Show-Stopping Facts About Judy Garland, The Tragic Hollywood Icon
The cruel injustices of Judy Garland’s childhood only led to her fall from grace—an adulthood filled with suffering and depression. Despite her overwhelming talent, Garland's celebrity lifestyle never gave her a fighting chance.
With no yellow brick road in sight, she took a darker path—one that led her far from home and straight into unforeseen danger.
1. She Had A Difficult Road Ahead Of Her
Whether she liked it or not, Judy Garland was always destined for show business. Born to two vaudeville performers on June 10, 1922, it was only a matter of time before she took to the stage. But Garland wasn't born a star. In fact, with a given name like Frances Ethel Gumm, she certainly wasn't virtuoso material just yet. Unbeknownst to this little performer, the road to stardom would prove far more horrifying than she ever expected.
2. She Was A Born Performer
When she was only two years old, Frances started performing in her father's movie theater alongside her two older sisters, Mary Jane and Virginia, and for the next two years they made regular appearances accompanied by their mother on piano. Music and dance colored little Frances's life, but it was only too soon before a terrible scandal changed everything.
3. She Had A Scandalous Homelife
In 1926, shocking rumors about her father's relations with young boys upended her life. Frances and her family escaped the whispers and set up shop in Lancaster, but the damage was already done. Frances watched in dismay as her parents' marriage fell apart. Frances's mother Ethel, on the other hand, focussed all her energy on grooming her three daughters into budding stars. At the mercy of her controlling mother, Frances's tribulations had only just begun.
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4. She Had An Early Addiction
Frances's first introduction to substances came directly from the palm of her mother, whom she later called "the real Wicked Witch of the West".
To keep her performance-ready, Ethel started Frances on a dangerous regime: she took a dose of uppers in the morning to get her going and then sleeping pills in the evening to calm her down.
But this was an extremely slippery slope, and down the line, this led to utter disaster.
