Judy Garland Lived a Painful & Depressed Life

Judy Garland Lived a Painful Life

Judy garland may be best known for her role as dorothy in 1939's the wizard of oz even though she became world-renowned because of her part in that iconic film she would never truly find the happiness.She was looking for to judy life in the limelight and umping through the endless hoops of show business proved to be overwhelming she spent most of her life struggling with self-image issues crippling depression and drug addiction nothing would ever quite bring her the bliss she deserved even still she was one of the hardest workers in the industry. Judy was well known to be quite sensitive for an actress her sensitivity would lead to a tremendous measure of pain and internal turmoil throughout her drama fraught life although she possessed a tremendous amount of talent it seems she may not have been fully cut out for life in the public eye in this article we'll take a look at this bright star's turbulent life stick around till the end of the article to see how judy's life was tragically cut short the entertainment industry and the world in general lost a true legend on that dark day one could only wonder what would have become of her story if she'd stuck around for a few more decades.

Her real name was frances ethel gum judy was born in minnesota the daughter of ethel marion and francis avent gum her name is a combination of those two names. She was born to act her parents owned a vaudeville theater in grand rapids michigan and she was up on stage from an early age despite her natural talent. She was discriminated against for her physical appearance right off the bat this insecurity would follow her throughout her tragically short-lived life louis b mayer one of the founders of mgm sent songwriter burton lane to serve as a talent scout to the orpheum theatre in los angeles to see a vaudeville performance by the gum sisters who recently changed their name to the garland sisters barton was very impressed with what he saw at the show mayer would send for judy and have her audition for him in person he was blown away by her and immediately found a role for her in the film pigskin parade in 1936 where she would first be credited as judy garland this era proved to be particularly damaging to judy's sense of self-esteem critics bombarded her with harsh critiques of her physical appearance height and weight they reaffirmed what she had already felt that she wasn't cut out for hollywood's standards of beauty regardless of this ego marring harsh reality she still landed the role of dorothy in 1939's wizard of oz thus propelling her career exponentially with that boost however came a tremendous increase in pressure for her to conform to the high intensity expectations of show business this would soon be too much for judy to bear if it's not too much for you to bear. judy garland continues down a dark path to the public she was just the cute girl next door singing somewhere over the rainbow but behind this persona judy garland was suffering from intense anxiety depression insomnia and crippling self-esteem issues to combat these plights she would be given numerous drugs some were to help her lose weight so she soon became addicted to amphetamines others were for her anxiety and depression so she found herself equally addicted to barbiturates all the while she downward spiraled into worse and worse feelings of social isolation depression and feelings of unworthiness to add insult to injury it was common knowledge that judy garland was on the receiving end of quite a bit of sexual harassment during these years misogynistic men in showbiz treated her like easy prey soon enough she would marry her first husband songwriter david rose very soon after tying the knot judy would find herself pregnant at her mother and david's insistence she had an illegal abortion according to him if she had a child she would tarnish her image and no longer seem innocent judy's mental health was already in dire straits she was a routine patient at various mental hospitals in southern california and the abortion only made matters worse for her she would express feelings of guilt and remorse for it later on but it also took a very immediate toll on her mental well-being she needed a break it was all too much she finally broke ties with mgm even though louis mayer begged for her to stay judy remarries and lands another iconic part. Miss garland would soon become a mrs again she met victor minnelli and quickly wed they had one child together liza minnelli having a kid wouldn't save their marriage though and they would divorce just as quickly as they got together in 1952 judy would marry yet again to a man named sydney luft between the financial troubles of her divorce with victor being out of work and her new husband draining her bank account to fuel his gambling addiction. 

Judy was experiencing major money problems it was also around this time that judy's chemical dependency really got out of hand she was in the death grips of addiction and her personal life suffered because of it sydney luft claims she attempted suicide multiple times during this period judy would allege in a separate interview that luft was very abusive and would often strike her judy's daughter liza began to have a successful career in film cabaret and theater so she did her best to help her mother out as much as she was able eventually garland began to heal a bit from all the trauma of her past and even found the courage to start performing in clubs again although at this time she was working for basically peanuts soon however she would hit another stroke of luck when she was cast for 1954's a star is born a flick that would revitalize her career and even earn her a best actress nomination somewhere over the rainbow even with her in creased fame and a generous boost to her bank account she still struggled with her addictions mental health and personal life she could never seem to catch a break she married her fifth husband mickey deans in 1969.they actually met several years prior when deans was asked by a mutual friend to deliver a parcel of prescription amphetamines to garland when in newyork city despite meeting under such terms they would date on and off for a couple of years before getting hitched this would be the final marriage for judy how ever judy's drug addiction was completely unmanageable at this point. She was frequently either manic and disoriented or in a complete stupor dean witnessed her problems go from bad to worse just three months after they married he came home to find her unconscious taken by an overdose when she died she was only 47 years old. She had so much life ahead of her but the demon that followed her throughout her tragic life had different plans it wasn't just the drugs that took garland's life rather it was years of stress anxiety depression and expectations she could never fulfill life on display was exhausting for her not only did she lose out on much of her childhood because of chasing fame from an early age but she never quite had the loving normal relationships in her life that she craved all these factors coalesced to the perfect storm of downward spiraling that would ultimately take her out ray bolger the actor who played the scarecrow in wizard of oz said of garland she just plain wore out that wraps up our heartbreaking inside look at the life of judy garland she certainly was no stranger to heart ache and pain despite landing multiple iconic roles having the singing voice of an angel and being far more beautiful than she would ever realize she never quite felt good enough this persistently less than perspective would haunt her until her untimely death now we want to hear from you what was your favorite role that judy garland was in did you like going somewhere over the rainbow with dorothy and wizard of oz or did you like judy's work on a star as born as the character esther blodgett let us know in the comments what you think.