Judy Garland at 7 Years Old

[PalJoey]

Posted: 2/19/08 at 11:50pm

The Gumm Sisters. Judy's the little one who keeps shouting, "YAH SUH!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSHWOmtUpJI

As Judy said 43 years later on the Jack Paar show, "We weren't just bad vaudeville. We were ROTTEN vaudeville."

But she sure was cute.

[madbrian]

Posted: 2/19/08 at 11:58pm

I think this clip of her singing Just In Time shows her at her absolute best:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxD91bn7lPM

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 2/19/08 at 11:58pm

I just can't help thinking of the book Get Happy when I see little Judy. She was only 5 when her mother started her on meds so she could do her act.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 2/20/08 at 12:02am

Madbrian, that may be the all-time best version of Just in Time.

I love the way she snuggles up to Mort before leaving the piano.

Updated On: 2/20/08 at 12:02 AM

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 2/20/08 at 12:10am

I love Judy.

I also love Judy Davis being Judy. She must have studied that clip of Judy singing Just in Time religiously, don't you think?

[Yawper]

Posted: 2/20/08 at 12:24am

"She was only 5 when her mother started her on meds so she could do her act."

Not true. Judy's own sister said the stuff about Ethel was not true. Furthermore, amphetamines were not even available in pill form at the time Ethel was charged as having given them to Judy. The most effective "pep" pill available at that time was caffiene.

Throw out Get Happy, it's a lousy book. Never trust a biographer who uses (and cites!) anonymous sources.


edit: good Lord, I need to start proofreading Updated On: 2/20/08 at 12:24 AM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 2/20/08 at 12:46am

I agree with Yawper, Miss P. Gerald Clarke set out to write Get Happy as one long snipe at Judy after another. Every story makes her sound pathetic, psychotic or mean-spirited.

I much prefer the Gerald Frank book, the Christopher Finch book and the Steve Sanders book for their on-the-record inside stories and John Fricke's two books for the anecdotes and appreciation.

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 2/20/08 at 12:53am

I've read them all. I don't think ANY biography or autobiography is 100% true! (And I'm not just talking about the ones about Judy.)

[Kristie-K2]

Posted: 2/20/08 at 1:13am

Did you read "Weep No More My Lady" by her last hushand Mickey Deans.....What a mess....Who knows how much of it is true?

[jeniferrenepatricia]

Posted: 2/20/08 at 2:05am

I think that Liza should write something- she is the oldest and has the most memories to share.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 2/20/08 at 8:10am

Liza will never write anything. She has too many stories she does NOT want told.

The Mickey Deans book and the Mel Torme book were both too self-serving.

Miss P--the ones I mentioned are the ones that I think are the best.

And, of course, Lorna's book!

[nygrl23]

Posted: 2/20/08 at 8:26am

Adorable little girl. Thanks for sharing that!

That vaudeville routine was not what I would call uncomplicated. Those kids could really dance.

Judy definitely didn't want to follow in her mom's footsteps and force her children to perform, but she did love her kids' talents. I always got the impression that Lorna (who to me looks a lot like Judy's oldest sister) had a streak of bitterness about her, stemming from sibling rivalry. That's based on very little info, so it's just snap judgment.
Updated On: 2/20/08 at 08:26 AM

[best12bars]

Posted: 2/20/08 at 8:29am

I wouldn't even trust Lorna's book as gospel. She wasn't there for most of Judy's life.

Can you honestly say you know exactly what happened to your own parents "for sure" prior to your birth?

Don't think so.

Lorna has a firsthand account of living with Judy for roughly ten years. That's it. And it's from a child's perspective. She was exposed to a lot, but a lot was hidden from her as well, particularly during the custody battle(s). The rest is second, third, or fourth-hand... just like anybody else.

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 2/20/08 at 10:40am

PJ, I own the Frank, Finch and Sanders books as well as Lorna's. (It's terrible, but I love to "have" books as opposed to taking them out of the library. I go back to them time and again.) I do not have and do not plan to acquire the Mickey Deans book. I can only imagine!

I must say that Get Happy had one very positive effect on me: The entire time I was reading it, I thought "I am so lucky to have the life I've had." It made ME "get happy." Of course, I don't have 1/1000th of the talent Judy had and I'll never be a legend, but I didn't work myself to death by the time I was 47 either.

She was something special. There will never be anyone like her.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 2/20/08 at 11:47am

I didn't say Lorna's book is gospel. I said, "And, of course, Lorna's book!"

[best12bars]

Posted: 2/20/08 at 12:25pm

I thought you were following the general thoughts on this thread in the past few posts about how much of the bios on her were true.

Do you mean "best" as in best-written, or truthful?

Because my previous response was based on how much "truth" could be in any of them... including Lorna's. Not that she's lying... simply to do with how much she was "there" for her mother's life.

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 2/20/08 at 12:52pm

We've all read different versions of a story that was purported to be "true." It's not necessarily that ANYONE is "lying"; it's just that memory is tricky. I might remember something about an event that you don't. Or, perhaps, time has colored my recollection. When I think about things that happened when I was 3 or 4, I wonder sometimes if I'm remembering the actual event or remembering the memory of the event. Do you know what I mean?

[PalJoey]

Posted: 2/20/08 at 1:23pm

Most of Lorna's book was about her life before and after her mother's death. The portions about her mother's life before Lorna was born amount to the first 50 pages of a 400-page book. They were put there to place Judy's life in the perspective of Lorna's current place of acknowledgment and acceptance and understanding and forgiveness. She says in the preface that "the pain of having a parent held captive by prescription drugs or alcohol is the same for everyone."

She states at the end of the book that she found this loving attitude with the help of the Betty Ford Family Program and Al-Anon, but the book is not a 12 step book. After Liza moved in with Peter Allen, teenage Lorna became Judy's caretaker, and in that last year and a half, when Sid took Lorna and Joe to live with him and Judy spiraled out of control, Lorna felt guilty for not being there to keep her mother alive.

But that was her mother's illness. Her memories are not of the Tragic Judy of the Gerald Clarke and David Shipman biographies--her memories are of the fun and funny mother who loved her children fiercely. Much the way when I think of my mother, I don't remember her disease, her cancer, I remember my mom.

That's what Lorna was "there" for, and that's what she writes about. (The miniseries, on the other hand, focused on Judy's life, not Lorna's life after Judy. But that's Hollywood, right?) ;-}

Updated On: 2/20/08 at 01:23 PM

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 2/20/08 at 1:34pm

Love the book. Love the miniseries.

[best12bars]

Posted: 2/20/08 at 3:16pm

I didn't realize they changed the focus for the mini-series.

Now I want to read Lorna's book to hear about HER life, not (necessarily) her mother's.

Thanks for clarifying and enlightening, PJ!

[nygrl23]

Posted: 2/20/08 at 5:58pm

That was a very touching post, PJ.

Btw, I just watched the video again, and one of the comments pointed something out in the routine I hadn't noticed. I've watched that particular part of the video about ten times. Cute! Updated On: 2/20/08 at 05:58 PM

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 2/20/08 at 10:40pm

The Gerold Frank book is the only book that made me sob. I could never read it again, but it's the the most objective AND definitive. I also love Lorna's book.

[Yawper]

Posted: 2/21/08 at 1:07am

Lorna's book pissed me off when I first read it because she applies (at least in my mind) a double standard to her mother's problems and her sister's. I can't say how emphatically I disagreed with how she skinned alive treated her sister in the book, especally if Liza was actively struggling at the time as was rumored.

speaking of the elder:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fViLuY6Ci6Y

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTjJuXMZnPg

[PalJoey]

Posted: 2/21/08 at 6:52am

She did nothing of the sort.

[Yawper]

Posted: 2/21/08 at 11:40am

That's a matter of opinion.