Posted by “From the moment she stepped through the rear doors, and made her spotlighted entrance through the auditorium, the audience was on its feet and was hers.” – Jack Sales, 1967
October 2, 1936: Judy was Jackie Cooper’s girlfriend – at least according to MGM. Note, Judy was actually 14, not 13 as MGM was publicizing and the paper mistakenly gives Mickey Rooney’s name as “Michael.”
October 2, 1940: Judy was at home convalescing from having her tonsils taken out the day before. MGM was understandably nervous that the procedure would affect her voice. It didn’t.
The article above was correct. Aside from one radio appearance and a photo session, Judy didn’t go back to film work until November 13th when she began prerecordings for Ziegfeld Girl.
Check out The Judy Room’s Extensive Spotlight on Ziegfeld Girl here.
October 2, 1940: “Felts For The Young Misses.”
October 2, 1941: Another day of filming the extensive “Finale” sequence for Babes on Broadway. Time called: 10 a.m.; lunch: 12:05-1:05 p.m.; dismissed: 6:00 p.m.
October 2, 1941: Judy, a three-foot-high doll made in her likeness (allegedly), and the ambassador of Chile!
October 2, 1944: Filming on The Clock continued with new director Vincente Minnelli. Scenes were shot on the “Interior Small REstaurant” set. Time called: 10 a.m.; Judy arrived at 10:16 a.m.; dismissed: 4 p.m.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on The Clock here.
October 2, 1945: Judy’s first noted day of work on Till The Clouds Roll By. From 2:30 – 4:30 p.m., she pre-recorded “Look For The Silver Lining.”
Listen to the prerecording of “Look For The Silver Lining” here:
Listen to the stereo version here:
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on Till The Clouds Roll By here.
October 2, 1947: Another day of early rehearsals for Easter Parade. At this point, Gene Kelly was still Judy’s co-star and the duo was rehearsing “A Couple of Swells.” They would continue rehearsals of “Swells” as well as Judy rehearsing “Mr. Monotony” until October 13 when Kelly broke his ankle. Unfortunately, none of these rehearsals were recorded so we have no idea how the duet sounded with Kelly instead of Fred Astaire.
First Photo: Scan of a newspaper clipping from August 1947 noting that Easter Parade would star Judy with Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly, Red Skelton, and Kathryn Grayson! Maybe Judy and Kathryn could have resurrected the “Opera vs. Jazz” routines Judy performed in the 30s.
Second Photo: Color newsprint ad for the final film.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on Easter Parade here.
October 2, 1948: Here is another example of the negative feedback about The Pirate that was currently running in the magazine’s “What The Picture Did For Me.” The regular feature focused on feedback about various films sent to the magazine by theater owners/managers in the U.S. and Canada.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Page on The Pirate here.
October 2, 1951: The following appeared in various papers around the world.
“Punched by Judy”
A 19-year-old youth claimed yesterday that actress Judy Garland struck him.
“Miss Garland hit me in the face and broke my glasses,” said the youth, Charles Neale.
Police said the brawl started after a car, driven by Judy’s friend, Sidney Luft, an actors’ agent, went through a red light, and hit Neale’s car.
A heated argument between the three started. Luft was arrested and charged with being drunk in a car.
Dr. Rueben Larson, a dentist, told police he saw the accident, and added: “When I left my car to see what was the matter, Luft got out of his, and popped me in the nose. One of the lenses in my glasses was broken.
Later Judy said: “I’m human, and have emotions like anyone else, though I’m an actress.”
“When I saw Sid in trouble I had to go to him.”
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
October 2, 1952: This photo was taken of Judy at Ciro’s. She was there for Johnny Ray’s opening.
It’s a bit of an oddity as it wasn’t published until January 1953, at which point it notes that Judy was going to go “into ‘A Star Is Born’ after baby’s born,” referencing her pregnancy. However, Lorna was born in November 1952. The January publication of the photo was two months after the fact.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
October 2, 1954: A Star Is Born was opening around the country. At this point, it was still the original cut of the film, 181 minutes.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on A Star Is Born here.
October 2, 1954: A Star Is Born received a stellar review from the trade magazine “Motion Picture Herald.”
Note that the magazine’s publisher, Martin Quigley, Jr., noted that the film “runs a delightfully short three hours.” It’s a shame that Jack Warner didn’t realize that.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on A Star Is Born here.
October 2, 1955: Judy made the cover of Boston’s “TV Eye.”
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
October 2, 1955: This article about Van Johnson relays the story about how Judy “discovered” both Van and Gene Kelly. When Judy was in New York she saw “Pal Joey” and liked both Gene Kelly and Van Johnson so she sent a postcard to the head of MGM, Louis B. Mayer, suggesting he sign the two. The article claims Judy was 16 when these events allegedly happened but actually she was already 18 years old when the show opened on Broadway in late December 1940. Judy had in fact seen “Pal Joey” while on a short trip to New York and, according to Gerold Frank in his biography of Judy, titled “Judy” (published in 1975), she and Gene went to dinner with her mother and others in her entourage. The two stars managed to ditch Judy’s mom and the entourage and go out on their own, creating a lifelong friendship.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
October 2, 1956: Two versions of the same Earl Wilson column, only slightly different.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
October 2, 1957: Judy had to cut short her engagement at the Mastbaumm Theatre in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (originally scheduled for a week) due to twisting her ankle AND a relapse of the flu that was straining her voice.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
October 2, 1960: Judy was in Paris, France, preparing for her upcoming opening at The Palais de Challot on October 5th. She had previously premiered her new, two-act solo concert at the London Palladium on August 28. Previously, her shows had been in a variety, Vaudeville-type format with opening acts and such. Now, it was just Judy singing her heart out. That August 28 premiere was the first known two-act, solo, one-woman concert ever given by a pop vocalist. When vocalists today say that Judy was a trailblazer, they’re not kidding.
Columnist Art Buchwald conducted an interview with Judy that was published on this date. According to Buchwald, it was the first Garland interview done over the phone across the English Channel. Judy talks about staying in England for a while, how 14-year-old Liza was struggling with the change in school from southern California to England (the curriculum was more advanced in England for teens her age), and that of course she was going to vote by absentee ballot for John F. Kennedy for President of the U.S.
October 2, 1961: Here is a review of Judy’s concert at the Bushnell Auditorium in Hartford, Connecticut, on October 1st.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
October 2, 1963: A recording session is listed as being held at Capitol Records in Hollywood to attempt to get completed takes for Judy’s in limbo “Judy Takes Broadway” project.
The single reel of tape only contains orchestra tracks of “Do What You Do,” “76 Trombones,” and “Why Can’t I?” with no vocal track. Judy’s voice can be heard faintly in the background, which indicates that she decided not to record that day but nonetheless rehearsed. The tape is noted as being a “dub (original in England)” meaning that most likely it was derived from a session in England or possibly other takes from April 1962. The master numbers are the same for the three songs from this session as they are from the original April 1962 sessions.
Whatever the case, the entire “Judy Takes Broadway” project was abandoned and not officially released until the 1988 CD “Judy Garland – Live!”
This project is not to be confused with the CD released by the Savoy Jazz label in 2008, also titled “Judy Takes Broadway” which is, at an all-too-short-for-your-money 44:13 minutes, a compilation of Broadway tunes as sung by Judy on her 1964/1962 TV series.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
October 2, 1965: During the day Judy had a dress rehearsal at CBS Television City in Hollywood, California. The rehearsal was for her appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show” live the following evening. Later on this evening she and Mark Herran attended the Thalian’s “Cloak and Dagger” show.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
October 2, 1967: Part One of a four-part reprint of the recent “Ladies Home Journal” article “The Plot Against Judy Garland” appeared in papers around the country.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
October 2, 1967: Judy’s second night of her two-night engagement at the Clowes Hall in Indianapolis, Indiana.
“Variety” reported that Judy grossed $33,940 against a possible $36,000, with attendance at a total of 4,050, out of a potential 4,400. Ticket prices were at a $10 top, which was Judy’s standard top ticket price, a high price for the era. By early 1968 that top price would sometimes hit $15.
The concert was a success, with the “Star” noting: “Now she has new depth of feeling and variety of tone color that give her a more dramatic quality to supplement her wonderful exuberance. She has a voice like an organ . . . When she cuts loose with a crescendo, it makes people want to stand up and cheer.”
On Sunday, September 3, 2000, the following article appeared in the Lifestyles Section under the general reader-submitted feature “My Life.”
ACCIDENTAL MEETING OF ACTRESSES MEMORABLE
Indianapolis Star – Sunday, September 3, 2000
By Mary Vinci
I shall always remember witnessing the chance meeting of two movie actresses, Frances, and Judy Garland, in Indianapolis, sometime in the year 1968.
At the time, Frances Farmer was a resident of Indianapolis, appearing in a television show every evening. [Actually “Frances Farmer Presents” went off the air in 1964.]
Judy Garland came to Indianapolis to appear in a concert at Clowes Hall.
My friend and I were able to obtain tickets, and we sat in the lower half section of the first floor in Clowes Hall.
Frances Farmer and her group were seated about four or five rows in front of us.
Frances Farmer apparently left the concert hall and was standing in the doorway just as Judy Garland opened the show, making her appearance by walking down the side aisle to the stage.
Judy Garland walked past Frances Farmer, then she stopped abruptly and ran back to Farmer. They were happy to see each other embracing and chatting. It was quite a reunion.
The Judy Garland show was spectacular, and I believe she sang better that night than at anytime I heard her.
If my memory serves me correctly, this was her last concert in the United States before going to England. It was during her stay in England that Garland passed away.
I was so happy to be able to witness the happy reunion between two fine actresses.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
October 2, 1967: This review of Judy’s September 29, concert at the Cobo Hall in Detroit, Michigan, was published on this day.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
October 2, 2018: The deluxe boxed set released in 2007 by Warner Home Video was out of print and already a collector’s item when the Warner Archive re-released the four Garland/Rooney musicals on these stand-alone discs (not as a boxed set) on this date.
No remastering or upgrades were made on the films, but in 2020 both Strike Up The Band and Girl Crazy were newly remastered in HD and released on Blu-ray. They look great!
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages here:
Girl Crazy
Babes on Broadway
Strike Up The Band
Babes in Arms