“The diminutive Judy Garland takes a long leap forward to stardom. She has what it takes.” – “Variety” review of “Everybody Sing,” 1938
January 28, 1915: Judy’s parents, Frank and Ethel Gumm, took their act (“Jack and Virginia Lee”) on the road in late 1914, trying their hand as a duo in vaudeville. Frank was already the manager and in-house singer at the Grand Rapids movie theatre, “The Grand.” They took a break to go on the road, but were unsuccessful. Not long after this January engagement in Janesville, Wisconsin, while in Chicago, Ethel was hit with pneumonia and bedridden for three weeks. They returned to Grand Rapids on February 20, 1915. Frank was able to purchase co-ownership of the Grand with his business partner, Fred Bentz, from the theatre’s other owner, James Barlow. In 1918, Frank and Bentz also purchased the Lyceum Theatre in nearby Deer River, Minnesota. The couple settled down and started a family; their first child, Mary Jane, was born on September 24, 1915, and their second, Dorothy Virginia, was born on July 4, 1917. Their third and last child, Frances Ethel (Judy Garland), was born on June 10, 1922.
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’s Everybody Sing tour took her to New Orleans, Louisiana, where she presented this autographed photo to then-mayor Robert Maestri, who served from 1936 to 1946. At this time, MGM decided that since the recent premiere and personal appearances had been so successful, they would extend the trip and have Garland make her New York stage debut at Loew’s State Theatre, followed by an extended tour. Team Garland immediately turned around and headed to New York. This meant that a scheduled and publicized stop in El Paso, Texas, on January 30 did not take place. There was a quick stop in Jacksonville, Florida, on February 4, where Garland and her mom were photographed having breakfast in the back of the Florida Theatre with theatre owner Guy Kenimer and more local MGM executives before they traveled up the East Coast, arriving in New York on February 7.
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 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 in your hair 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 films’ stars come in and record studio versions of the major songs, which were released 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 the show 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: Filming of A Star Is Born 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. He had rented a “Nagra” reel-to-reel tape recorder (which used five-inch reels and a multidirectional Sennheiser 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 this night’s performance recording here (zip file).
More performances from Judy’s engagement here, all remastered and restored, can be found on the 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.
January 28, 2024: Turner Classic Movies via Fathom Events re-released The Wizard of Oz in theaters for three days/nights, including January 29th & 31st. The rerelease was part of the film’s 85th-anniversary celebration.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on The Wizard of Oz here.