Judy Garland : Has there been anyone in Hollywood this talented?

Re: Has there been anyone in Hollywood this talented?

"She had the COMMON touch...and what could be more beautiful than that?" - Lizabeth Scott on Judy

Re: Has there been anyone in Hollywood this talented?

I was talking to some ladies who were alive during Judy's peak. We all hit on the idea that stars like Judy were so popular is because the audiences LOVED them, pure and simple. They don't love the stars in quite the same way today.

When MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS was in pre-production, Louis B. Mayer told Arthur Freed that the film wouldn't even be made unless Judy was in it. If that could not be done then forget about it.

Think of the latest superhero garbage. Do you think anyone really cares who plays him?

Re: Has there been anyone in Hollywood this talented?

Many in Hollywood have been equally as talented.

Re: Has there been anyone in Hollywood this talented?

Who?

I genuinely cannot think of anyone whose skill with singing, dancing and dramatic acting was as rich and dynamic as Judy's. I know I sound fairly fanatical about it, but I genuinely can't think of anyone quite as good at all of the above - and there's been plenty of like praise over the years from folks within the field to support the claim.

Re: Has there been anyone in Hollywood this talented?

There have been many great talents over the years, but none of them were ever as great as Judy. During her peak career in movies there were very few female pop singers who were also movie stars. You had Alice Faye and Vivien Blaine and that was it! Ethel Merman had a pretty successful movie career in the 1930s and Mary Martin had sporadic success, but Judy was THE greatest female interpreter of popular music of the 1940s. It wasn't until Doris Day came along in 1948 that we had another one. Some try to argue for Betty Hutton and Betty Grable, but they were more the singing and dancing types rather than ones who were trained as singers.

Before the ones previously mentioned, female singers were of the operatic kind. You had Jeanette MacDonald, Deanna Durbin, Grace Moore, Jane Powell and so on.

And look at the other singers who never made it in movies: Dinah Shore, Margaret Whiting, Jo Stafford, Rosemary Clooney, Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald and Lena Horne. Yes indeed, Judy was unique indeed.

Re: Has there been anyone in Hollywood this talented?

"We can't call what she had talent. Everyone has some talent. What she had was closer to magic. A supernatural power. Never mind the life: When she was on stage, you were in the presence of something magical, supernatural."–Marlon Brando on Judy Garland/Interview with James Grissom/1990

Re: Has there been anyone in Hollywood this talented?

Agreed.

Do you think flattery will keep you alive?

Re: Has there been anyone in Hollywood this talented?

She was a rarity. She was one of Hollywoods' best.
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