Posted by “The diminutive Judy Garland takes a long leap forward to stardom. She has what it takes.” – “Variety” review of “Everybody Sing,” 1938
January 28, 1932: Judy and her sister, Mary Jane Gumm, performed for the Kiwanis Club at the Kiwanis Hall in Lancaster, California.
January 28, 1938: Judy was in New Orleans, Louisiana, and presented this autographed photo to then-mayor, Robert Maestri, who was mayor of the city from 1936 to 1946. Judy was on her way back to California after appearing at the premiere of her latest film, Everybody Sing, in Miami, Florida.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Page on Everybody Sing here.
January 28, 1938: “It’s True!” plus an article about MGM rewriting the story “Wonder Child” for Judy. Note that future screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, who was famously blacklisted in Hollywood due to the Red Scare of the late 1940s and early 1950s, is listed as the author of the story.
January 28, 1940: Judy on the cover of “Allas” magazine. With blue eyes!
January 28, 1942: The last day of a two-day visit by Judy and her husband David Rose (and entourage) at Camp Robinson, Arkansas, just outside of Little Rock. I don’t have any photos from Judy’s appearances at the camp, so here’s a 1942 MGM portrait of Judy with blonde hair.
January 28, 1944: Judy was out sick from the production of Meet Me In St. Louis. She returned the next day.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on Meet Me In St. Louis here.
January 28, 1945: Judy won the “Country Gentleman’s Award” as the most popular actress of 1944. She was awarded a “very beautiful jewel case, engraved and encased in a suede covering, in commemoration of the honor.” I wonder what happened to it?
January 28, 1945: You too can have a wave just like Judy Garland! Also included are some ads and articles pertaining to Meet Me In St. Louis.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on Meet Me In St. Louis here.
January 28, 1945, & 1946: Three ads for Decca’s three “cast albums” of songs from Judy’s MGM films. The first two were published on January 28, 1945, and the third on January 28, 1946. These cast albums were quite popular at the time. Movie soundtrack albums of songs as they were recorded and performed in the films were still a couple of years away. In the meantime, Decca had most of the stars of the films come in and make studio versions of the major songs from the films and released them as “cast albums.”
Check out The Judy Garland Online Discography’s Girl Crazy Cast Album Page here.
Check out The Judy Garland Online Discography’s Meet Me In St. Louis Cast Album Page here.
Check out The Judy Garland Online Discography’s The Harvey Girls Cast Album Page here.
January 28, 1946: Judy and John Hodiak appeared on the CBS Radio show “Lux Radio Theater” for a 60-minute adaptation of Judy’s 1945 dramatic film The Clock.
Listen to, and download, this performance here:
Hodiak, who had just co-starred with Judy in The Harvey Girls, was subbing for Robert Walker who co-starred with Judy in The Clock.
This was the last notable work Judy did until after the birth of daughter Liza Minnelli on March 12, 1946.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on The Clock here.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on The Harvey Girls here.
January 28, 1948: The “Flying Feathers” scene for Easter Parade was filmed. This is the scene in which Judy and Fred Astaire’s characters perform for the first time, with less than desirable results. Judy’s (and Fred’s) comic timing in this is perfect.
Judy was due in makeup at 7:00 a.m. The assistant director’s notes state: “Wally Worsley called Miss Garland in her dressing room at 8:55 a.m.; and she told him that she was not feeling very well and would be late arriving on the set. Arrived on set: 10:07 a.m.; dismissed: 5:45 p.m.”
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on Easter Parade here.
January 28, 1954: A Star Is Born filming continued. On this day, Judy had “Wild” (not sure what that means) wardrobe, hair, and makeup tests for “Lose That Long Face” plus sound and photo tests. She also rehearsed the “Someone At Last” number. Time started: 11 a.m.; Finished: 6:20 p.m.
Check out the reconstructed, complete version of “Lose That Long Face” here:
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on A Star Is Born here.
January 28, 1969: The second night of Judy’s final week at the “Talk Of The Town” nightclub in London, England. Songwriter John Meyer was with Judy during these performances and had rented a “Nagra” reel-to-reel tape recorder (which used five-inch reels and a multidirectional Sehheiser microphone) to record some of them. The zip file linked here is from one of those recordings taped on January 28th. The sound quality isn’t the best, but it’s all we have!
Download the zip file of the recording of this night’s performance here (zip file).
More performances from Judy’s engagement here, all remastered and restored, can be found on the amazing 2015 3-CD set “Swan Songs, First Flights” here.
Photos: Judy and Mickey Deans arrive at the club; Judy in performance at the club; Plaque installed at the club in 2013 honoring Judy’s appearances there.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.