Posted by “It is Miss Garland who emerges as the star of stars of this musical epic and confirms her place as surely the greatest musical performer the movies have ever produced.” – Jerry Parker, 1974
June 16, 1933: Frances Gumm (Judy) appeared on the “Junior Hi Jinx” radio show, broadcast by KFWB Radio out of Los Angeles, California. Judy was on the show through early July, broadcast every Friday at 7:45 p.m.
June 16, 1937: Fifteen-year-old Judy is promoted as being thirteen in this notice about her being cast in Broadway Melody of 1938. The film was released on August 20, 1937.
Meanwhile, Judy’s sister Sue was appearing at Lake Tahoe. Here is another ad from the Reno Gazette that promotes her as Songstress and Tap Dancer Extraordinary (Sister of JUDY GARLAND, radio and movie star now with Jack Oakie in radio and pictures. Featured in “The Broadway Melody of 1938,” to be out in a month. Also starring in “The Ugly Duckling,” with Billie Burke, Allan Jones, and Frank Morgan, now going into production.)
“The Ugly Duckling” became Everybody Sing (1938) and Frank Morgan was not in it. There are no existing reviews of Sue’s show.
June 16, 1939: Babes in Arms filming continued with the “Opening Night” scene on the “Interior Barn” set, plus rehearsals of the “Babes In Arms” production number. Time called: 9 a.m.; lunch: 12:50-1:50 p.m.; dismissed: 4 p.m. Publicity photos were also taken on this day of Judy and the rest of the cast.
The Wizard Of Oz had its second preview, this time at The Ponoma Theater in Los Angeles.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on “The Wizard of Oz here.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Page on Babes in Arms here.
June 16, 1941: Two news items. The first reports of a fan letter sent to Judy asking for a recording of her singing “Silent Night.” The girl heard Judy sing it on the radio while she was in the hospital over Christmas 1940, and upon hearing it she began to relax and started to feel better. There’s no word as to whether Judy ever sent the girl a record, or if the story is actually true (remember, the MGM Publicity Department was quite clever in keeping Judy’s name in the papers).
The second is from the Philadelphia Inquirer. Judy was the top topic for that week in letters to columnist Louella Parsons. Click on the image to read them.
June 16, 1943: Here are more fun ads promoting Presenting Lily Mars, which proved to be a solid hit for Judy and MGM.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on Presenting Lily Mars here.
Also, this ad for The Wizard of Oz ran in the Sacramento, California, “Bee” newspaper. Although the film was actually out of circulation, it did play in random theaters around the country in the years between its release and re-releases.
Check out The Judy Room’sSpotlight on The Wizard of Oz here.
June 16, 1944: Judy began pre-production work on her next film for MGM, The Clock. This was Judy’s first straight dramatic role, which was something that she had wanted to do for a long time. This first day consisted of “silent wardrobe and hair test[s].” Time called: 3 p.m.; dismissed: 4:55 p.m.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on The Clock here.
Photo provided by Kim Lundgreen. Thanks, Kim!
June 16, 1945: This ad promoting MGM’s production of Ziegfeld Follies appeared in the Film Daily trade magazine.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Page on Ziegfeld Follies of 1946 here.
June 16, 1947: Judy was in the middle of a very rare 10 consecutive days off from her work at the studio (she was filming The Pirate). No doubt she took advantage of the time off to rest and eat!
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on The Pirate here.
June 16, 1948: Judy had another rehearsal for The Barkleys of Broadway. She was on time, due on the set, and also arrived on the set at 1:30 p.m.; dismissed: 5:10 p.m.
June 16, 1949: The Wizard of Oz was enjoying a successful first theatrical re-release.
June 16, 1950: The last time Judy worked on an MGM movie set. She reported to the studio at 10 a.m. for wardrobe and makeup tests for Royal Wedding co-starring Fred Astaire. This photo was taken on this day and is the only known photograph of Judy from the production aside from photos taken during her birthday party a few days before. She and Fred are in costume for the “How Could You Believe Me When I Said I Loved You When You Know I’ve Been A Liar All My Life” number, which they had not yet recorded. Judy left the project before any prerecording sessions were made.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Page on Royal Wedding here.
June 16, 1964: Judy and Mark Herron arrived in Yokohama, Japan, where Judy gave a press conference. The couple had traveled there from Hong Kong aboard the President Roosevelt ocean liner. The reports were that the couple were married by a Buddhist priest but Judy’s attorney later said that they were simply blessed by the priest, not married (Judy’s divorce from Sid Luft was not yet final).
Also on this date, Judy sent a telegram to Robert Osborne thanking him for his kindness.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
June 16, 1965: A lien was placed on Judy’s Thunderbird (Las Vegas) salary, due to a judgment awarded to attorney William Morse, who had represented Judy in her fall 1962 divorce action against Sid Luft. Judy allegedly had stopped payment on a $3,000 check she had given Morse. Morse was awarded the $3,000 plus an additional $1,000 in attorney’s fees from June 19, 1963.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
June 16, 1968: These snapshots were taken of Judy at Asbury Park, New Jersey.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
June 16, 1968: A stage version of 1948’s The Pirate which originally co-starred Judy with Gene Kelly and with songs by Cole Porter, was produced by the Bucks County Playhouse. The musical included an additional “eight or nine” songs from Porter’s “trunk.” The show did not make the leap to Broadway.
June 16, 1969: The last known recording of Judy Garland was made on this day at “The Half Note Club” in New York.
Listen to the recording here:
That’s Judy’s last husband, Mickey Deans, on the piano and also heard feeding her the lyrics to “When Sunny Gets Blue.” Anita O’Day opens the recording, singing a bit of “The Lady Is A Tramp” and “It Had To Be You.” Judy is also heard (in the background) having fun singing “I Love A Piano.”
Photo: Judy at “The Talk of the Town” on January 28, 1969.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
June 16, 1974: This syndicated article by Jerry Parker about That’s Entertainment! was published. Parker notes that Judy is the one star in the compilation film “who emerges as the star of stars.” He also notes the repackaging of MGM Records’ soundtracks in September 1973 was so popular more were added to the series in February 1974. Click here or on the image below of the first in the LP series for details about it and the subsequent editions.
