Best biography of Judy Garland

Gimme time, baby.

Sheeeszsh.

I've only read the Clarke biography, OP, so I have nothing with which to compare it.

"What’s the definite book"

Oh dear, OP.

I know I know r3. There is no edit feature

The Cliff Notes version is this:

[quote]Judy was one of the most talented singers ever. She also had a lot of pain and struggle throughout her life. Despite that, she had a good heart, which is hard to encounter in Hollywood. At a time when gay people were oppressed beyond belief, they identified with her struggles and she theirs.

The Gerald Clarke book is most often considered the definitive Judy bio.

In addition to the Clarke book, The Other Side of the Rainbow by Mel Tormé is a good read, too.

Mellon Torme’s book is really bitchy. It focuses on the variety show.

[quote] Mellon Torme’s book is really bitchy. It focuses on the variety show.

Right, but it's still a good read!

Indeed!

Thanks r6

❤️

I’m going to go all eldergay on you, OP, and dig in and try to answer your question. I’ve read nearly all the major JG books out there, and while my list here is incomplete, it will cover your major choices. There’s the trade-off with all biographies: the ones from not long after the subject dies have to worry about libel. As people die off, more information comes out, but then the later books write “over the shoulders” of the earlier ones and repeat the most questionable/speciously documented claims, citing the earlier book as their verification, and it becomes part of the accepted truth.

JUDY by Gerold Frank – MUST-READ. Well written and balanced, but forced to be discreet because too many major players were still alive, so the most salacious stuff isn’t in there.

RAINBOW by Christopher Finch – a combination coffee table book and well-done bio with lots of photos. Worth seeking out if you are a major fan. RECOMMENDED.

SECRET LIFE OF AN AMERICAN LEGEND by David Shipman – I would mark this as the beginning of the major bios that spend as much time praising her as they do emphasizing the underside: abortions, affairs previously unmentioned, suicide attempts, vintage mental illness treatments, and drug use. Her sex life is in here especially: the occasional lesbian encounter and (take heart, DL!) the fact that she enjoyed anal. A lot of gutter stuff that hadn’t been in print before was legitimized with this book.

GET HAPPY by Gerald Clarke – writes over the shoulder of Shipman quite a bit, but has more info to prove Vincente Minnelli’s homosexuality; states that Garland’s mom started her on the pills before MGM; and has things like the oft-repeated on DL “Over the Rainbow” with a mouthful of semen story…attributed to an unnamed source, naturally. Everything’s covered here, but it’s never too far from the lurid. You will probably end up reading either the Shipman or this one to get an overview of her behind the scenes drama, which was a constant.

JUDY GARLAND by Anne Edwards is poorly researched and written, sob-sisterish and pearl clutching, but people liked its striking original cover, and it has a book of poems Judy wrote as an appendix. For a long time, this, the Gerold Frank, and the Finch book were the big ones out there.

JUDY GARLAND ON JUDY GARLAND by Randy Schmidt has an interesting point of view…it pieces together Judy’s life firsthand, pretty much, from her talking about herself. The tapes she made for her various attempts to write her autobiography are a great help here in terms of candor and detail. There are quotes from others who were there as well. It’s a lot of her “interview” persona, but you walk away knowing what a smart woman she was, and the insights she had about her own life and career. RECOMMENDED

Books about her career: John Fricke is an excellent writer and does a first-rate job framing her career accomplishments without glossing over her personal vicissitudes.

WORLD’S GREATEST ENTERTAINER by John Fricke – MUST READ under any circumstance, probably my favorite book about her overall. Beautiful photos and detailed, well-written text.

IN ART AND ANECDOTE by John Fricke – a coffee table book that nonetheless has engaging and thorough text, primarily appreciative quotes from people who worked with her or who were influenced by her work. Make this a part of your deeper dive. RECOMMENDED

A LEGENDARY FILM CAREER by John Fricke – the best overview of her movies, including ones she didn’t do or didn’t complete, films she was mentioned for but didn’t make. RECOMMENDED

COMPLETE JUDY GARLAND by Emily Coleman – avoid this one, it’s incomplete or just plain wrong so often that it will frustrate you with its utter uselessness.

DAY BY DAY CHRONICLE…by Scott Schechter – though he’s nowhere near the writer Fricke is, it’s helpful to see the pattern of her life presented in this detail and this format. It’s especially useful for the periods in her life that the bios skim over. Go through any year and you’ll see: the woman did the work. Sure, she missed shows sometimes and was late, but she was always, always working and always earning top dollar. That someone who was as big a star as she was, for as long as she was, ended up in the financial straits she did is practically incomprehensible. DEEP DIVE

Biographies/books concentrating on a certain period or project:

RAINBOW’S END by Coyne Steven Sanders – though it’s incredibly pro-Judy and at times fangurlish in the writing (his Desilu book is not), this is the best book on the series, with interviews with practically everyone involved. You see that while some of her bad habits certainly didn’t help things, the show was ill-conceived, poorly written, and had a lot of problems from the start that had nothing to do with her. Read this one if the bios that cover her whole life lead you to it; or watch the series (in tape order, not air order) and it’ll all make even more sense. RECOMMENDED

OTHER SIDE OF THE RAINBOW by Mel Torme – he’s so self-serving, and sometimes provably wrong, but he’s the one musician who has written a book centered around her. If you want more about the series, this is what’s there.

HEARTBREAKER by John Meyer – the only one of her major lovers still alive. Meyer tells, diary-style, of his harrowing months with her toward the end before she met and married Mickey Deans. While he has told his Judy tales in many formats again and again through the years, he did write the last four new songs she learned and did what he could to get her back on track. Read this one later on. DEEP DIVE

WEEP NO MORE, MY LADY by Mickey Deans – her "bisexual" drug-dealing last husband made the deal for this garbled, ghostwritten book on the way home from Judy’s funeral. Ick.

LITTLE GIRL LOST by Al DiOrio – concentrates on her early life from a fan’s perspective.

A STAR IS BORN - MAKING OF by Ronald Haver – believe it or not, Judy’s not at the center of this book! But it talks about the film in detail and Haver was a key player in its 1980s restoration.

A STAR IS BORN - FILM THAT GOT AWAY by Lorna Luft – focuses on the film versions of this story, though written before the release of the Gaga version. There’s a bit of new info here and Lorna is eager to give equal time to Sid. If you particularly care about this film, you’ll enjoy this book.

There are also a number of books that concentrate on the making of THE WIZARD OF OZ.

Books about others with big sections on Judy:

JUDY AND I by Sid Luft – cobbled together well after Sid’s death, but a hardcore completist may want to read it anyway. No essential info, and Luft wasn’t exactly a bastion of truthtelling, but there are details that aren’t in print elsewhere. For the triumphs she experienced by his side, there was a major downside to her association with him. After her death, Luft was definitely responsible for some of the cheapening of her legacy and its haphazard dissemination (compared to the well-curated and presented work legacy of someone like, say, Sinatra) For all the terrible things they did to her, Begelman and Fields really did get her away from Luft and put her back on top of the world of show business in that last great blast of creative work she did in the early 60s through the end of the series.

ME AND MY SHADOWS by Lorna Luft – a hybrid bio and recovery memoir that’s thoughtful but clear-eyed and well-written as these things go, and Lorna seems sincere in her desire to impart what she’s learned through her family’s struggles and her own in a way that might be helpful to readers going through similar problems. Worth reading. DEEP DIVE

JUDY & LIZA & ROBERT & FREDDIE…by Stevie Phillips – she was around during the David Begelman part of Judy’s life, which was a high point where JG’s work was concerned but again, harrowing new tales of the backstage goings on. Some mix-ups on points of factual accuracy undermine this book a bit.

MY JUDY GARLAND LIFE by Susie Boyt – a lovely 21st century fan appreciation. If you like this little book, you’ll really take it to heart. Read the Look Inside or Google Books preview first and go from there.

After all this TL:DR you can tell I’m a fan, but I don’t regret reading all these books about her. If anything, her body of work is so amazing and all-encompassing (MARY!) and she had such an interesting life, I find myself returning to her work again and again. One might say that a thorough trip through her body of work on film, tv, radio, recordings, and in concert is perhaps the best history of the part of her life that matters most and will ultimately live on. All the personal troubles recede in the face of the excellence of the work.

If you've read this far, let me thank you for indulging a wizened Eldergay and longtime DL-er. After all, what are we good for if not for discussions like this?

There is also a lot of incidental reading one could do on Judy. That deluxe On Cukor (George Cukor) book is good. Also, a collection of essays on Vincente Minnelli compiled by Joe McElhaney.

Yes R16! I didn't know about that Minnelli book; I'm definitely going to check it out.

His autobiography I REMEMBER IT WELL only seems to prove that he doesn't, and the Emanuel Levy book on VM is poorly written and inaccurate to boot. A HUNDRED OR MORE HIDDEN THINGS is a keeper though, as is Stephen Harvey's DIRECTED BY VINCENTE MINNELLI.

She nearly always rates at least a few mentions--sometimes even full chapters--in the memoirs of/books about most of her co-stars, directors, fellow MGM cohorts, Capitol labelmates, Rat Pack pals and Vegas buddies. Dirk Bogarde and Ronald Neame's books spring immediately to mind but there are many many others. In addition to her work triumphs, it seems she was a good and loyal friend to a lot of people and had the much admired DL qualities of enjoying a good party, giving excellent head, and being DTF most of the time.

R12 R13 R14 R15

First, I must give you a powerful, enthusiastic

MARY!

and again.

MARY!

MARY!

JUDY!

And then a thank you. Wow, this is amazing analysis. I will be referring to it. Have only ever read the Clarke and now want to deep dive. Thank you so much!

But one more.....MARY!!!!!!!

Lorna's is the most accurate, obviously.

It's a shame Liza won't write a book. It would be interesting to get her take on things, as she was with Judy when she was a bit more stable.

I would hope that if she were to write a book, Liza would answer the questions we've all been wanting to ask her: who gave Liza her drive? who gave Liza her dreams? who gave Liza her clay?

I doubt Liza is coherent enough to remember most of the key elements.

R17, thanks!

I would like to add Richard Dyer’s Heavenly Bodies. In fact, I would recommend anything by Richard Dyer.

Wow thanks r12, et al

She was a beautiful soul and talent. I know Liza gets shit on this site, but she got a sprinkle of her mom’s talent and Liza is still heads and tails above most entertainers

[quote] the occasional lesbian encounter and...the fact that she enjoyed anal.

What I remember is that she wanted oral and that broke up her first marriage. The anal story was a drugged up car trip with one of her gay friends who she asked to do anal on her. Be aware that big fans HATE The Secret Life of an American Legend with a passion. I liked it!

Do not forget Heartbreaker by John Meyer. He was her "boyfriend" for part of 1968, and wrote this book about the experience that came out 15 years later. Not easy to take, but interesting.