wrote a memoir, titled Judy and I, in which he discussed their marriage and how tormented Judy really was. According to him, she attempted suicide around 20 times while they were together. Their children would also talk about their mother’s instability after her death.
She Was An Addict For Most Of Her Adult Life
After the studio introduced Judy to pills when she was only a teenager, she became hopelessly addicted to them. She would use them for everything from losing weight to boosting her energy levels. Although she had difficulty admitting it, she felt like she needed the pills to function.
Later on, Judy would also use them to help her sleep, which would have tragic results years later. Sid said that he often tried to get her to stop taking the pills. Her son, Joey, would always remember her erratic behavior under the influence of her pills.
She May Have Possibly Been Bipolar
According to her daughter Liza, who became famous in her own right as a singer, dancer, and actress, Judy would go from terribly depressed to ecstatic in a span of minutes. Liza explained that this instability had a lasting effect on her and her siblings.
Based on the testimonies of Liza and other people close to Judy, there’s a strong possibility that she was suffering from bipolar disorder. However, there are no reports of any official diagnoses, though she did receive a prescription for postpartum depression on top of her already sizeable number of daily pills.
She Unexpectedly Lost An Oscar To Grace Kelly
Judy was fired by MGM in 1950. However, she made a comeback to the silver screen in A Star Is Born, a remake of the 1937 version. One of the producers was Sid, still her husband at the time. Unfortunately, the production became costly because of her.
It was said that Judy’s frequent bouts of illness delayed the shooting of the film, but both critics and the public adored the film when it was finally released. She earned an Academy Award nomination for her role. Everyone thought she would win, but the award went to actress Grace Kelly instead.
Her Managers Embezzled Her Income
Sid had been Judy’s manager for a long time, but this ended shortly after they divorced. She then hired Freddie Fields and David Begelman to be her managers, which was probably one of the worst decisions of her life, eventually leading her to file for bankruptcy.
Judy’s managers stole over $500K of her income, leaving her deeply indebted to the IRS. She had to sell her house for much less than what it was worth, and the IRS made it painfully clear that every possible of income she had would be used to pay her back taxes.
After A Life Of Wealth, She Died Flat Broke
Although she had been rich during most of her career, Judy was very poor toward the end of her life. She would go on tours around the world, but it wasn't enough to pay off her debt. Moreover, her performances were sometimes so disappointing that the public booed her off the stage in Melbourne, Australia.
During Judy's final years, she sang at various nightclubs and performed with two of her children. She was so far behind on her taxes that federal tax agents would appear to collect their share before she even finished her shows. She often received money from Liza.
She Found Happiness With Her Last Husband
During these last years of her life, Judy fell in love with Mickey Deans, a manager at one of the nightclubs where she was performing. At the time, she was in the process of getting a divorce from her fourth husband, Mark, who was also her manager.
To justify the separation, Judy claimed that Mark had beaten her, though he argued that he had hit her in self-defense. She married Mickey a month after her separation from Mark became official, but the marriage would last for only three months before tragedy struck her one last time.
Her Happiness Was Cut Short By Her Untimely Death
According to her friends, Judy was happy with Mickey. She herself stated that she finally felt loved and was happier than ever. People who saw her on the day prior to her death described her mood as upbeat, with no indication that she was considering suicide.
On June 22, 1969, when Judy was only 47 years old, Mickey found her body in the bathroom of the home they were renting in London, England. Afterward, the cause of death was determined to be an accidental barbiturate overdose. Tragically, she had found happiness at last only to be denied once more.