Judy Garland : Please recommend a Judy Garland book!

I would like to read a book about her. I am not that interested in dirt.

There are so many quotes from people that talk about her in such warm and glowing terms, and I would love to read a book that has background from people that really knew her like that.

I'm sure most books about her will include her struggles and heartaches, but I am much more interested in her triumphs and happy times.

I always thought she was the most lovely person that industry ever had the pleasure of employing. She was truly a gift to the world, and I am extremely interested to learn more about her.

Many here are going to disagree with me, but in my opinion, the very best
BIOGRAPHY on Garland is still Gerold Frank's 1975 "Judy." Yes, it was written
with the "cooperation" and involvement of Judy's then-surviving husbands, family,
friends, and co-workers, but the book is astonishingly insightful, and probes
deeply into the studio system, as well as HOW Judy got so tired, and so mixed
up so early in her young adult life. Films such as "Oz", "Meet Me in St. Louis",
"Easter Parade", and "A Star is Born" are covered in tremendous detail. The
last, tough years at Metro ('47-'50) are also examined with great depth.

Many complain about several inaccuracies, but really, WHAT book DOESN'T have
mistakes? There's also the problem of Sid Luft's heavy participation, and the
clumsy way he ATTEMPTS to come across as Judy's savior. But in many ways, he
WAS her savior. And his many faults (mishandling Judy's money, using her, never
really earning his own living) are obv 5b4 ious to even the most average of people.

One poster here attacks the book because it doesn't cover Carnegie Hall with
more depth. But for heaven's sake, it's not a book focused merely on her
concerts. It's a book examining a complex, troubled, and brilliant woman.

Where Frank succeeds is in taking us through the cycle of Judy's addictions
(covered very well in the "Annie Get Your Gun" fiasco, as well as in the
1950's). One truly gets a sense of KNOWING Judy, her humor, her faults, and
her enormously vulnerable, and loving heart.

Frankly, all other biographies pale by comparison. Despite its flaws, it's still
the best biography written on Garland. Highly recommended.

I appreciate that gbennett5!

I have always been fascinated by her, and don't believe that even to this day, anybody has equaled her when you take everything into consideration. The talent, charisma, intelligence, aura, ability to captivate, ability to create magic, etc; God truly broke the mold after Judy Garland was born.

Thanks again for the recommendation, I'll check that out.

You're in for a real treat. You'll never see Judy in the same way again after you've read these books.

'Judy With Love' by Lorna Smith

'Rainbow's End' by Coyne Steven Sanders

'Judy Garland: The World's Greatest Entertainer"

'Judy Garland: A Portrait In Art and Anecdote' by John Fricke

'Judy Garland: A Legendary Film Career' by John Fricke

Thank you Metalman091!

That is a nice list. You have read these then? How long have you been a fan?

Keep in mind the books he has listed by John Fricke are COFFEE TABLE books;
beautifully illustrated, but focus only on her career. They are NOT bios.

"Rainbows End" is a great bio, but it focuses ONLY on her TV series.

If I stopped and did the math I could figure it out!

Forget everything you've heard or read about Judy because it's going to change. You'll only scratch the surface with those books. The stories of Judy's kindness and humor will seemingly never end if you keep searching.

All celebrities are victims of sensationalism. Some of them get it more than others, but it's true just the same. Judy appears to have got it worse than most. I've seen myths debunked again and again in regards to people like Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, John Wayne, etc,

BUT NONE LIKE JUDY! I have never seen MORE myths debunked about any celebrity than I have seen with her.

John Fricke talks about his book 'Judy: A Legendary Film Career' and debunks some myths along the way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yPfS9dObus

John Fricke is working on a new Judy Garland book as well.

Check out this behind the scenes look at Judy for THAT'S ENTERTAINMET PART 111.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVp4T41JGlk

Lorna Luft's Letter To the Editor concerning Gerald Clarke's biography on Judy called 'Get Happy.'

To The Editor:

I have kept silent about my feelings on Gerald Clarke's book on my mother, Judy Garland. However, I must respond to the untruths he has written and said about me. My actions, feelings and emotions as a daughter were never shared with Mr. Clarke, because he never spoke to me. None of my representatives received any correspondence, and I open my own mail. In ten years of research, if he wanted to talk to me, I can be found.

I am not a "victim of her myth". This book has merely added a few more fairy tales to the existing stories, legends, and half-truths about my mother. The things he wrote about me are out and out lies. I never called her a bitch, and I never "despised" her. How dare he question how well a daughter knows her mother. Yes, we had help in the house, but I had a mother. There was never a time when she was at home that I "didn't see her for days at a time". Whenever possible, she took us on tour with her, and, in any event, she called us every night. After reading about myself, I checked the back of the book to see if his interviews included The Amazing Kreskin.

My mother was my biggest fan, and attended many of the neighborhood productions I appeared in as a child. However, I was never in a school play of "The Unsinkable Molly Brown".

I have learned that one of the 16d0 most outrageous, graphic, and unnecessary stories, which is completely unattributed in the book, was told to him by my mother's "friend" Tom Green. This man has admitted that the story was totally made up. Thanks to Mr. Green and Mr. Clarke, this ludicrous fantasy will forever "be taken as gospel andÉreprinted over and over again".

Mr. Clarke dismisses as fiction all of the previous books, both scholarly and dishy, that have been written about my mother. So he "started from scratch", speaking with every single solitary person who ever met my mother, and my grandparents, except the people who lived in her house -- her children.

Mr. Clarke says he "felt liberated from any obligation to slant the story", and obviously also felt no obligation to the truth.

Lorna Luft