Posted by “Juveniles Prove Hit In Revue” – Los Angeles Times, 1931
July 19, 1922, 10:00 a.m. – Frances Ethel Gumm (Judy Garland) was baptized at the Episcopal Church of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, by the rector, Robert Arthur Cowling, of Hibbing. Godfather: Ted Toren; Godmothers: Jenny Toren and Mrs. Arnold Wickman. The baptism was noted in the July 19, 1922, edition of “The Herald-Review,” Grand Rapids, Minnesota’s local newspaper.
July 19, 1931: “The Gumm Sisters” were listed at the top of the list of performers who received this positive review for their part in Maurice Kusell’s “Stars of Tomorrow” which ran from July 10 through July 17 at the Wilshire-Ebell Theater in Los Angeles.
July 19, 1934: This photo was allegedly taken of Judy on this date, in performance at the “A Century of Progress” exhibition space at the Chicago World’s Fair. Frances (Judy) was selected as the guest of honor and star performer for the “Eighth Children’s Day” event.
July 19, 1938: Love Finds Andy Hardy
July 19, 1939: Here’s an MGM trade ad published in the “Motion Picture Daily” magazine.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on The Wizard of Oz here.
July 19, 1940: Strike Up The Band filming continued with retakes on the “Gay Nineties” number and on the “Interior Gym” set. Time called: 9 a.m.; dismissed: 12:15 p.m.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Page on Strike Up The Band here.
July 19, 1941: Here is another MGM trade ad, in the “Motion Picture Herald,” this time promoting Life Begins for Andy Hardy.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on The Andy Hardy Series here.
July 19, 1941: This photo of Judy clowning around with Buster Keaton and Marie Wilson appeared on the Australian Women’s Weekly news magazine’s “Movie World” page. The photos are actually from the party that Judy and her husband David Rose had attended which was a “Mack Sennett Bathing Beauty” theme party given by Milton Berle at the Beverly Hills Sand and Pool Club. Guests were encouraged to wear old bathing suits and/or be in Keystone Cops attire. The party took place on either Saturday, May 3rd, or Sunday, May 4th. Hedda Hopper’s column that Friday noted that she was laying low for the weekend and would “… miss Judy Garland’s unveiling of her new portrait, Milton Berle’s bathing party a la Mack Sennett …”
Judy and Keaton would work together eight years later when they made In The Good Old Summertime. It was Keaton’s last film for MGM.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on In The Good Old Summertime here.
Also on this day, at MGM, Judy did not report to work on Babes on Broadway. The assistant director’s notes state that Judy Garland was called for wardrobe fitting at 1:00 p.m. today and to come to rehearsal at 1:30 p.m. on stage 8. At 1:05 p.m. she arrived on lot; at 1:35 p.m. – when Miss Garland did not go to stage 8 for rehearsal – Her home was called and a message left for Miss Garland to call company on stage 4 when she arrived home – after not hearing from her by 6:30 p.m. Mr. Ryan called to give her call for Monday, and she had not yet arrived home.
July 19, 1943: Judy arrived as scheduled in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, at 2 p.m., but instead of heading directly to the Carlisle Barracks to sing for bedridden soldiers and have supper in one of the enlisted men’s mess halls, she rested. On her way to Carlisle, she stopped at the Army Service Forces Depot (now known as the New Cumberland Army Depot) in New Cumberland, Pennsylvania, which is just outside of Harrisburg. That stop, and the late start, made her 90 minutes late for a scheduled mid-afternoon appearance at the campus of the Carlisle Medical Service School (at Dickinson College), where 600 Air Corps men “and as many townspeople, had waited patiently since 5 o’clock.” She had been scheduled to sing as well as visit with patients in the station hospital and have supper in one of the enlisted men’s mess halls. She only had time to make a quick statement before being taken to the Carlisle Barracks.
According to the April-August 1943 edition of the school’s “Flight Log” magazine, “she said she was sorry that she couldn’t stay long enough to sing anything. With a ‘God bless you all; I know you’ll all get your silver wings someday,’ she swept out. You could have run several full-sized locomotives with the steam we blew off after that faux pas.”
The Carlisle Camp Barracks show was on a special stage built for the show at the camp’s Stark Field at 8 p.m. and began with a 30-minute “varied program” by the Medical Field Service School Concert Band. Garland opened the second half of the show by stating: “I didn’t come here to tell you how to win the war, and I know you’ll win it. I’m here to pay an installment on the debt I owe to the men in uniform.” She sang “It’s A Great Day For The Irish,” “As Time Goes By,” and “For Me And My Gal.” At this point, Garland opened the show to requests, noting that she had “an awfully bad cold” and that her voice must “sound a little rotten.” “But the crowd didn’t think so and showed it by some extra applause at the moment.” At one point, she joked about her voice sounding as raspy as Eddie “Rochester” Anderson’s. A baby in the audience let out a shout during one number, prompting Garland to quip, “I don’t blame you!” On request, Garland sang “You’ll Never Know,” “You Made Me Love You,” and “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore,” and then the audience kept shouting “Over the Rainbow,” to which she replied, “Oh, I don’t know that one.” Just before the final number, she asked the audience to “’let me sing one I like.” She closed with “Exactly Like You” and said, “I hope my coming here has given you as much pleasure as it has me. I hope that it won’t be long until we meet again. Until then, God bless you and goodbye.”
On July 21, 2018, Carlisle’s “Sentinal” newspaper published the following on its website about Judy’s visit:
CARLISLE, PA (Tribune News Service) — Judy Garland was joking with the audience when she said her voice sounded like Rochester.
The star of The Wizard of Oz was battling a chest cold during a performance in front of 3,500 soldiers and civilians at Carlisle Barracks.
During one bout with nasty symptoms, she compared her tonal quality to the cracked and raspy voice of Eddie Anderson, the black valet of Jack Benny.
It was Monday night, July 19, 1943, and Garland, like most every American, was doing her part to rally the home front against Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan and Fascist Italy.
“I didn’t come here to tell you how to win the war,” the Hollywood actress said. “I know you’ll win. I’m here to pay an installment on the debt I owe to the men in uniform.”
Crowd favorite
Garland wowed the crowd with a combination of charm and wit as she told stories and sang eight classic tunes including “As Time Goes By” and “You Made Me Love You.” Her humor shined through when she replied “Oh, I don’t know that one” in response to fans who kept shouting “Over the Rainbow.”
Garland eventually sang the crowd favorite she made famous in her role as Dorothy. There were other zany moments on the specially built stage set up on what is today Indian Field.
“When a baby left out a shout suddenly in the midst of a number, Miss Judy said ‘I don’t blame you,'” The Sentinel reported the next day. “When a photographer’s flash bulb went off she pretended to be startled and put her thumbs at her ears and wiggled her fingers making horns at them.”
The newspaper was vivid in its description of Garland:
“Standing there in the glow of the subdued spotlight, the crowd thought the diminutive Hollywood favorite of millions very pretty indeed. She wore a silk print dress of blue and maroon figures caught in front in drape fashion. Held in her strawberry blonde locks over one ear was an ornamental feathered flower of light yellow and over the other a similar posy of pale lavender.”
Almost three weeks prior, on July 1, Garland performed before a record crowd of 15,000 people at the Robin Hood Dell outdoor music venue in Philadelphia. The United Press wire service said an equal number of people had gathered outside the fence and on nearby hillsides to see Judy.
Schedule changes
The Sentinel played up her July 19 visit to Carlisle with stories published on July 13 and July 17. Both mentioned that Garland was being sponsored to appear locally by USO Camp Shows and the special service office of Carlisle Barracks.
During World War II, the post was home to the Medical Field Service School. In 1939, Lt. Col. Thomas G. Tousey published his book “Military History of Carlisle and Carlisle Barracks.”
Tousey wrote how the school was an outgrowth of lessons learned in battle during World War I on the recovery and transportation of wounded soldiers from the frontline to field hospitals. The school focused on training medical officers and enlisted men while providing researchers with laboratory space to develop better equipment and techniques.
The original schedule, as reported by The Sentinel, called for Garland to arrive in Harrisburg around 2 p.m. July 19. She was to head directly for Carlisle Barracks to sing to bedridden soldiers at the post hospital before having supper with other soldiers in the enlisted men’s mess.
That ended up not happening.
Instead Garland stayed over in Harrisburg to rest before leaving for Carlisle. She arrived in town around 6:30 p.m. almost 90 minutes late for a brief appearance before 600 Army Air Corps men who were being trained in Carlisle. Civilians, mostly women and girls, were also waiting since 5 p.m. for Garland to show up.
The Sentinel story mentioned the word “campus”–a probable reference to the Air Cadet Program in operation at Dickinson College during the war. As Garland approached the microphone, she slipped into her shy act and said, “I’m terribly sorry I can’t sing for you. But I want to say hello and I hope that soon you will be wearing wings and flying high and handsome. Goodbye and God bless you.”
“The disappointed Air Corps boys had seen her less than a minute, but it was a refreshing minute,” the newspaper reported. “Judy looked like a co-ed, except for her vivid hair. She was hatless and wore a plain print dress of blue and white.” From there, she was escorted to Carlisle Barracks where she had just enough time to eat supper at the officers’ club as a guest of honor of Brig. Gen. Addison D. Davis, the post commandant.
Garland’s performance at Indian Field had an opening act – the Medical Field Service School Concert Band. The ensemble played a half-hour program that included the marimba duet “Mac and Mac,” which “caught the crowd’s fancy,” The Sentinel reported. The newspaper believed the “crack concert band” earned as much applause as Judy Garland during her time on the stage.
Salute to a soldier
Before leaving the platform, the actress was stopped by Capt. K. R. Schneck, the special service officer. He told Garland “Carlisle’s No. 1 soldier had a gift for the No. 1 movie star.” On that cue, a nervous Sgt. John Blazetic walked across the stage and handed Garland an armful of red rose buds.
The flowers were a gift from the officers and enlisted men of the garrison. As for Blazetic, he was honored on July 13 with a Medal for Valor for the part he played in the unsuccessful effort to rescue a companion, Cpl. Henry Sima, from drowning during a stream-crossing exercise on the Conodoguinet Creek about a quarter mile from the Cave Hill dam.
The citation for the medal stated that Blazetic “with utter disregard for his own safety and although himself exhausted from a previous crossing, went to the assistance of the drowning man. With great difficulty and exceptional bravery First Sergeant Blazetic persisted in his attempts to save the drowning man until he himself developed difficulties and was ordered to return to shore.” Aside from Sima, Pvt. James Bergin drowned in deep water after their craft turned over.
A native of North Braddock, Allegheny County, Blazetic enlisted in the Army in 1933 and was stationed at Carlisle Barracks with Company D of the 32nd Medical Battalion. He rose up the ranks with the same unit becoming a first sergeant in June 1941 – six months before Pearl Harbor.
Blazetic was promoted to second lieutenant in September 1943 and reassigned to Camp Pickett, Virginia.
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(c)2018 The Sentinel (Carlisle, Pa.)
Visit The Sentinel at www.cumberlink.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
July 19, 1943: Here’s another article about Judy’s tour of Army Camps which included one of the portraits recently taken of her in New York on July 16th.
July 19, 1943: Presenting Lily Mars was showing at the Victoria Theater in Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, prompting this mini-story of the film and another nice ad.
Check out The Judy Room’s Extensive Spotlight on Presenting Lily Mars here.
July 19, 1944: The first day of filming “A Great Lady Has ‘An Interview'” for Ziegfeld Follies on MGM’s Stage 21. The number was directed by Vincente Minnelli. Time called: 9 a.m.; dismissed: 6:10 p.m.
These photos of Judy were taken on this date.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Page on Ziegfeld Follies of 1946 here.
Circa 1947: Here is a great photo of Judy and her husband Vincente Minnelli chatting with director George Cukor (to Vincente’s left) and Ronald Colman and his wife Benita Hume.
July 19, 1948: Here’s an ad published by MGM in the trade paper, the “Independent Exhibitor’s Film Bulletin” on this date. The ad promoted the success of Easter Parade at New York’s Loew’s State Theater, along with other current MGM films.
July 19, 1948, is also the first day of a long period of rest for Judy that lasted through September 23rd. Judy gained much-needed weight and again went through withdrawal from her prescribed medicines.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on Easter Parade here.
July 19, 1948: Here are some ads and reviews of Easter Parade. As you can see, one reviewer didn’t seem to care for the film very much. You can’t please everyone!
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on Easter Parade here.
July 19, 1948: Two items. 1) Columnist Dorothy Manners reported on Judy’s breakdown at MGM and Ginger Rogers replacing her on The Barkleys of Broadway. 2) Columnist Helen Barrett reported that Judy gave her a daily handkerchief with the word “Helen from Judy Garland” embroidered on a corner.
July 19, 1952: Judy and Sid Luft hosted a party for 150 guests to celebrate Judy’s thirtieth birthday, their marriage, Judy’s impending motherhood, and their new and exciting deal: Judy’s production company, Transcona, entered into a nine-film production deal with Warner Brothers (with three of the films starring Judy). The result of the deal was A Star Is Born.
Check out The Judy Room’s Extensive Spotlight on A Star Is Born here.
Photo: Snapshot of Judy, circa 1952.
July 19, 1953: This spread appeared in quite a lot of papers around the country, part of the Sunday “Parade” section. It features some great photos of Judy with husband Sid Luft and Columbia Records’ Mitch Miller, taken during Judy’s sessions for the label (on April 3rd) during which she recorded four singles: “Send My Baby Back To Me”; “Without A Memory”; “Go Home, Joe”; and “Heartbroken.” The label also released the soundtrack to A Star Is Born in 1954 but by that point, Judy’s contract had expired and she moved to Capitol Records in 1955.
Listen to the 1990s Robert Parker “surround sound” restorations of the recordings here:
“Send My Baby Back To Me”
“Go Home, Joe”
“Without A Memory”
“Heartbroken”
July 19, 1954: More filming of the “Melancholy Baby” number for A Star Is Born on the “Interior Third Nightclub” set. Time started: 5 p.m.; finished: 12:55 a.m.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on A Star Is Born here.
July 19, 1955: Judy was in concert at the Exhibition Forum in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The show was a huge success, but afterward, Judy’s husband and tour producer, Sid Luft, publicly announced the cancelation of the rest of the tour by citing a clause in the contract that stated Judy could cancel the dates without repercussions if she was needed for film or television work. The result was Judy’s first TV special which aired on September 24, 1955, not long after Judy signed a recording contract with Capitol Records that August. Just prior to this Vancouver engagement, Luft had already canceled Judy’s two shows in Seattle scheduled for July 17th & 18th, citing that Judy had laryngitis.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
July 19, 1961: Here is a photo of Judy congratulating daughter Liza Minnelli on her legitimate theatre debut in “Wish You Were Here” at the Cape Cod Music Tent in Hyannis, Massachusetts (July 17). Judy and her family were spending the summer near the Kennedy compounds in Hyannisport (Judy and JFK were friends). In one article, Judy joked that they were just a short 100 feet from the Kennedy compound.
July 19, 1963: Judy took a break from rehearsals for “Episode Four” of “The Judy Garland Show” to zip over to Las Vegas, Nevada. Here she’s seen clowning around with boxer Floyd Patterson and with author/playwright Norman Mailer.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
July 19, 1965: In this article, Jerry Van Dyke talked about his time on “The Judy Garland Show” and how misguided the direction of the show was, which wasn’t a reflection on Judy.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
July 19, 1968: Judy was supposed to be in concert on this night at the J.F.K. Stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. However, the show was rained out and pushed to the 20th. Here is a ticket for the 19th, which I’m sure was good for the show on the 20th.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
July 19, 1969: Don’t mess with Garland fans! Larry Lowenstein of Long Branch, New Jersey, objected to the July 3rd column by Paul Van Duren in which Van Duren was less than sympathetic. Above is the letter to the editor as well as the original article.
July 19, 1969: This article explains why there would most likely not be a Garland film biography anytime soon.
July 19, 1975: Here is an article about Gerold Frank and his new book, “Judy,” which was the first (and some say still the best) comprehensive biography about Judy Garland. It was the only biography about Judy that had the help and support of Judy’s ex-husband Sid Luft and daughters Liza Minnelli and Lorna Luft.
July 19, 1989: Here are a couple of articles related to the 50th anniversary of The Wizard of Oz. One was about the Munchkins, the other focused on the Ruby Slippers and the new book about them, “The Ruby Slippers of Oz” by Rhys Thomas.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on The Wizard of Oz here.
The two other people in the house party photo are Ronald Colman (without hair dye) and his wife Benita Hume.
Thank you so much! And wow, I didn’t recognize Coleman at all, he’s one of my favs.
In later years George Cukor was rather waspish in his comments about Minnelli and his films.