Judy Garland is a titan of the entertainment industry, best known for roles in classic films like The Wizard of Oz, Meet Me In St. Louis, Summer Stock and so many more.
On this day, we're celebrating the birthday of Ethel Gumm, better known to Broadway and film fans as the incomparable Judy Garland.
Garland began performing in vaudeville as a child with her two elder sisters and was later signed to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as a teenager. She appeared in more than two dozen films for MGM, and is best remembered for her portrayal of Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz (1939). Garland was a frequent on-screen partner of both Mickey Rooney and Gene Kelly and regularly collaborated with director and second husband Vincente Minnelli. Some of her film appearances during this period include roles in Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), The Harvey Girls (1946), Easter Parade (1948), and Summer Stock (1950). Garland was released from MGM in 1950, after 15 years with the studio, amid a series of personal struggles that prevented her from fulfilling the terms of her contract.
Although her film career became intermittent thereafter, two of Garland's most critically acclaimed performances came late in her career: she received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in A Star Is Born (1954) and a nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Judgment at Nuremberg (1961). She also made record-breaking concert appearances, released eight studio albums, and hosted her own Emmy-nominated television series, The Judy Garland Show (1963-1964).
At age 39, Garland became the youngest and first female recipient of the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement in the film industry. In 1997, Garland was posthumously awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Garland received an Academy Juvenile Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Special Tony Award. In 1962, Garland won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year for her 1961 double LP live recording Judy at Carnegie Hall-the first woman to win in this category.
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