Posted by “Liza’s the big singer in the family now … I couldn’t begin to [sing her songs] as well as she does.” – Judy Garland, 1967
March 12, 1936: Judy recently attended a going-away party for Marlena Dietrich’s daughter.
March 12, 1938: Mrs. Walter Ferguson of “The Pittsburg Press” pondered what kind of inferiority complexes young stars like Judy would have. “When the world is yours at 15 what is left to strive for?” In Judy’s case – a lot!
March 12, 1938: More for Everybody Sing.
March 12, 1942: Judy was back in dance rehearsals with Gene Kelly for For Me And My Gal.
The photo above was taken on March 13, 1942. More from that session tomorrow!
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on For Me And My Gal here.
March 12, 1943: Judy was in the middle of filming the new finale sequence for Presenting Lily Mars when she posed in her new finale costume for some publicity photos. She had previously posed for publicity photos in the same costume on November 9, 1942, with a completely different hairstyle and backdrop. MGM’s little girl next door had grown up!
Note that the last two photos above were taken on the set of the finale sequence.
The gown was a highlight of Michael Siewert’s extensive collection, which was auctioned in 2017. Check out The Judy Room’s 2017 “Year in Review” for details.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on Presenting Lily Mars here.
March 12, 1944: “The Los Angeles Times” corrected its previous error in reporting that Judy was expecting a child in August. It was actually Judy Canova!
March 12, 1945: The Harvey Girls filming continued with scenes on the “Interior Rail Road Coach” set. Time called: 10 a.m.; arrived: 10:25 a.m.; dismissed: 5:10 p.m.
Later that evening, there was a preview of Ziegfeld Follies. Judy had filmed her guest spot for the all-star extravaganza in July 1944. The troubled production was edited and re-edited for two years before it was finally released as Ziegfeld Follies of 1946 on April 8, 1946, after a roadshow premiere in Boston on August 20, 1945.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Page on The Harvey Girls here.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Page on Ziegfeld Follies of 1946 here.
March 12, 1946: Judy’s first child, the fabulous Liza Minnelli, was born on this day! Liza May Minnelli was born at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital, Los Angeles, at 7:58 a.m., weighing 6 pounds, 10 ounces. Of course, her father was the equally fabulous Vincente Minnelli.
March 12, 1947: Two Decca ads, one from March 12, 1947, featuring Judy’s duet with Bing Crosby, “Connecticut,” and the other from March 12, 1948, note the album “Bing Crosby Sings With” (retail price $4.80), which featured four of Judy and Bing’s duets recorded for Decca Records including “Connecticut.” The duet was recorded on March 9, 1945.
Listen to “Connecticut” here:
Listen to the alternate take of Connecticut” here:
Label from The Rick Smith Collection. Thanks, Rick!
Check out The Judy Garland Online Discography’s page on “Bing Crosby Sings With” here.
On this day at MGM, Judy had another rehearsal of “Voodoo” for The Pirate. Time called: 2:00 p.m.; dismissed: 4:00 p.m.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on The Pirate here.
March 12, 1947: A couple more ads promoting MGM’s new soundtrack album of songs from Till The Clouds Roll By.
March 12, 1948: Judy’s last day of filming on Easter Parade consisted of retakes on the “Exterior Drugstore” (the “Fella With An Umbrella” number) and “Interior Brevoort Restaurant” sets. Judy was due in makeup at 7 a.m., then on the set at 9 a.m., arriving at 9:25 a.m. Filming for the day was completed at 12:30 p.m.
The final cost of the film was $2,503,654, which was actually under budget by $191,280. Upon its initial release on July 16, 1948, Easter Parade grossed over 6 million, making it Judy’s second highest-grossing film for MGM. Meet Me In St. Louis was her highest-grossing MGM film, making over 7 million in its first release.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on Easter Parade here.
March 12, 1949: This photo of Judy’s daughter, Liza Minnelli, on the set of In The Good Old Summertime, was published again. The photo was actually taken on December 6, 1948. Liza is seen in the very last shot of the film, playing the daughter of Judy and Van Johnson’s characters.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on In The Good Old Summertime here.
March 12, 1949: These photos were snapped of Judy and daughter Liza Minnelli, celebrating Liza’s 3rd birthday.
Judy was in the middle of music rehearsals for Annie Get Your Gun but had a couple of days off. She returned to MGM on March 15th for more rehearsals with Howard Keel.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on Annie Get Your Gun here.
March 12, 1950: Judy and her husband Vincente Minnelli helped daughter Liza celebrate her 4th birthday. Some sources list these photos as being taken on March 13th, while others list them as for March 27th. Since March 12 is Liza’s birthday, I’m posting them in this entry.
Judy had just completed principal photography on what would be her last film for MGM, Summer Stock. She returned to the studio in just a few days (March 15) to prerecord “Get Happy” for the film.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on Summer Stock here.
March 12, 1952: While she was vacationing in Palm Beach, Florida, Judy took part in a benefit showing of The African Queen. It’s unknown what she sang. Included here is an article that reports on Judy’s activity the previous day, throwing the first pitch at a benefit baseball game.
March 12, 1954: Judy was ill and did not work on A Star Is Born. She was currently filming the “Lose That Long Face” number.
Images: Scans of the wonderful 1955/56 UK “Picturegoer” Film Annual. Scans provided by Kim Lundgreen. Thanks, Kim!
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on A Star Is Born here.
March 12, 1959: Hugh Mulligan of the Associated Press didn’t care for Capitol’s “Judy Garland at the Grove” album. 🙁
Check out The Judy Garland Online Discography’s “Judy Garland at the Grove” pages here.
March 12, 1963: Judy hosted a birthday party for daughter Liza Minnelli’s seventeenth birthday. Liza had just broken her leg during rehearsals of “Best Foot Forward.” Even with her broken foot she still went on, on opening night that March 27th. Liza’s a trouper!
Also on this date, this short and amusing blurb about Judy’s starts and stops at her recent appearance at the London Palladium.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
March 12, 1963: Judy’s recent appearance and missed cue at the London Palladium was reported.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
March 12, 1965: Judy was in the middle of her engagement at the Fountainbleau Hotel in Miami, Florida.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
March 12, 1967: An article appeared in the “Chicago American” newspaper about Judy apparently consulting a vocal coach in Beverly Hills, Randy Herron – no relation to Mark Herron, Judy’s former husband. Roger Dettmer, the author of the article, states that Judy talked about doing the movie version of “Mame,” not being able to read music, her tax problems, “the Brentwood house she rattles around in,” and she sang, including new songs: “the score of ‘Mame’ virtually complete, and ‘roar Of The Greasepaint’ as well as a couple that Liza had recorded, though Judy soon stopped, saying ‘Liza’s the big singer in the family now … I couldn’t begin to do them as well as she does.'”
Photo: Judy in concert during her “Palace Tour” in late 1967.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
I’m 99 percent certain that the “birthday” photo of Judy and Liza (alone, Judy in the plaid coat, without her caps) was taken in the spring of 1949, as “Annie Get Your Gun” was getting under way. The length of her hair and frailness seem to point this out, and LIza looks THREE, not four The following photos of Judy’s birthday party (with Vincente, the clown, etc.) have always been credited as 1950, at Liza’s fourth birthday. Judy had just finished “Summer Stock”, and was about to shoot “Get Happy.” I’ll believe if you insist, but these pictures look like ’49 and ’50, respectively.
I could have the dates wrong. Judy doesn’t look well at all in the photos that I attribute to 1950 and looks more like she did that spring of 1949 (poor thing). I’ll double check.
Silly me! I looked at my files and had the photos listed as “Annie” – so somewhere I put a typo in. Thanks for pointing that out!!!