Posted by “Much of the appeal that … Judy retains is in nostalgia.” – Uncredited, 1963
June 3, 1928: “The Gumm Family” performed at the Antelope Valley Day Picnic at Frazier Mountain Park, California.
June 3, 1935: Judy and her sisters, “The Garland Sisters,” were so popular during their engagement at the Paramount Theater in Los Angeles that they were held over an additional week.
June 3, 1936: This notice references a recent going away party held for Judy prior to her trip to New York to appear on the Rudy Vallee radio show. The exact date of Judy’s departure is unknown but it was most likely May 29th. On the 28th she performed at a Women’s Breakfast Club event in Los Angeles. She arrived in New York on this day, June 3. Judy and her entourage traveled by train, with the usual stopover in Chicago, which usually took a couple of days.
The guest list of the party mentioned in the clipping shown here was a “who’s who” of Hollywood’s juvenile players and stars including Jackie Cooper, Bonita Granville, Frankie Darro, and Deanna Durbin (still being listed as Edna Mae Durbin, or mistakenly as “Dubin” in this notice).
While she was in New York, Judy recorded two songs for Decca Records on June 12, 1936, which became the very first Judy Garland single release.
June 3, 1936: Judy arrived in New York City for the first time. She had been sent there on a promotional tour accompanied by her mother and mentor Roger Edens. She wrote this letter to MGM Studio boss Louis B. Mayer’s secretary, Ida Koverman. Koverman had provided a letter of introduction dated June 1) for Judy to present to MGM representative Florence Browning. Note how Koverman gives Judy’s age as 12 even though she was just shy of her 14th birthday. Also included is Koverman’s reply to Judy’s letter (dated June 8).
June 3, 1939: Babes in Arms filming continued, this time on MGM’s Backlot #2, on the “Exterior Bus Terminal” (the Small Town Square section of the backlot) and the “Exterior Patsy’s Home” (the New England – later known as Andy Hardy – Street). Time called: 9 a.m.; lunch: 12:35-1:35 p.m.; dismissed: 5:55 p.m.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland on the MGM Backlot” Section for details about all of Judy’s films shot on MGM’s famous backlots.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Page on Babes in Arms here.
June 3, 1940: Filming on Strike Up The Band continued with filming on the “Interior Holden Home” and “Interior Willy’s Bedroom” sets. Judy reported to makeup at 7:37 a.m. She was due on the set at 9 a.m. and was on time. Dismissed: 4:37 p.m.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Page on Strike Up The Band here.
Also on June 3, 1940: Did you know that Judy Garland’s grandfather was a train engineer who once met stage legend, Lillian Russell? According to Jimmy Fidler, it’s true.
June 3, 1942: Judy had dubbing work on For Me And My Gal. Time called: 1 p.m.; dismissed: 5 p.m.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on For Me And My Gal here.
Also on June 3, 1942: Paul Harrison’s column tells the story of his visiting Judy on the set of For Me And My Gal when she heard that her husband David Rose was in a train wreck. That is a wreck of his fully functioning miniature trains on their property.
June 3, 1943: Here’s an early notice announcing Judy’s upcoming concert at the Robin Hood Dell in Philadelphia, on July 1st. The concert was Judy’s first time “in concert” as an adult and was a preview, of sorts, of her legendary “concert years” that began in 1951.
June 3, 1944: Judy, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and Bob Hope recorded “Command Performance #122.” Discs of the recording were sent out to military facilities around the world for airing over the Armed Forces Radio Services network. The show was broadcast in the U.S. on June 25, 1944.
This episode was hosted by Bing Crosby and Judy, Frank Sinatra, and Bob Hope were the guests. Judy performed “The Dixieland Band” and duetted with Bing on “Something To Remember You By.”
You can listen to the entire show here:
The show was released on CD in 1992. Download that CD here.
Judy’s performance of “Dixieland Band” has been remastered and was featured on the 2010 4-CD set from JSP Records, “Lost Tracks.”
June 3, 1945: Here is a nice article about the designer of Judy’s wedding trousseau, Donn Auten. Judy’s wedding to Vincente Minnelli (her second marriage and his first) took place on June 15, 1945.
June 3, 1947: Filming on The Pirate continued with scenes shot on the “Exterior Gallows” set. time called: 10:15 a.m.; dismissed: 5:50 p.m.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on The Pirate here.
June 3, 1948: Here are some more ads for The Pirate. The first one is an MGM trade ad promoting their current and upcoming releases, including the soon-to-be-released Easter Parade.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on The Pirate here.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on Easter Parade here.
June 3, 1951: Here is a press photo (note the black lines indicating where the image was to be cropped for print) of Judy arriving in London, England, from Edinburgh, Scotland. Judy and Sid Luft left for a quick overnight trip to Paris the next day.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
June 3, 1958: More legal woes for Judy’s husband, Sid Luft, regarding his previous marriage to actress Lynn Bari this time for being $3000 behind in child support. Whenever Sid was having legal issues with Bari, Judy was always mentioned.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
June 3, 1963: Judy took June Allyson, Aaron Spelling, and Aaron’s wife, Carolyn Jones, from LaScala’s restaurant in Beverly Hills to Sid Luft’s office down the street to watch Liza appear on NBC-TV’s “The Tonight Show,” guest hosted by Arthur Godfrey. Liza was on last, at 12:45 a.m.
I have no photos of the event or of Liza’s appearance, but here’s a photo from September 16, 1963, of Judy with Carolyn Jones, June Allyson, Pam Powell (June’s daughter), and Liza Minnelli, having a press conference protesting the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama that killed four young girls and injured over 20 people.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
June 3, 1964: This rather odd article appeared in the Oneonta Star newspaper out of Oneonta, New York. No author is credited. Judy was indeed in Hong Kong at this time, convalescing after her near-death experience.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
June 3, 2013: This DVD edition of I Could Go On Singing was released in the U.K. The film has since been remastered and released on Blu-ray. Check out the details on that release here.
For June 3, 1936 her departure date for NYC was most likely June 1. I am in possession of some correspondence between Judy and MGM from that week. MGM sent her with a letter of introduction on June 1 and Judy wrote back on June 5, the day she met with the MGM NY casting office and Loew’s personal including Nick Schenck. She said “I hope my singing pleased them” and asked for Jackie Cooper’s address referencing this very sendoff. On June 8 MGM sent a note back to her in care of the Edison Hotel where she was staying
Hey, that’s great info! Can you share scans of the correspondence? I would love to add them to the correct date. You’ll get credit, of course.
Just sent via FB Messenger. Ida Koverman, L.B. Mayer’s secretary/assistant sent the typed letters and Judy wrote back to her. She did get Judy’s age wrong in the introductory note – she was 13 and not 12
MGM did that on purpose, to make her seem even more precocious!