Posted by “I may be awfully fat but I feel awfully good.” – Judy Garland, 1951
April 6, 1937: Judy’s weekly appearance on Jack Oakie’s “Oakie’s College” radio show on CBS Radio. She sang “Smiles” and closed the show with a duet of “Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off” with Oakie. A recording of “Smiles” is the only recording from this show that’s known to exist.
Listen to “Smiles” here:
Download the complete transcript of this show here (PDF).
More Judy Garland radio performances can be downloaded from The Judy Room’s “Judy Sings! On The Radio” pages here.
April 6, 1939: Judy appeared on the “Tune-Up Time” radio show broadcast by CBS out of New York.
Judy was in New York on a personal appearance tour. She sang “Sweet Sixteen” and “FDR Jones,” although some of the newspapers incorrectly reported that she would sing songs from the recently completed The Wizard of Oz.
Also on the show was Kay Thompson who, when she went to MGM in the mid-1940s, became a major influence on Judy’s style, became her best female friend, and Liza’s godmother!
Listen to “Sweet Sixteen” here:
Listen to “FDR Jones” here:
More Judy Garland radio performances can be downloaded from The Judy Room’s “Judy Sings! On The Radio” pages here.
April 6, 1940: Babes in Arms (released in 1939) received a nice mention in the “What The Picture Did For Me” feature in the trade magazine “Motion Picture Herald.” Gladys E. McArdle of the Owl Theatre in Lebanon, Kansas said, “Swell show that has been shown all around here months ago. Mickey is his usual impudent, conceited self; Judy is at her best, and Henry Hull is very good. An excellent production that pleased. Mickey’s impersonation of Lionel Barrymore and Judy’s “My Day” are highlights.”
Also noted in the same magazine was Andy Hardy Meets Debutante in the listing of films in the final stages of production.
April 6, 1941: Movie Star Mothers have their day!
April 6, 1941: Ziegfeld Girl.
April 6, 1942: Filming continued on For Me And My Gal specifically on the “Interior Bijou (Doll Shop)” set. Time called: 10:00 a.m.; dismissed: 6:00 p.m.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on For Me And My Gal here.
April 6, 1943: Filming continued on Girl Crazy, specifically on the “Exterior Indian Rock” set. Time called: 10:25 a.m.; dismissed: 5:50 p.m.
That night, Judy recorded an appearance for the “Command Performance” series of radio shows, which were prerecorded discs for shipment to the troops overseas. This edition was “#61.” Judy sang “I Never Knew” and “Over The Rainbow.”
Listen to: “I Never Knew” here:
Listen to “Over The Rainbow” here:
Listen to the complete show here:
Photo provided by Kim Lundgreen. Thanks, Kim!
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on Girl Crazy here.
April 6, 1944: Decca Records released its “cast album” of songs from “Girl Crazy” featuring Judy and Mickey Rooney.
The songs are not original soundtrack performances, they are studio recordings made at the Decca Records studios. This was the second of four Decca “cast albums” of studio versions of songs from Judy’s films.
April 6, 1944: These publicity photos of Judy with co-star Tom Drake (as “The Boy Next Door”) were taken on the Meet Me In St. Louis set as they were filming the “proposal scene.”
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on Meet Me In St. Louis here.
April 6, 1945: Here is an interesting article about the proposed use of an Autoharp in Meet Me In St. Louis (released in 1944). The article alleges that an employee of MGM, Andy Anderson, had a workshop at MGM in a “locked-off portion of an old stage” where he curated and created replicas of musical instruments going back to ancient times.
Although the article also claims that Judy learned how to play the Autoharp in half an hour, she doesn’t play one in the film. Judy’s ability to learn anything musical (and most non-musical things, for that matter) faster than anyone else is well known. It’s possible that she might have been taught how to handle the instrument for a scene that was never filmed.
The article goes on to explain that Anderson created a “hurdy-gurdy” for Spencer Tracy to play in Captains Courageous (1937) as well as a spinet for Marie Antoinette (1938).
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on Meet Me In St. Louis here.
April 6, 1945: Filming continued on The Harvey Girls specifically on the “Exterior Sandrock” set, which was MGM’s “Bill the Kid Street” on Lot #3 dressed up as the fictional town of Sandrock. Time called: 8:00 p.m.; dismissed: 2:15 a.m. This was a nighttime shoot that included the deleted “March of the Doagies” number.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland on the MGM Backlot” section for details about all of Judy’s films shot on the studio’s famous backlots.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on The Harvey Girls here.
April 6, 1949: Judy began filming Annie Get Your Gun. First up, the song “Doin’ What Comes Natur’lly” on the “Exterior Wilson Hotel” set. Judy was due in makeup at 8:00 a.m., she arrived at 9:25 a.m. The Assistant Director’s reports note that “Miss Garland called cameraman on set at 9:40 a.m. to discuss her makeup after which time cameraman, Miss Garland and Mr. Freed looked at makeup test in projection room, cameraman returned to set at 10:05 a.m.; 10:05-11:25: Wait for Miss Garland on stage; 11:05 changing in wardrobe, and ready on set at 11:25 a.m.”
11:25-12:07 – Rehearse with principles; set boom action
12:07-1:07 – Lunch
1:13-1:17 – Sew Miss Garland’s jacket
1:17-1:29 – Rehearse with principles set boom action
1:36-1:39 – Final makeup for principles
Time dismissed: 5:55 p.m.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on Annie Get Your Gun here.
April 6, 1951: Judy was photographed in London with Charles Davies. She had just arrived in the city to prepare for her concert debut at the London Palladium on April 9th which was the beginning of her legendary “Concert Years.”
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
April 6, 1951: Judy’s weight was fodder for the English press. This wouldn’t be the only time.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
April 6, 1952: Judy was in rehearsals for the debut of her show at the Los Angeles Philharmonic on April 21, 1952.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
April 6, 1958: Two articles, both published on this day, addressed Judy’s recent legal and financial woes.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
April 6, 1961: Judy was in concert at the Kleinhans Music Hall in Buffalo, New York. This was Judy’s first concert after having taken a break from her 1960/1961 tour in March to film her role in Judgment at Nuremberg and after having spent some time in Palm Beach, Florida. According to Leonard Lyons’ column of April 17th (above), this concert was a sellout.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
April 6, 1962: Judy wrote her first of a series of notes/letters to David Begelman on this date, at 4:00 a.m. On Beverly Hills Hotel stationery, she wrote about having just returned from a poker game where no one introduced her to the one man she didn’t know, and how lack of manners upset her. Still, Judy said she was happy that she cared “about basic things – a little gentleness – a little warmth – and being able to give a little love whenever and wherever it’s needed.”
Photo: 1962 portrait of Judy.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
April 6, 1963: Judy sent this nice note to fan Charmetta Mann.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
April 6, 1968: Judy appeared at a benefit at The Plaza Hotel in New York City. Clad in her white pantsuit (and shoeless), Judy sang five songs: “I Feel A Song Coming On”; “How INsensitive”; “Judy In Time”; “What Now, My Love?”; and “For Once In My Life.” Then she sang “Over The Rainbow” sitting in the middle of the ballroom surrounded by about 50 people.
Download a recording of this performance here (zip file).
Photo: Judy in her white pantsuit at the Garden State Arts Center on June 25, 1968.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
April 6, 1969 (through April 14, 1969): Judy and Mickey Deans took the train with Matthew West and his partner Brian Southcombe, to the latter couple’s cottage in Hazelmare/West Sussex, an hour’s ride from Waterloo (an hour and a half from London) to spend the weekend. The cottage was two stories high, fair-sized, with a big country kitchen that had its own huge hearth. Judy’s upstairs bedroom overlooked the garden. Judy spent the weekend sitting in the sun, resting, eating tiny amounts, and sleeping a good deal.
When Monday arrived and Deans had to return to London, Judy had been making such favorable progress that she agreed to remain at the cottage for the week, with Deans returning every evening, Judy, at one point, actually spent three hours reorganizing the kitchen, where she spent a lot of time. On cooler days she’d sit in the kitchen reading before the fire. She listened to the radio; sang; made notes for lyrics; and spent time reading: that week she was “devouring” “Citizen Hearst.” Nights were spent watching old movies on television, with Judy turning down the sound and ad-libbing her own dialogue for all the characters.
When the week was up, they drove back to the mews cottage in London. Anne Edwards states in her 1975 biography that it was this weekend that Judy and Deans had spent the disastrous weekend in Spain and that it was actually 10 days before he brought her back home. Apparently more certain is a Friday, April 12, 1969, Swedish newspaper “Ekstabladet,” that stated the Day in a Life of film would not be delivered to Arne Stivell from the London lab where it was processed, as it contained footage of Judy in the nude. Stivell is quoted as saying, “One agrees that the film contains pictures of Judy Garlan in the nude and that the film shows her in an intoxicated condition, but she knew all along that she was being filmed according to the terms of the contract.” Judy and Deans lost the initial London court case and would be responsible for court costs, but on April 22, Judy’s attorneys wrote her a letter informing her that her performances were covered by the Swedish law of copyright, and it appeared as though the film would not be shown.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
April 6, 2004: Big news for Judy Garland fans! Warner Home Video released FIVE Garland films on DVD for the first time.
The big release was the deluxe 2-disc special edition boxed set of Meet Me In St. Louis which premiered the new “Ultra-Resolution Process” restoration of the film. It was the third film to be restored by Warner using the new process and was unveiled with a lot of fanfare just a few days before on April 4th, with Judy’s co-star in the film, June Lockhart, and Judy’s daughter Liza Minnelli, in attendance.
The four other films (Love Finds Andy Hardy, For Me And My Gal, Ziegfeld Girl, and In The Good Old Summertime) were released in single-disc “snap cases” featuring an array of extras.
Check out The Judy Room’s “DVD/Blu-ray” pages for details, including the original press release and details on each DVD at the bottom of the Meet Me In St. Louis DVD Page.
Also on this date: The four single-disc DVDs noted above were released as part of a seven-disc set titled “The Judy Garland Signature Collection” which added the previously released The Wizard of Oz, The Harvey Girls, and A Star Is Born.
Also, check out the separate pages for each release here:
