Posted by “With Judy Garland’s chart before me … I am sure that, with some effort, she could enjoy successes in this phase up to her thirty-seventh birthday.” – Edward Lyndoe, 1955
June 4, 1933: Judy and her sisters, as “The Gumm Sisters,” performed at the “Dancing Teachers Business Association Demonstration Recital” at the Alexandria Hotel in Los Angeles, California. They were probably included due to their association with Maurice L. Kusell, who produced children’s variety shows and was a member of the Association.
June 4, 1936: According to this article, Judy was a stamp collector, and her collection “rated one of the best in Hollywood” was a part of an exhibition by the Federated Philatelic Club of Southern California in the Chamber of Commerce Building in Los Angeles. It’s doubtful that Judy ever had an extensive stamp collection spending most of her time performing in Vaudeville. The album was most likely put together by the publicity folks at MGM to get her name in the public eye and create a wholesome “normal all-American” image of her. In 1936, MGM sent Judy to sing and/or take part in a variety of events and shows so putting her out there as a stamp collector isn’t as off base as it might initially appear.
June 4, 1939: Here’s another studio-fed article about Judy and her career.
June 4, 1940: Filming continued on Strike Up The Band on the “Interior Country Club” set. Time called: 10:30 a.m.; dismissed: 4:50 p.m. This did not include the “Drummer Boy” number as that wasn’t pre-recorded until June 8th.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Page on Strike Up The Band here.
June 4, 1941: Recording session for Life Begins for Andy Hardy. Judy pre-recorded “Easy To Love”; “Abide With Me” and “The Rosary.” None of the recordings were used, making the film technically Judy’s first non-singing role (although she does sing a bit of “Happy Birthday”). “America” had been pre-recorded in May 1941 and that went unused as well. Note that the newspaper ad below declares “Judy Sings!” I’m sure audiences were disappointed. I know I would have been!
The pre-recordings have survived, with “Easy To Love” making its debut on the 1976 LP “Cut! Outtakes from Hollywood’s Greatest Musicals.”
The other two, plus the complete version of “Easy To Love” were not released until 1994’s laserdisc set “Judy Garland – The Golden Years at MGM” when they were included as part of the audio extras.
They were finally released, remastered, and in the case of “Easy To Love,” in stereo, on the 1996 2-CD set “Judy Garland – Collector’s Gems from the MGM Films.”
Listen to “America” here:
Listen to “Easy To Love” here:
Listen to “Abide With Me” Take 7, here:
Listen to “My Rosary” Take 3, here:
June 4, 1942: Judy posed in her “When You Wore A Tulip” and “When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again” costumes for these publicity photos for For Me And My Gal with costars Gene Kelly and George Murphy. Time called: 2 p.m.; dismissed: 5 p.m.
The accompanying text printed on the back of the photos reads:
JUDY AND HER TULIP . . . Judy Garland, seen as she revives a favorite song of yesteryear, “When You Wore a Tulip,” one of the nostalgic songs out of her current M-G-M picture, “For Me and My Gal,” with Gene Kelly, George Murphy, and Marta Eggerth. Judy is a young vaudsville [sic] singer trying to make her way up in the world of variety. Her singing of this old song is one of the picture’s highlights.
The accompanying text printed on the back of the bottom right photo of Judy and Gene alone reads:
DANCE DUO . . . Judy Garland and her newest screen beau, Gene Kelly, Broadway dancing star, as they appear in M-G-M’s “For Me and My Gal,” a story of vaudeville and its people in the heyday of variety, at the time of the last world war. Like real troupers Judy and Gene surrender their personal ambitions to go overseas to entertain the A.E.F. doughboys. Busby Berkeley directed and Arthur Freed produced.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on For Me And My Gal here.
June 4, 1944: Judy took part in “The Bakers of America Salute to The Armed Forces” broadcast on NBC Radio. She sang “The Trolley Song” (the second time she performed the song in public), “Long Ago And Far Away” and duetted with Bing Crosby on “The Way You Look Tonight.” The latter has recently been remastered and can be heard on the 2017 4-CD set “Judy Garland – Duets.”
Listen to “The Trolley Song” here:
Listen to “Long Ago And Far Away” here:
Listen to “The Way You Look Tonight” here:
Listen to the entire show here:
June 4, 1945: The last day of principal photography for The Harvey Girls was devoted to scenes shot on the “Exterior Picnic Grounds.” Time called: 10:30 a.m.; Judy arrived on time; dismissed: 7:05 p.m.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on The Harvey Girls here.
June 4, 1947: Filming continued on The Pirate with more scenes shot on the “Exterior Gallows” set. Time called: 10:05 a.m.; dismissed: 5:20 p.m.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on The Pirate here.
June 4, 1948: Judy was out sick from filming Words and Music on this day and June 5th. The assistant director’s notes for June 5th state “Company layoff due to JG.”
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Page on Words and Music here.
June 4, 1951: Judy and Sid Luft took a quick overnight trip to Paris, France from Edinburgh, Scotland where Judy had just appeared in concert. There are no photos of Judy and Sid in Paris, so here’s a great photo of the two in November of 1951.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
June 4, 1952: Judy appeared on “The Bing Crosby Show” for the third time. The show was prerecorded in late May 1952. Judy sang “You Made Me Love You,” “Over The Rainbow,” and with Bing: “You’re Just In Love,” “Walking My Baby Back Home.” “Sound Off,” “In My Merry Oldsmobile,” “Hello, My Baby,” and “Walking My Baby Back Home.”
Listen to “You Made Me Love You” here:
Listen to “Walking My Baby Back Home” here:
Listen to “You’re Just In Love” here:
Listen to “Over The Rainbow” here:
Listen to the entire show here:
June 4, 1955: The UK’s “Picture Show” magazine featured A Star Is Born for its cover and main article which was a short “novelization” of the film. Click on the images to read the article (I’m sorry we’re missing one page).
Also on June 4, 1955: This “Picturegoer” article from the UK features “Britain’s top astrologer” giving his analysis of Judy.
Scans provided by Kim Lundgreen. Thanks, Kim!
Check out The Judy Room’s Extensive Spotlight Section on A Star Is Born here.
June 4, 1959: These photos were taken of Judy in her dressing room at the Chicago Opera House. She was in the middle of a week-long run there from June 1st through 7th. Seven shows total, with ticket prices ranging from $2.50 to a max of $10.00.
Below: A newspaper ad for Capitol Records includes Garland at the Grove.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
June 4, 1964: Judy was still in Hong Kong, back in her room at the Mandarin Hotel, after having been in a coma just a few days before due to an accidental overdose. On this day, Judy’s doctor, Dr. Lee Siegel, was called to her room because she was running a fever.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
June 4, 1967: The world got a glimpse of Judy as she would have looked in Valley of the Dolls when “Parade Magazine” (a Sunday newspaper supplement) ran a costume test photo of Judy in the white gown she was to wear for her song, “I’ll Plant My Own Tree.” The photo was part of Walter Scott’s “Personality Parade” Q&A section.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on Valley of the Dolls here.
June 4, 1989: Judy’s hometown of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, was planning a big birthday bash for Judy, centered around the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of The Wizard of Oz.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on The Wizard of Oz here.
June 4, 1984: Here is a full-page article from the “Berlingske” magazine in Denmark pertaining to the recent restoration of A Star Is Born.
Scans provided by Kim Lundgreen. Thanks, Kim!
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on A Star Is Born here.
June 4, 2013: Warner Home Video announced their new 75th anniversary boxed set edition of The Wizard of Oz, a full year ahead of the actual anniversary. The new set was similar to the 2009 70th anniversary set but with the addition of the new 3D version of the film which was another new high-def transfer on Blu-ray, and some different collectible items. The rest of the extras were the same as the 2009 edition.
For more details, check out The Judy Room’s DVD/Blu-ray pages about the release here.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on The Wizard of Oz here.