Posted by “She ought to enjoy being the enormous international celebrity she is. But she doesn’t enjoy it. She doesn’t know it. She has more talent than anybody who ever came along, but she doesn’t understand that either. Everybody loves Judy, but she thinks nobody loves her.” – Roger Edens, 1955
April 2, 1936: Here is a rare surviving check issued by MGM to Judy. The check was made out to France [sic] Gumm, as that was Judy’s legal name (Frances Gumm). She did not legally change her name to Judy Garland until the 1960s. When this check was issued, Judy was still a minor at 13 years old, so her mother, Ethel, had to co-sign the check for deposit.
What’s interesting is Ethel signed it as “trustee for Frances Garland.” Judy had taken the stage name “Judy Garland” in 1935, but before “Judy” was added, she was sometimes professionally listed as Frances Garland, among a few other names. At this point, Judy had been “Judy Garland” since at least August 1935. This could simply be an instance of Ethel not thinking and adding “Frances Garland” out of “force of habit.”
April 2, 1938: Judy, her mom Ethel, Roger Edens, and the rest of her entourage left Grand Rapids, Minnesota for Chicago, Illinois. Grand Rapids is Judy’s birthplace, and it was the last stop on the Everybody Sing tour that took Judy from Miami, Florida (where the film premiered) up to the northeast and parts of the Midwest, culminating in this return to Grand Rapids. It was Judy’s last time in her hometown.
During her two days in Grand Rapids, Judy is reported to have seen the house she was born in and the high school she would have attended. She also participated in a special luncheon at the Pokegama Hotel, and she appeared on stage between shows at the Rialto, which was next to the town’s original theatre, the New Grande, which was her father’s theater and the stage on which she made her debut on December 26, 1924. While there, Judy and her mom were the guests of Mr. and Mrs. George O’Brien at their Riverside Hotel apartment.
Judy, Ethel, and Edens took the Super Chief from Chicago to Los Angeles, which was also known as “The Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe Railway.” The trip from Chicago took 38 hours and 45 minutes and included 14 stops!
Photos: Judy and Ethel on March 30th on their way to Grand Rapids, and arriving in Grand Rapids.
April 2, 1940: Judy’s weekly appearance on “The Pepsodent Show starring Bob Hope” for CBS Radio. There are no records of the program’s content, nor are there any surviving recordings.
Judy Garland’s radio performances, available for download, can be found on The Judy Room’s “Judy Sings! On The Radio” pages.
April 2, 1941: Judy was in New York. On this day, along with Lee Tracy and Loretta Young, she visited the annual exhibition of the Press Photographers Association of New York at the Museum of Science and Industry in the RCA Building. Here, they’re seen signing the register.
April 2, 1942: Filming continued on For Me And My Gal with “Rehearsed w/boom.” Time called: 3:00 p.m.; dismissed: 5:20 p.m.
Photo provided by Kim Lundgreen. Thanks, Kim!
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on For Me And My Gal here.
April 2, 1943: Filming continued on Girl Crazy with scenes shot on the “Exterior Capitol” and “Exterior Indian Rock” sets. Time called: 10:00 a.m.; dismissed: 6:00 p.m.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on Girl Crazy here.
April 2, 1945: This two-page ad promoting the latest MGM releases was published in the “Film Daily” trade magazine.
On this day at MGM, filming continued on The Harvey Girls with scenes shot on the “Exterior Train Platform” and “Interior Dormitory” sets.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on Meet Me In St. Louis here.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on The Harvey Girls here.
April 2, 1949: Wardrobe, hair, and makeup tests for Annie Get Your Gun for Judy as well as J. Carroll Naish and Geraldine Hall. Judy was due in makeup at 8 a.m., on set at 10 a.m.; she arrived at 10 a.m.; lunch at 12:05 p.m. – 1:05 p.m.; dismissed at 2:25 p.m.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on Annie Get Your Gun here.
April 2, 1955: Judy appeared on the cover of Spain’s “Clima” magazine.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on A Star Is Born here.
April 2, 1955: This extensive article about Judy and A Star Is Born appeared in “The Saturday Evening Post.”
Scans provided by Kim Lundgreen. Thanks, Kim!
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on A Star Is Born here.
April 2, 1958: A bench warrant was issued for Judy’s arrest for state income tax charges. According to New York State, Judy owed $8,800 in back state income taxes going back to 1952. Judy was due in court the next day, Thursday, April 3rd.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
April 2, 1963: The Lufts (Judy, husband Sid Luft, and children Lorna and Joe Luft) returned to New York. They missed the opening of the off-Broadway show, “Best Food Forward,” featuring Judy’s daughter Liza Minnelli. The official story was that they missed a flight, but allegedly, the real reason was that Judy purposely did not attend as she didn’t want to take attention away from Liza.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
April 2, 1964: Judy, accompanied by daughter Liza Minnelli, appeared in court in Santa Monica, California. She was there, along with estranged husband Sid Luft, to work out “the long-contested” custody of their children Lorna and Joey Luft.
According to the papers, Sid was to have Lorna and Joe from 10 am to 8:30 pm on Saturdays and 4 pm to 7 pm on alternate Wednesdays.
Caption on the back of the first photo read: Actress-singer Judy Garland arrives at court here April 2nd for hearing in her custody battle with husband Sid Luft for their two children, Lorna, 11, and Joey, 8. The man at right is unidentified. Credit (UPI Telephoto).
The rest of the images are clippings from newspapers on April 3, 1964, when the news was reported.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
April 2, 2013: This costume that Judy wore in Presenting Lily Mars sold at auction for $9,799. Also sold at auction was this ticket to the Los Angeles premiere of The Wizard of Oz at Grauman’s Chinese Theater. It sold for $6,081.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on The Wizard of Oz here.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on Presenting Lily Mars here.
Its very apparent that the wonderful Roger Edens understood Judy very well based on the article where he states “Judy doesn’t think she is loved”. I believe she knew she was being used sometimes as a wind up doll that she herself said in the famous Judy Garland Talks CD. Especially in a time when women were still treated like second class citizens!