Judy on Jack Paar, 1962

[PalJoey]

Posted: 8/10/07 at 11:35am

Looking beautiful and at the top of her game, in between Carnegie Hall and the TV show, singing songs from Gay Purr-ee and telling stories about rotten vaudeville and Happy Harry and Deanna Durbin's unibrow and "You three dirty hams!"

Part One

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Xph3AUMqe8I

Part Two

http://youtube.com/watch?v=FzF9uwujEcQ

Part Three

http://youtube.com/watch?v=fdlUYXob5DE

Part Four

http://youtube.com/watch?v=F7lo249bVm4

[Glebb]

Posted: 8/10/07 at 1:07pm

"We didn't graduate. They sprung us!"

I've always loved those clips.

[Flippancy]

Posted: 8/10/07 at 1:39pm

Garland was at her pinnacle on the Parr Show. Great to watch.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 8/10/07 at 1:53pm

There are also clips from her 1964 appearance--on which she tells the hysterical story about Marlene Dietrich--but by 1964, the TV show had failed and she was not handling things as well.

One this appearance, she is perfection.

[Glebb]

Posted: 8/10/07 at 3:02pm

"That's Frankfurt."

[madbrian]

Posted: 8/10/07 at 3:06pm

Below is a clip of her singing the Battle Hymn of the Republic. She sang this on her TV show the first episode after JFK was assassinated.

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

[PalJoey]

Posted: 8/10/07 at 3:10pm

"That's Berlin."

Yes, madbrian--that Battle Hymn is extraordinary. You know that she and the president were friends? She and Liza and Lorna and Joe even vacationed the summer of '62 near the Kennedy compound in Hyannisport. His death affected her in a personal way.

[madbrian]

Posted: 8/10/07 at 3:15pm

PJ - I was aware of their friendship. I think I recall seeing a documentary where the impact of his assassination was discussed. The way I recall it (which may be mistaken), she wanted to cancel the episode, but CBS insisted, and with her finances being what they were at the time, she couldn't buck them, so she had to perform.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 8/10/07 at 3:47pm

She didn't want to cancel. She wanted to sing the song in tribute. They wouldn't allow her to do that, but she sang it anyway.

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 8/10/07 at 5:32pm

Thanks for posting those, PJ. Funny, smart, chic lady.

I'm convinced that Judy did not have to die when she did. And if the bastards at CBS had let her alone and not 'dumbed down' the show the way they did, Garland would have flourished and found stability.

[Kristie-K2]

Posted: 8/10/07 at 6:11pm

Again, wonderful clips!

Actually the Gay Puree Album is Great. Judy at her best.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 8/10/07 at 6:26pm

If Betty Ford had been around in the 60s to publicize and humanize and normalize the recovery process, Judy might be alive today.

Just tried several times to get help--and some of the people in her life tried to help her get help--but no one really knew what do then.

At any rate, it's a miracle that we have these clips--and her movies and TV shows.

Kristie--I love Gay Purr-ee!

[DG]

Posted: 8/10/07 at 8:23pm

Dear God, I just cried me a river:

Smile. Updated On: 8/10/07 at 08:23 PM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 8/10/07 at 9:27pm

Yes, DG. Judy's "Sunday Night At The Palladium" performance is incandescent, even in the scratchy video that remains.

I am so grateful to YouTube that things like this are so available. When I was a teenager, we had to meet up in opium dens to see things like this on someone's 16mm projector.

Updated On: 8/10/07 at 09:27 PM

[DG]

Posted: 8/10/07 at 9:33pm

PalJ - I just do my best to re-create that atmosphere at home

I get so LOST going from clip to clip to clip . . .

But getting lost has never been so much fun!

[fflagg]

Posted: 8/10/07 at 10:43pm

Unfortunately the lady was part of a time in which you were 'nothing without a man.' She often felt that she would give the talent and the man would take care of her offstage, personally and financially. She was taken advantage of too many times and became too needy on people, pills, etc. If only she had the good fortune to realize that 'hey I only need me I don't need a husband' it could have freed her in so many ways. She should have given the kids to Sid Luft for one year and gone to dry out and not sing, not perform, and care for herself.

Perhaps there is a yellow brick road through Heaven. . .