Posted by “If I am to name the performer I admire the most, it would be Judy Garland.” – Diahann Carroll, 1957
July 25, 1933: The last night of a seven-night engagement for Judy and her sisters, “The Gumm Sisters,” at the Warner Brothers Downtown Theater in Los Angeles. The sisters were one of the “6 Big Acts Vodil.”
July 26, 1936: This article about Jackie Cooper included the alleged romance between him and Judy. It was studio-fed fiction, but it kept Judy’s name in the papers even though she had yet to appear in her first feature film.
July 26, 1937: Watching the Stars Eat. Judy with Robert Taylor, Betty Jaynes, and Clark Gable.
Also on this date, Judy’s eighth appearance on Frank Morgan’s limited series of 15-minute shows. Little is known about these shows outside of what the newspapers tell us, which do not include the actual contents, just schedule listings. No recordings are known to survive.
Judy was listed as being a part of the shows that aired on June 6th, 14th, 21st, 28th; July 5th, 12th, 19th, 26th; and August 2nd & 9th. She’s not listed in the final three episodes on August 16, 23, & 30. No recordings are known to exist of any of the shows nor is there any information as to what Judy sang.
July 26, 1939: The latest ad placed by MGM in the trade magazine “Motion Picture Daily.”
July 26, 1941: According to Norman J. Zierold in his limited series of articles about “The Child Stars” as published in February 1966, Judy and David Rose were dining with Judy’s mother, Ethel, and her stepfather, William Gilmore, when they “made the decision to marry immediately, a move which was probably hastened by increasing studio opposition to the romance. ‘The Real Thing’ lasted a year and a half, until February 1943, when a long separation began that ended in divorce in June 1944. Conflicting careers said the self-appointed experts. The studio was, in fact, always calling. And Judy, for whom the sweet smell of success was growing intoxicatingly strong, always obeyed.”
On this day, MGM noted that the company of Babes on Broadway was shut down for the day due to Judy being ill and nothing could be filmed without her. The next day Judy, David, her mother, and stepfather went to Las Vegas.
Photos: Judy and David Rose in 1941; Judy and her mom also in 1941.
July 26, 1942: Decca Records recording session at the label’s studios in Hollywood, California. Judy was joined by her For Me And My Gal co-star Gene Kelly. Together they recorded “For Me And My Gal” and “When You Wore A Tulip.” Judy then soloed on “That Old Black Magic” and “I Never Knew.”
“That Old Black Magic” had been written by Johnny Mercer (lyrics) and Harold Arlen (music). Mercer wrote the lyrics about Judy, whom he was in love with at the time. It’s unclear if Judy ever knew this fact or not. I like to think that she did.
Listen to “For Me And My Gal” here:
Listen to “When You Wore A Tulip” here:
Listen to “That Old Black Magic” here:
Listen to “I Never Knew” here:
Check out The Judy Garland Online Discography’s “Decca Records” section for details about all of Judy’s Decca recordings and albums.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on For Me And My Gal here.
Disc images from the Rick Smith Collection. Thanks, Rick!
July 26, 1948: Columnist Bob Thomas wisely notes that Judy’s recent health issues were due to being overworked.
July 26, 1949: Now available! The original soundtrack album to In The Good Old Summertime. The original album was not the standard four-disc, eight-sides album but two discs with four songs in the gatefold format. The four songs presented were “Put Your Arms Around Me Honey”; “Meet Me Tonight In Dreamland”; “Play That Barbershop Chord”; “I Don’t Care.”
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on In The Good Old Summertime here.
July 26, 1954: Judy rehearsed and recorded parts of the “Born In A Trunk” number for A Star Is Born, specifically “When My Sugar Walks Down The Street” and “I’ll Get By.” From 4 – 5 p.m., she rehearsed, then recorded from 5 – 5:25 p.m. then rehearsed some more from 5:25 – 6 p.m.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on A Star Is Born” here.
July 26, 1955: Erksine Johnson reported on the fact that Judy apparently turned down an offer to appear on TV preferring to tour with her show, “The Judy Garland Show.” However, after Judy’s concert in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on July 19, her husband and manager 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.
Meanwhile, The Wizard of Oz was still enjoying brisk business for its second theatrical rerelease. Included here is an article published on this date, about O.O. Ceccarini who worked out the mathematics of the sound effects of the cyclone in the film.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on The Wizard of Oz here.
July 26, 1957: The young, up-and-coming singer Diahann Carroll says that Judy is her idol. Carroll went on to enjoy a fantastic career, including appearing with Judy on Judy’s TV series as Judy’s guest on Episode Twenty-One taped on January 31, 1964, and aired on February 16, 1964.
July 26, 1967: Judy and kids Lorna and Joe Luft posed under the marquee at The Palace Theater. Judy opened her third, and final, engagement at the theater on July 31, 1967.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
July 26, 1983: Judy returned to the Arie Crown Theatre in Chicago – via the newly restored version of A Star Is Born.