“All performers are a bit daffy, but that’s what makes them performers. The most important thing is the audience.” – Judy Garland, 1951
Born on this day in 1902: Everyone’s favorite Wicked Witch, the one and only Margaret Hamilton.
December 9, 1916: Here is an article about the Crystal Theatre in Portland, Oregon, published in “The Moving Picture World” trade magazine. The article mentions that “several managers have guided the destinies of the Crystal.” The article only mentions the recent manager, Henry Harcke, and Al Sather as being another popular manager who also sang at the theatre. In March of 1912, Judy’s father, Frank Gumm, traveled from Superior, Wisconsin, and ended up in Portland, where he managed the Crystal Theatre, part of his association with the “People’s Amusement Company.” Frank was a popular singer in the area, performing at the Crystal and other local theatres, including the Sunnyside Theatre. He was also a founding member of the People’s Amusement Company’s new Portland Screen Club, serving on its advertising committee. In late 1913, he returned to Superior, eventually marrying Judy’s mom, Ethel Milne, and starting a family in Grand Rapids, Minnesota.
Mike Siewert provided the photo shown here of Frank in front of the Crystal. Thanks, Mike!
December 9, 1935: More regarding Judy’s father, Frank Gumm. This ad is for “Garland’s Lomita,” the theatre Frank managed. In April 1935, Frank lost the lease on the Valley Theatre in Lancaster, California, and joined Ethel and the sisters in their rented home at 842 North Mariposa Avenue, near the 20th Century Fox studios in Los Angeles. The reason for the move was that rumors were spreading in Lancaster that Frank had been engaging in inappropriate sexual behavior with several local young men. As much as the community in Lancaster liked the Gumms, this was something they couldn’t tolerate. It was “suggested” that Frank leave town. He soon managed to find a new theatre to lease, this time in Lomita, California.
He and Ethel had begun to use the surname of “Garland” not long after the Gumm Sisters became the Garland Sisters in 1934.
December 9, 1936: Louella Parsons reported on an alleged film project for Judy titled Gram. The project was first listed for Marie Dressler, then, after Judy’s association, it went to Freddie Bartholomew. Freddie never made the film, either.
Photo: Judy with Deanna Durbin and Freddie Bartholomew, 1936.
December 9, 1937: Thoroughbreds Don’t Cry was still in theaters, and despite its slight plot, it still proved to be a successful “B” picture.
December 9, 1939: Some more Garland mentions in the trade magazines and a “Lion’s Roar” panel out of Australia.
December 9, 1940: Judy posed for these fun photos by MGM studio photographer Clarence Bull for Ziegfeld Girl. That Garland gal sure was flexible!
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on Ziegfeld Girl here.
December 9, 1942: A very short rehearsal day for Judy on Girl Crazy. Time called 3 p.m.; dismissed: 4:30 p.m.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on Girl Crazy here.
December 9, 1943: Judy was romantically involved with director Freddie De Cordova (mistakenly named “Pardova” in the photo caption). Cordova was currently a dialog director but eventually became a film and television director and producer, most famously producing “The Tonight Show” starring Johnny Carson.
On this day Judy had a day off from MGM and filming Meet Me In St. Louis.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on Meet Me In St. Louis here.
December 9, 1943: More for Girl Crazy.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on Girl Crazy here.
December 9, 1944: Here is another MGM trade ad, plus an interesting article about some local promotions of Meet Me In St. Louis as published in the “Motion Picture Daily.”
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on Meet Me In St. Louis here.
December 9, 1944: Billboard magazine noted the chart rankings of Judy’s single “The Trolley Song.” The song was popular, with the recording of the song by the Pied Pipers charting higher (for this week) than Judy’s.
Listen to Judy’s Decca single of “The Trolley Song” here: https://www.thejudyroom.com/songs/The-Trolley-Song-Decca.mp3
December 9, 1945: Judy participated in the “Jerome Kern Memorial” radio show broadcast by CBS Radio. She sang “Look For The Silver Lining” and part of “They Didn’t Believe Me.” The show featured a huge roster of stars: Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Nelson Eddy, and Dinah Shore, with Oscar Hammerstein serving as the host.
Judy had just completed filming her guest spot as Marilyn Miller in Till The Clouds Roll By a month before, which included her beautiful rendition of “Look For The Silver Lining.”
Listen to “Look For The Silver Lining” from this broadcast here:
Download the entire show here (zip file).
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on Till The Clouds Roll By here.
December 9, 1947: Easter Parade filming continued with the second day of shooting the “I Want To Go Back To Michigan” number on the “Interior Pastini’s Restaurant” set. Time called (for makeup): 7 a.m.; due on set 9 a.m.; Judy arrived on set at 1 p.m.; dismissed at 5:55 p.m.
Per the assistant director’s notes: Miss Garland was called for 9 a.m. today for Int. Pastini’s Restaurant. Miss Garland called Wally Worsley at 1:30 a.m. this morning to say that she was exhausted and should be unable to work until after lunch today. Miss Garland called the set at 9:40 a.m. and said she would be in as soon as possible for shooting Int. Rehearsal Hall.
Judy completed filming the number on the following day, December 10th.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on Easter Parade here.
December 9, 1948: Premiered on this date at Radio City Music Hall in New York, Words and Music. The film went into general release on December 31, 1948.
December 9, 1949: Two articles reflecting the recent issues Judy had been experiencing personally and professionally. Columnist Jimmie Fidler reported that MGM would buy Judy a mansion if she behaved. Fidler is quite angry about the situation, although Judy never received a new mansion from MGM because the story isn’t true at all. Excerpt: Miss Garland, whether her actions have been prompted by poor health, foolish habits, or just plain nasty disposition, has been a Grade AAA pain in the next to her studio bosses (not to mention the company’s stockholders) for the last two or three years. According to the testimony of key MGM workers, her tantrums and her general refusal to co-operate have cost the studio hundreds of thousands of dollars in production delays.
The second article is about Judy taking time off between films and contains some truth. Judy planned to take six months off after completing Summer Stock (which she was currently filming) and went to Carmel, California, to rest, but the studio called her back early to work on Royal Wedding.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on Summer Stock here.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on Royal Wedding here.
December 9, 1951: “Judy at The Palace” was still news (Judy’s engagement was still going), especially after she had collapsed from overwork but bounced back.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
December 9, 1953: The first of two days of filming on the “Interior Motel Room” set for A Star Is Born. This included Judy (as Esther Blodgett/Vicki Lester) singing “It’s A New World” to James Mason (as Norman Maine).
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on A Star Is Born here.
Photos provided by Kim Lundgreen. Thanks again, Kim!
December 9, 1954: In the early morning of December 9, Judy was out on the town with Frank Sinatra when he got into a fracas at a nightclub on the Sunset Strip. According to columnist Aline Mosby, Judy, Frank, and a couple of other clubgoers had been at Sammy Davis, Jr.’s home (the evening of December 8), helping him celebrate his birthday. Just a few weeks prior, Davis was in a car accident in which he famously lost one eye. As reported by Mosby, the group gave Davis a monocle, and he joined them. Per Mosby:
At the 2 a.m. closing time in the Crescendo, the headwaiter chastised the Sinatra party for leaving with drinks hidden under their coats, pointing out that was illegal and there were two detectives in the club.
“At that point, I happened to walk up to ask Neal who his date was so I could tell the columnists,” Byron said.
While Byron went to a phone booth, witnesses said, Sinatra asked, “Who is this guy?” and was told erroneously that Byron was a “legman,” meaning a news reporter. Witnesses quoted Sinatra as saying to Neal, “Let’s go and get that guy.”
“Sinatra said, ‘What business is it of yours who that girl is?'” Byron reported. “He told me to take off my glasses and step outside. There he jumped me and began pushing me back and forth. He hauled off with his left and hit me on the side of the face. We exchanged several blows and I hit him in the nose a couple of times.”
Parking lot attendants and bystanders separated the fighters and Sinatra jumped into his Cadillac, where Miss Garland was waiting.
December 9, 1960: Judy arrived in Amsterdam for her concert there the following evening. While in Amsterdam, she stayed at the Doelen Hotel and attended a party in her honor that night. Here are some great photos of Judy taken when she arrived at the airport in Amsterdam.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
December 9, 1961: Judy was in concert at The National Guard Armory in Washington, D.C. This was the final concert of Judy’s legendary 1961 tour.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
December 9, 1962: The annual showing of The Wizard of Oz aired on CBS-TV with Dick Van Dyke and his three children as the hosts of the telecast. It was the fourth year in a row and the fifth overall (it was originally telecast in 1956 but wasn’t telecast again until 1959, which became the first of the annual showings).
At that time, the film wasn’t trimmed as it would be in later years, so to make up the extra time (shows began and ended as they usually do now, on the hour or half-hour), hosts were brought in. This was the second year in a row (and the last) with Van Dyke as the host. Danny Kaye took over the following year.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on The Wizard of Oz here.
December 9, 1966: Judy signed this letter requesting the transfer of her income tax files from her agent, Al Sherman, to the Santa Monica District Office of the Internal Revenue Service.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
December 9, 1968: The manager of the apartment building where Judy was living in Boston, Massachusetts, Donald Sisk, called to tell Judy she was being evicted because of the noise she had been making; she would have to be out by December 15, and her security deposit would be refunded. At 2:30 that afternoon, a girl named Bunny Carnazzo, who was 16, arrived to help them sort through Judy’s things and pack. Most of the furniture was leased, and some of it was Ben Freeman’s, Judy’s attorney.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.