Name	Liza Minnelli
Birth name	Liza May Minnelli
Birth date	March 12, 1946
Birth place	Hollywood, California, United States
Spouse	Peter Allen (m. 1967–1974; divorced) Jack Haley, Jr. (m. 1974–1979; divorced) Mark Gero (m. 1979–1992; divorced) David Gest (m. 2002–2007; divorced)
Parents	Vincente MinnelliJudy Garland
Years active	1949–present
Occupation	Actress, singer, dancer & choreographer
Genre(s)	Traditional pop, Jazz, Broadway, Pop rock
Label(s)	Capitol Records (1964–1966), A&M; Records (1968–1973), Columbia Records (1977), Decca Label (2010–Present) }}

Liza May Minnelli (born March 12, 1946) is an American actress and singer. She is the daughter of singer and actress Judy Garland and film director Vincente Minnelli.

Already established as a nightclub singer and musical theatre actress, she first attracted critical acclaim for her dramatic performances in the movies ''The Sterile Cuckoo'' (1969), and ''Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon'' (1970); Minnelli then rose to international stardom for her appearance as Sally Bowles in the 1972 film version of the Broadway musical ''Cabaret'', for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. She later made a great star turn in ''Arthur'' (1981), co-starring with Dudley Moore (in the title role) and Sir John Gielgud, who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor as Arthur's snobbish but loveable butler.

While film projects such as ''Lucky Lady'', ''A Matter of Time'' and ''New York, New York'' were less favorably received than her stage roles, Minnelli became one of the most versatile, highly regarded and best-selling entertainers in television, beginning with ''Liza with a Z'' in 1972, and on stage in the Broadway productions of ''Flora the Red Menace, The Act'' and ''The Rink''. Minnelli also toured internationally and did shows such as ''Liza Minnelli: At Carnegie Hall'', ''Frank, Liza & Sammy: The Ultimate Event'', and ''Liza Live from Radio City Music Hall''.

She starred in ''Liza's Back'' in 2002. She had guest appearances in the sitcom ''Arrested Development'' and had a small role in the movie ''The OH in Ohio'', while continuing to tour internationally. In 2008/2009, she performed the Broadway show ''Liza's at The Palace...!'' which earned a Tony Award for Best Special Theatrical Event.

Minnelli has won a total of four Tony Awards awards, including a Special Tony Award. She has also won an Oscar, an Emmy Award, two Golden Globes and a Grammy Legend Award for her contributions and influence in the recording field, along with many other honors and awards. She is among the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Award.

Early life

Minnelli was born in Hollywood, California, to Vincente Minnelli and Judy Garland. She attended New York City's Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts and Chadwick School. Her first performing experience on film was at age three where she appeared in the final scene of the 1949 musical ''In the Good Old Summertime''. The film starred Garland and Van Johnson.

Minnelli's half-sister and brother from Garland's marriage to Sid Luft are Lorna and Joey Luft. She also has another half-sister, Christiane Nina Minnelli (nicknamed Tina Nina), from her father's second marriage. Minnelli's godparents were Kay Thompson and Ira Gershwin.

Career

Theatre

During the summer of 1961, Minnelli was an apprentice at the Cape Cod Melody Tent, Hyannis, MA. She appeared in the chorus of ''Flower Drum Song'' and played the part of Muriel in ''Take Me Along''. Minnelli began performing professionally at age 17, in 1963, in an Off-Broadway revival of the musical ''Best Foot Forward'', for which she received the Theatre World Award. The next year, her mother invited Minnelli to perform with her at the London Palladium. She turned to Broadway at 19, and in 1965 she became the youngest woman ever to win a leading actress Tony Award for ''Flora the Red Menace''. It was the first time she worked with the musical duo John Kander and Fred Ebb.

Music

Minnelli began as a nightclub singer as an adolescent, making her professional nightclub debut at the age of 19 at the Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C.. She later appeared in other clubs and on stage in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami and New York City. Her success as a live performer led to her recording several albums at Capitol Records: ''Liza! Liza!'' (1964), ''It Amazes Me'' (1965) and ''There Is a Time'' (1966). In her early years, she recorded traditional pop standards as well as show tunes from various musicals that she starred in. Because of this fact, William Ruhlmann named her “Barbra Streisand's little sister”. The Capitol albums ''Liza! Liza!'', ''It Amazes Me'', and ''There Is A Time'' were reissued on the two-CD compilation ''The Capitol Years'' in 2001, in their entirety.

From 1968 up to the 1970s, she also recorded more contemporary material according to classic pop songs with her albums ''Liza Minnelli'' (1968), ''Come Saturday Morning'' and ''New Feelin''' (both 1970) from A&M; Records. She released ''The Singer'' (1973) and ''Tropical Nights'' (1977) from Columbia Records.

In 1989 Minnelli collaborated with Pet Shop Boys on ''Results'', an electronic dance-style album. The release hit the top 10 in the UK and also charted in the US, spawning four singles: ''Losing My Mind''; ''Don't Drop Bombs''; ''So Sorry, I Said''; and ''Love Pains''. Initially released on VHS titled ''Visible Results'', the clips were later issued on a bonus DVD included in the 2005 remastered and expanded edition of the album. Later that year she performed ''Losing My Mind'' live at the Grammys ceremony before receiving a Grammy Legend Award (the first Grammy Legend Awards were issued in 1990 to Liza Minnelli, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Smokey Robinson and Willie Nelson). With this award, she became one of only 12 other entertainers – in a list that includes Whoopi Goldberg, Barbra Streisand and Mel Brooks among others – to win an Emmy, Grammy, Tony Award and Academy Award.

In April 1992 Minnelli performed ''We Are The Champions'' with the surviving members of the rock band Queen at ''The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert''.

In 1996, Minnelli released a new studio album titled ''Gently''. It was a recording of jazz standards and also included some contemporary songs such as the cover of ''Does He Love You'' which she performed as a duet with Donna Summer. This album brought her a Grammy nomination for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance. Minnelli was nominated in 2009 for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for her studio recording ''Liza's at the Palace...!'', based on her hit Broadway show.

In May 2010, Playbill.com reported Minnelli would be releasing an album on the Decca Records label entitled ''Confessions'', which was released on September 21, 2010.

In 2006, Minnelli appeared on My Chemical Romance's album ''The Black Parade'', providing backing vocals and singing a solo part with Gerard Way on the track "Mama".

Film

Her first appearance on film is as the baby in the very last shot of her mother's film, ''In the Good Old Summertime'' (1949). Her first credited film role was as the love-interest in Albert Finney's only film as director and star, ''Charlie Bubbles'' (1967).

In 1969 she appeared in Alan J. Pakula's first feature film, ''The Sterile Cuckoo'' (1969), as “Pookie Adams”, a needy, eccentric teenager. Her performance won her her first Academy Award nomination. She played another eccentric character the following year in ''Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon'', directed by Otto Preminger.

In 1972, Minnelli appeared in perhaps her best-known film role, as Sally Bowles in the movie version of ''Cabaret''. She said that one of the things she did to prepare was to study photographs of classic actresses Louise Glaum and Louise Brooks and the dark-haired ladies of that time. Minnelli won the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her performance, along with a Golden Globe Award. This made her the only Oscar-winning child of Oscar-winning parents.

Following the success of ''Cabaret'', Bob Fosse and Minnelli teamed up for ''Liza with a ‘Z’. A Concert for Television'', a made-for-television special. The program aired two times on TV and was not seen again until a DVD release in 2006.

Minnelli worked with her father in the 1976 ''A Matter of Time'', costarring Ingrid Bergman. After severe editing and cutting, done by the studio, with no input from Vincente, the film was neither a commercial nor a critical success .

Her appearance opposite Robert De Niro in the 1977 musical drama film, ''New York, New York'' however, gave Minnelli her best known signature song. Frank Sinatra released a successful cover version (for his ''Trilogy: Past Present Future'' album) two years later and used it as his signature song as well, sometimes even duetting with Minnelli live on stage.

After her performance as leading woman to Dudley Moore in 1981's hit film ''Arthur'', Minnelli made fewer film appearances although she returned to the big screen in 1988 for ''Arthur 2: On the Rocks'' and in 1991 for ''Stepping Out'', a musical dramedy.

Most recently she made an appearance in the movie ''Sex and the City 2'' (2010) as herself.

Television

During the early days of television in the 1950s Minnelli appeared as a child guest on Art Linkletter's show and in 1959 sang and danced with Gene Kelly on his first television special. She was a guest star in one episode of the popular Ben Casey television series starring Vince Edwards and was a frequent guest on chat shows of the day including numerous appearances on shows hosted by Jack Paar, Merv Griffin, Mike Douglas, Joe Franklin, Dinah Shore and Johnny Carson. During the 1960s she made several guest appearances on ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh In'' as well as other variety shows including ''The Ed Sullivan Show'', ''The Hollywood Palace'', as well as ''The Judy Garland Show''. In 1964 she appeared as Minnie in her first television dramatic role in the episode "Nightingale for Sale" on Craig Stevens's short-lived CBS series, ''Mr. Broadway''.

Recently, Minnelli has made guest appearances on such shows as ''Arrested Development'', ''Law & Order: Criminal Intent'' and ''Drop Dead Diva''. In the UK she has appeared on the Ruby Wax, Graham Norton and Jonathan Ross shows and in October 2006 participated in a comedy skit on the Charlotte Church Show and was featured on the Michael Parkinson Show. Set to be a guest judge on Australian Idol 2009 on the October 18, 2009. She appeared on ''The Joy Behar Show'' of September 1, 2010.

In November 2009, American Public Television aired "Liza's at the Palace", taped from September 30 – October 1, 2009 in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand's Hollywood Theatre. The executive producers of the taping, Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, previously were involved with the 2005 rerelease of 1972's Emmy and Peabody Award winning "Liza with a 'Z'".

She is currently scheduled to appear in the hit show ''Hot in Cleveland''.

Later career

She returned to Broadway in 1997, taking over the title role in the musical ''Victor/Victoria'', replacing Julie Andrews. In his review, ''New York Times'' critic Ben Brantley commented, “her every stage appearance is perceived as a victory of show-business stamina over psychic frailty. She asks for love so nakedly and earnestly, it seems downright vicious not to respond.”

After a serious case of viral encephalitis in 2000, doctors predicted that she would spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair and would perhaps not even be able to speak again. However, she refused to accept this and with the help of vocal and dance lessons (most notably Sam Harris, Angela Bacari), which she still takes daily, managed to recover and returned to the stage in 2001 when asked by long time friend Michael Jackson to perform at Madison Square Garden in New York City where she sang "Never Never Land" and the televised "You Are Not Alone" at the Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Special concert produced by soon to be husband David Gest. Gest was so impressed with her stamina and ability to stun audiences that he produced her in ''Liza's Back'' in spring 2002 performing to rave reviews in London and New York City. (Most noted in that tour was a tribute to her mother. After years of declining fans' pleas for her to sing Garland's signature song, "Over The Rainbow", she concluded Act 1 with the final refrain of her mother's famous anthem, to an instant ovation.) Among performing her classic hits, other numbers unreleased in the album version included "I Believe You" by The Carpenters, a rap version of "Liza With A 'Z'", "Yes", and Mary J. Blige's "Family Affair".

In 2004 and 2005 she appeared as a recurring character on the critically acclaimed, Emmy Award-winning TV sitcom ''Arrested Development'' as “Lucille Austero”, the lover of both the sexually and socially awkward “Buster Bluth” and Buster's brother “GOB”.

In September 2006, she made a guest appearance on the long-running NBC drama ''Law & Order: Criminal Intent'', in ''Masquerade'', a Halloween-themed episode, broadcast on Tuesday, October 31, 2006. She also completed guest vocals on My Chemical Romance's 2006 concept album ''The Black Parade,'' portraying “Mother War”, a dark conception of the main character's mother, in the song ''Mama''.

For years, Minnelli had wanted to record a collection of songs that her godmother Kay Thompson had performed in her nightclub act. In 2007, she added some of Thompson's songs to her latest tour to introduce them to audiences.

Minnelli returned to Broadway in a new solo concert at the Palace Theatre called ''Liza's at The Palace...!'' which ran from December 3, 2008, through January 4, 2009. In her second act she performed a series of numbers created by Kay Thompson. The reviews noted that while her voice was ragged at times, and her movements no longer elastic, the old magic was still very much present—from first to last, Minnelli had audiences cheering and applauding and begging for more. The show was subsequently staged at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on September 30 and October 1, 2009, at which time it was filmed for broadcast on public television and a February 2010 DVD and Blu-ray release.

On January 10, 2009, Minnelli made a rare live TV appearance in a surprise cameo on NBC's ''Saturday Night Live'', playing the best friend of “Penelope” (Kristin Wiig). On January 26, 2009, she made an appearance on ''The View'', singing "I Would Never Leave You" (written by Johnny Rodgers, Billy Stritch, and Brian Lane Green) from her new CD ''Liza's at The Palace...!''. She was also interviewed by the cast of ''The View''.

She was a character in the Australian musical ''The Boy from Oz'' starring Hugh Jackman. In the show's Broadway production, she was portrayed by Stephanie J. Block.

In October 2009, Minnelli toured Australia, and appeared on ''Australian Idol'' as a mentor and guest judge.

In February 2010, Minnelli appeared in a Snickers commercial along with Aretha Franklin and Betty White.

Minnelli made a cameo appearance in the May 2010 release of ''Sex and the City 2''.

She also made a starring appearance in December 2010 in NBC's ''The Apprentice''.

Personal life

Marriages

Minnelli has been married (and divorced) four times. Her first marriage was to Peter Allen (full name Peter Allen Woolnough) on March 3, 1967. Australian-born Allen was Judy Garland's protégé in the mid-1960s. They divorced on July 24, 1974.

Later that year, she married Jack Haley, Jr., a producer and director, on September 15, 1974. His father, Jack Haley, was Garland's costar in ''The Wizard of Oz.'' They divorced in April 1979.

Minnelli was married to Mark Gero, a sculptor and stage manager, from December 4, 1979 until their divorce in January 1992.

She was married to David Gest, a concert promoter, from March 16, 2002, until they divorced in April 2007. (They separated in July 2003.)

Minnelli also had a relationship with Desi Arnaz Jr., the son of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.

Minnelli has no children; one pregnancy left her with a hiatal hernia as a result of the medical steps taken to try to save the baby.

Philanthropy

Minnelli has, throughout her lifetime, served various charities and causes which she considers very important. She served on the board of directors of The Institutes for The Achievement of Human Potential (IAHP) for 20 years, a nonprofit educational organization that introduces parents to the field of child brain development. She has also dedicated much time to amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research. In 2007, she stated in an interview with Palm Springs Life magazine, “AmfAR is important to me because I’ve lost so many friends that I knew [to AIDS]”. In 1994, she recorded the Kander & Ebb tune "The Day After That" and donated the proceeds to AIDS research. That same year she performed the song in front of thousands in Central Park at the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall riots.

Filmography

style="background:#B0C4DE;"	Year	Film	Role	Notes
1949	''In the Good Old Summertime''	Baby	uncredited
1954	''The Long, Long Trailer''	Wedding Guest
1967	''Charlie Bubbles''	Eliza
1969	''The Sterile Cuckoo''	'Pookie' (Mary Ann) Adams	David di Donatello for Best Actress
1970	''[[Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon''	Junie Moon
1972		Sally Bowles
	''Just One More Time''	Herself	uncredited (short subject)
''That's Entertainment!''	Herself (narrator)
''Journey Back to Oz''	Dorothy	voice (recorded in the 1960s)
1975	''Lucky Lady''	Claire	Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
	''Silent Movie''	Herself
	Nina
1977		Francine Evans
1981		Linda Marolla
1983		Herself	appears in gag cardboard cutout
1984	''The Muppets Take Manhattan''	Herself
1985	''That's Dancing!''	Herself – Host
1987		''Rent-A-Cop''	Della Roberts
1988	''Arthur 2: On the Rocks''	Linda Marolla Bach
1991		Mavis Turner
1994	''A Century of Cinema''	Herself	documentary
1995		Herself – uncredited	documentary
2006	''The Oh in Ohio''	Alyssa Donahue
2010	''Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age''	Herself	documentary
2010	''Sex and the City 2''	Wedding Minister/Herself
2011	''Lady Gaga Presents: The Monster Ball Tour at Madison Square Garden	Herself	Audience member/special guest

Television movies

''The Dangerous Christmas of Red Riding Hood'' (1965)

''The Princess and the Pea'' (1984, episode of the television anthology ''Faerie Tale Theatre'')

''A Time to Live'' (1985)

''Sam Found Out: A Triple Play'' (1988)

''Parallel Lives'' (1994)

''The West Side Waltz'' (1995)

''Arrested Development'' (2003–2005)

Specials

''Judy and Liza at the Palladium'' (1964, with Judy Garland)

''Liza'' (1970)

''Liza with a ‘Z’. A Concert for Television'' (1972)

''Love from A to Z'' (1974, with Charles Aznavour)

''Goldie and Liza Together'' (1980, with Goldie Hawn)

''An Evening with Liza Minnelli'' (1980)

''Liza in London'' (1986)

''Minnelli on Minnelli: Liza Remembers Vincente'' (1987, documentary)

''Frank, Liza & Sammy: The Ultimate Event'' (1989, with Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis, Jr.)

''Liza Live from Radio City Music Hall'' (1992)

''Liza & Friends: A Tribute to Sammy Davis, Jr.'' (1993, with Charles Aznavour, Tom Jones, Jerry Lewis, and Cliff Richard)

Discography

Stage productions

''Wish You Were Here'' (1961) (Hyannis, Massachusetts)

''Take Me Along'' (1961) (Hyannis, Massachusetts)

''Flower Drum Song'' (1961) (Hyannis, Massachusetts)

''The Diary of Anne Frank'' (1961–1962) (Tour)

''Best Foot Forward'' (1963) (Off-Broadway)

''Carnival!'' (1964) (Paper Mill Playhouse)

''Time Out For Ginger'' (1964) (Bucks County Playhouse)

''The Fantasticks'' (1964) (Tour)

''Flora the Red Menace'' (1965) (Broadway)

''The Pajama Game'' (1966) (Tour)

''Liza'' (1974) (one woman show, Broadway)

''Chicago'' (1975) (replacement for Gwen Verdon from Aug–Sep. 1975, Broadway)

''The Act'' (1977–1978) (Broadway)

''Are You Now or Have You Ever Been?'' (1978) (guest appearance, Off-Broadway)

''The Owl and the Pussycat'' (1978–1979) (Martha Graham Ballet/London and Lincoln Center/New York City)

''By Myself'' (1983) (one woman show, Los Angeles and London)

''The Rink'' (1984) (Broadway)

''Love Letters'' (1994) (Coconut Grove Playhouse, Miami)

''Victor/Victoria'' (1997) (vacation replacement for Julie Andrews, Broadway)

''Minnelli on Minnelli'' (1999–2000) (concert show, Broadway, Palace Theater)

''Liza's Back!'' (2002) (concert show, New York and London)

''Liza's at the Palace...!'' (2008–2009) (concert show, Broadway, Palace Theater)

Awards and honors

Film awards

Academy Awards

1970 nominated: Best Actress in a Leading Role(''The Sterile Cuckoo'')

1973 won: Best Actress in a Leading Role (''Cabaret'')

Minnelli has the distinction of being the only Academy Award winner whose parents were both Academy Award winners (her father won as Best Director for ''Gigi'' and her mother received an honorary Oscar for ''The Wizard of Oz'').

British Academy of Film and Television Arts

1971 nominated: Film Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles (''The Sterile Cuckoo'')

1973 won: Best Actress (''Cabaret'')

Golden Globe Awards

1970 nominated: Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama (''The Sterile Cuckoo'')

1973 won: Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy (''Cabaret'')

1976 nominated: Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy (''Lucky Lady'')

1978 nominated: Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy (''New York, New York'')

1982 nominated: Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy (''Arthur'')

Television awards

Emmy Awards

1973 won: Outstanding Single Program – Variety and Popular Music (''Liza with a 'Z'. A Concert for Television'')

1973 nominated: Outstanding Achievement by a Supporting Performer in a Variety Show or a Special (''A Royal Gala Variety Performance'')

1980 nominated: Outstanding Variety or Music Program (''Goldie and Liza Together'')

1987 nominated: Outstanding Informational Special (''Minnelli on Minnelli: Liza Remembers Vincente'')

1993 nominated: Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program (''Liza Live from Radio City Music Hall'')

Golden Globe Awards

1986 won: Best Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television (''A Time to Live'')

Recording awards

Grammy Awards

1997 nominated: Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance (''Gently'')

2010 nominated: Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album (''Liza's at The Palace...!'')

Grammy Hall of Fame Award

2008 inducted (''Cabaret. Original Soundtrack Recording'')

Grammy Living Legend Award 1990 won: Grammy Living Legend Award for Contributions and Influence in the Recording Field

Stage awards

Drama Desk Awards

1984 nominated: Outstanding Actress in a Musical (''The Rink'')

2009 won: Drama Desk Special Award for “her role as a beloved American musical theater icon, for her enduring career of sustained excellence, and her glorious performance in ''Liza's at The Palace...!''”

Independent Theatre Reviewers Association

2009 won: Best Female Theatrical Performance (''Liza's at The Palace...!'')

Theatre World Award

1963 won: Outstanding Off-Broadway Debut (''Best Foot Forward'')

Tony Awards

1965 won: Best Leading Actress in a Musical (''Flora the Red Menace'')

1974 won: Special Tony Award for “adding lustre to the Broadway season”

1978 won: Best Leading Actress in a Musical (''The Act'')

1984 nominated: Best Leading Actress in a Musical (''The Rink'')

The show ''Liza's at The Palace...!'' itself won the Tony Award for Best Special Theatrical Event in 2009.

Miscellaneous Honors

Hasty Pudding Theatricals

1973: Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year

Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation

2005: Vanguard Award, for “her contributions to increased visibility and understanding of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community”

Mercy College (New York) 2007: Honorary Doctorate, “for her charitable activities and a career that has spanned five decades and multiple genres”

Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays

2010: Straight for Equality in Entertainment Award, for “her lifelong support of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people.”

Other appearances

Minnelli appears in the song "Mama" on the My Chemical Romance album ''The Black Parade''. She added her vocals to the song from a separate studio while members of the band listened via satellite.

See also

List of persons who have won Academy, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Awards

References

Further reading

Leigh, Wendy (1993), ''Liza: Born a Star''. E. P. Dutton

Mair, George (1996), ''Under the Rainbow: The Real Liza Minnelli''. Carol Publishing

Schechter, Scott (2004), ''The Liza Minnelli Scrapbook''. Kensington Books/Citadel Press * See Free Preview at Amazon.com

Spada, James (1983), ''Judy and Liza''. Doubleday

External links

Official Minnelli Site

Liza Minnelli at TVGuide.com

Category:Living people Category:1946 births Category:American female singers Category:American film actors Category:American musical theatre actors Category:American musicians of Irish descent Category:American musicians of Italian descent Category:American people of English descent Category:American people of French-Canadian descent Category:American people of Sicilian descent Category:American voice actors Category:Best Actress Academy Award winners Category:Best Miniseries or Television Movie Actress Golden Globe winners Category:Best Musical or Comedy Actress Golden Globe (film) winners Category:Cadence Records artists Category:David di Donatello Career Award winners Category:Emmy Award winners Category:GLAAD Media Award winners Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Grammy Legend Award Category:Hybrid Recordings artists Category:Judy Garland Category:LGBT rights activists from the United States Category:People from Los Angeles, California Category:People from Scarsdale, New York Category:Tony Award winners Category:Traditional pop music singers

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alt	A mid-twenties African American man wearing a sequined military jacket and dark sunglasses. He is walking while waving his right hand, which is adorned with a white glove. His left hand is bare.
background	solo_singer
birth name	Michael Joseph Jackson
alias	Michael Joe Jackson, MJ, King of Pop
birth date	August 29, 1958
birth place	Gary, Indiana, U.S.
death date	June 25, 2009
death place	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
instrument	Vocals
genre	R&B;, pop, rock, soul, dance, funk, disco, new jack swing
occupation	Singer-songwriter, musician, composer, dancer, choreographer, record producer, actor, businessman, philanthropist
years active	1964–2009
label	Motown, Epic, Legacy, MJJ Productions
associated acts	The Jackson 5
relatives	Janet Jackson (sister)
website	}}

Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Often referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records. His contribution to music, dance, and fashion, along with a much-publicized personal life, made him a global figure in popular culture for over four decades. The seventh child of the Jackson family, he debuted on the professional music scene along with his brothers as a member of The Jackson 5 in 1964, and began his solo career in 1971.

In the early 1980s, Jackson became a dominant figure in popular music. The music videos for his songs, including those of "Beat It", "Billie Jean", and "Thriller", were credited with transforming the medium into an art form and a promotional tool, and the popularity of these videos helped to bring the relatively new television channel MTV to fame. Videos such as "Black or White" and "Scream" made him a staple on MTV in the 1990s. Through stage performances and music videos, Jackson popularized a number of complicated dance techniques, such as the robot and the moonwalk, to which he gave the name. His distinctive musical sound and vocal style influenced numerous hip hop, post-disco, contemporary R&B;, pop and rock artists.

Jackson's 1982 album ''Thriller'' is the best-selling album of all time. His other records, including ''Off the Wall'' (1979), ''Bad'' (1987), ''Dangerous'' (1991), and ''HIStory'' (1995), also rank among the world's best-selling. Jackson is one of the few artists to have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice. He was also inducted into the Dance Hall of Fame as the first (and currently only) dancer from the world of pop and rock 'n' roll. Some of his other achievements include multiple Guinness World Records; 13 Grammy Awards (as well as the Grammy Legend Award and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award); 26 American Music Awards (more than any other artist, including the "Artist of the Century"); 13 number-one singles in the United States in his solo career (more than any other male artist in the Hot 100 era); and the estimated sale of over 750 million records worldwide. Jackson won hundreds of awards, which made him the most-awarded recording artist in the history of popular music.

Aspects of Jackson's personal life, including his changing appearance, personal relationships, and behavior, generated controversy. In 1993, he was accused of child sexual abuse, but the case was settled out of court and no formal charges were brought. In 2005, he was tried and acquitted of further child sexual abuse allegations and several other charges after the jury found him not guilty on all counts. While preparing for his concert series titled ''This Is It'', Jackson died of acute propofol and benzodiazepine intoxication on June 25, 2009, after suffering from cardiac arrest. The Los Angeles County Coroner ruled his death a homicide, and his personal physician was convicted of involuntary manslaughter. Jackson's death triggered a global outpouring of grief, and as many as one billion people around the world reportedly watched his public memorial service on live television. In March 2010, Sony Music Entertainment signed a $250 million deal with Jackson's estate to retain distribution rights to his recordings until 2017, and to release seven posthumous albums over the decade following his death.

Life and career

Early life and The Jackson 5 (1958–1975)

Michael Jackson was born on August 29, 1958, the eighth of ten children in an African American working-class family who lived in a small 3-room house in Gary, Indiana, an industrial city near Chicago. His mother, Katherine Esther Scruse, was a devout Jehovah's Witness, and his father, Joseph Walter "Joe" Jackson, was a steel mill worker who performed with an R&B; band called The Falcons. Jackson had three sisters: Rebbie, La Toya, and Janet, and five brothers: Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, and Randy. A sixth brother, Brandon, died shortly after birth.

Jackson had a troubled relationship with his father, Joe.

The group's sales began declining in 1973, and the band members chafed under Motown's strict refusal to allow them creative control or input. Although they scored several top 40 hits, including the top 5 disco single "Dancing Machine" and the top 20 hit "I Am Love", the Jackson 5 left Motown in 1975.

Move to Epic and ''Off the Wall'' (1975–81)

In June 1975, the Jackson 5 signed with Epic Records, a subsidiary of CBS Records and renamed themselves the Jacksons. Younger brother Randy formally joined the band around this time, while Jermaine left to pursue a solo career. In 1980, Jackson won three awards at the American Music Awards for his solo efforts: Favorite Soul/R&B; Album, Favorite Soul/R&B; Male Artist, and Favorite Soul/R&B; Single for "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough". That year, he also won Billboard Year-End for Top Black Artist and Top Black Album and a Grammy Award for Best Male R&B; Vocal Performance, also for "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough". Jackson again won at the American Music Awards in 1981 for Favorite Soul/R&B; Album and Favorite Soul/R&B; Male Artist. Despite its commercial success, Jackson felt ''Off the Wall'' should have made a much bigger impact, and was determined to exceed expectations with his next release. In 1980, he secured the highest royalty rate in the music industry: 37 percent of wholesale album profit.

''Thriller'' and ''Motown 25'' (1982–83)

In 1982, Jackson contributed the song "Someone In the Dark" to the storybook for the film ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial''; the record won a Grammy for Best Recording for Children in 1984. In the same year he won another seven Grammys and eight American Music Awards (including the Award of Merit, the youngest artist to win it), making him the most awarded in one night for both award shows. The album topped the ''Billboard'' 200 chart for 37 weeks and was in the top 10 of the 200 for 80 consecutive weeks. It was the first album to have seven ''Billboard'' Hot 100 top 10 singles, including "Billie Jean", "Beat It", and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'". ''Thriller'' was certified for 29 million shipments by the RIAA, giving it Double Diamond status in the United States. The album won also another Grammy for Best Engineered Recording – Non Classical in 1984, awarding Bruce Swedien for his work. Thanks to the ''Bad'' album, Bruce Swedien and Humberto Gatica won one Grammy in 1988 for Best Engineered Recording – Non Classical and Michael Jackson won one Grammy for Best Music Video, Short Form for "Leave Me Alone" in 1989. ''HIStory'' received a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year. However, the sales for ''Invincible'' were lower than those of his previous releases, due in part to a lack of promotion, no supporting world tour and the label dispute. The album also came out at a bad time for the music industry in general. Jackson rehearsed in Los Angeles in the weeks leading up to the tour under the direction of choreographer Kenny Ortega. Most of these rehearsals took place at the Staples Center, which was owned by AEG. With ''Thriller'', Christopher Connelly of ''Rolling Stone'' commented that Jackson developed his long association with the subliminal theme of paranoia and darker imagery. Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine noted this is evident on the songs "Billie Jean" and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'". In "Billie Jean", Jackson sings about an obsessive fan who alleges he has fathered a child of hers. In "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" he argues against gossip and the media. "Beat It" decried gang violence in an homage to ''West Side Story'', and was Jackson's first successful rock cross-over piece, according to Huey. He also observed that the title track "Thriller" began Jackson's interest with the theme of the supernatural, a topic he revisited in subsequent years. In 1985, Jackson co-wrote the charity anthem "We Are the World"; humanitarian themes later became a recurring theme in his lyrics and public persona. ;Bibliography

George, Nelson (2004). ''Michael Jackson: The Ultimate Collection'' booklet. Sony BMG.

Further reading

External links

Michael Jackson at MTV

FBI file on Michael Jackson

Category:1958 births Category:2009 deaths Category:African American dancers Category:African American male singers Category:African American record producers Category:African American singer-songwriters

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Category:Boy sopranos Category:Brit Award winners Category:Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) Category:Child pop musicians Category:Drug-related deaths in California Category:Epic Records artists

Category:Former Jehovah's Witnesses Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Grammy Legend Award Michael Jackson Category:Manslaughter victims Category:Motown artists Category:Musicians from Indiana Category:People acquitted of sex crimes Category:People from Gary, Indiana Category:People from Santa Barbara County, California Category:Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Category:Songwriters from Indiana Category:Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees Michael Jackson Category:World Music Awards winners Category:Young Artist Award winners

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name	Debbie Reynolds
birth name	Mary Frances Reynolds
birth date	April 01, 1932
birth place	El Paso, Texas
spouse	Eddie Fisher (m.1955-1959; divorced) Harry Karl (m.1960-1973; divorced) Richard Hamlett (m.1984-1996; divorced)
occupation	Actress, dancer, singer
years active	1948-present
parents	Raymond Francis ReynoldsMaxine N. Harmon
website	debbiereynolds.com }}

Debbie Reynolds (born April 1, 1932) is an American actress, singer, and dancer.

Initially signed at age sixteen by Warner Bros., Reynolds' career got off to a slow start. When her contract was not renewed, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) gave her a small but significant part in the film ''Three Little Words'' (1950), then signed her to a seven-year contract. In her next film, ''Two Weeks with Love'' (1950), she had a hit with the song "Aba Daba Honeymoon". However, it was her first leading role, in ''Singin' in the Rain'' (1952), that set her on the path to fame. By the mid 1950s, she was a major star.

Other notable successes include ''Tammy and the Bachelor'' (1957), in which her rendering of the song "Tammy" reached number one on the music charts; and ''The Unsinkable Molly Brown'' (1964), for which she received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. She continues to perform successfully on stage, television and film to the present day.

Reynolds' first marriage, to popular singer Eddie Fisher, produced a son and a daughter, actress/author Carrie Fisher, but ended in divorce in 1959 when Fisher and her former (and later) friend Elizabeth Taylor fell in love. Her second and third marriages also ended in divorce, each time ruining her financially.

She is a noted collector of film memorabilia, beginning with the landmark 1972 MGM auction. In June 2011, unable to find a suitable home for her large collection, she began auctioning it off.

Early life

Reynolds was born Mary Frances Reynolds in El Paso, Texas, the second child of Maxine N. (''née'' Harmon; 1913–1999) and Raymond Francis Reynolds (1903–1986), who was a carpenter for the Southern Pacific Railroad. She has Scotch-Irish and English ancestry. Reynolds was a Girl Scout and a troop leader (a scholarship in her name is offered to high-school age Girl Scouts). Her family moved to Burbank, California, in 1939, and she was raised in a strict Nazarene faith. At age 16, while a student at Burbank's John Burroughs High School, Reynolds won the Miss Burbank Beauty Contest, a contract with Warner Bros., and acquired a new first name.

Career

Reynolds regularly appeared in movie musicals during the 1950s and had several hit records during the period. Her song "Aba Daba Honeymoon" (featured in the film ''Two Weeks with Love'' (1950) as a duet with Carleton Carpenter was a top-three hit in 1951. Her most high-profile film role was in ''Singin' in the Rain'' (1952) as Kathy Selden. In ''Bundle of Joy'' (1956) she appeared with her then-husband, Eddie Fisher.

Her recording of the song "Tammy" (from her film ''Tammy and the Bachelor'' (1957)) earned her a gold record, and was the best-selling single by a female vocalist in 1957. It was number one for five weeks on the ''Billboard'' pop charts. In the movie (the first of the ''Tammy'' film series), she co-starred with Leslie Nielsen.

In 1959, Reynolds recorded her first album for Dot Records, simply called ''Debbie'', which included her own selection of twelve standards including "S’posin'", "Moonglow," "Mean To Me" and "Time After Time." Bing Crosby paid tribute to Reynolds in the sleeve notes accompanying the album thus:

Someone recently said, and with reasonable accuracy I would think, that good singers make good actors. Evidence in support of this belief is available in the recent performances of Sinatra and Martin, for instance, but I would like to put forth also the proposition that the reverse is quite true: good actors make good singers. Assuming they can carry a tune. We all know that Debbie is better than a good actress — she’s VERY good, and we all know she can sing with a lilt and a listenable quality that’s genuinely pleasant and agreeable. Witness “Tammy”. It was small surprise to me then that when I listened to this beautiful album she has etched for Dot, I found myself captivated and enchanted. Quite obviously Debbie had spent a great deal of time selecting the songs to be included, because she’s made them her own, and invested them with a sincerity that’s inescapable — of contrasting moods to be sure, but the moods are there, and to me, mighty effective. And that, mes amis, is artistry.

Reynolds also scored two other top-25 ''Billboard'' hits with "A Very Special Love" (1958) and "Am I That Easy to Forget" (1960) — a pop-music version of a country-music hit made famous by both songwriters Carl Belew (in 1959), Skeeter Davis (in 1960), and several years later by singer Engelbert Humperdinck. She has released several albums of both her vintage performances and her later recordings.

During these years, she also headlined in major Las Vegas showrooms.

Her starring role in ''The Unsinkable Molly Brown'' (1964) led to a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. She then portrayed Jeanine Deckers in ''The Singing Nun'' (1966).

In what Reynolds has called the "stupidest mistake of my entire career", she made headlines in 1970 after instigating a fight with the NBC television network over cigarette advertising on her eponymous television series; NBC cancelled the show.

Reynolds continues to make appearances in film and television. She played Helen Chappel Hackett's mother, Deedee Chappel, on an episode of "''Wings''" entitled, "If It's Not One Thing, It's Your Mother," which originally aired on November 22, 1994. From 1999 to its 2006 series finale, she played Grace Adler's ditzy mother, Bobbi Adler, on the NBC sitcom ''Will & Grace'' (1998–2006), which earned her an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series in 2000. She also plays a recurring role in the Disney Channel Original Movie ''Halloweentown'' film series as Aggie Cromwell. Reynolds made a guest appearance as a presenter at the 69th Academy Awards in 1997.

Reynolds appeared in her West End show ''Debbie Reynolds: Alive and Fabulous.'' In June 2010 she replaced Ivana Trump answering reader queries for the weekly paper ''Globe.

Awards and nominations

Reynolds won the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in ''The Catered Affair'' (1956).

She has received various nominations for awards including: an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for ''The Unsinkable Molly Brown'' (1964), a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy for ''The Debbie Reynolds Show'' (1970), a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for ''Mother'' (1996) and an Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series, for her role of Bobbi Adler in the sitcom ''Will & Grace'' (2000). In 1996 and 1997, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award in Comedy, in the American Comedy Awards.

Her foot and hand prints are preserved at the Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California. She also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6654 Hollywood Boulevard.

In November 2006, Reynolds received the "Lifetime Achievement Award" from Chapman University (Orange, California). On May 17, 2007, she was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of Nevada, Reno, (Reno, Nevada) where she had contributed for many years to the film-studies program.

Reynolds last Cd was a Christmas Record with the late Donald O'Connor entitled "Chrissy the Christmas Mouse". It received rave reviews and was arranged by Angelo DiPippo and produced by Dr. Fillardi.

Film memorabilia

Reynolds has amassed a large collection of movie memorabilia, beginning with the landmark 1970 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer auction, and displayed them, first in a museum at her Las Vegas hotel and casino during the 1990s and later in a museum close to the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles. On several occasions, she has auctioned off items from the collection.

The museum was to relocate to be the centerpiece of the Belle Island Village tourist attraction in the resort city of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, but the developer went bankrupt. The museum itself filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June 2009.

Todd Fisher, Reynolds' son, announced that his mother was "heartbroken" to have to auction off her collection. It was valued at $10.79 million in the bankruptcy filing. ''The Vancouver Sun'' reported that Profiles in History has been given the responsibility of conducting a series of auctions beginning in June and continuing into December 2011. Among the "more than 3500 costumes, 20,000 photographs, and thousands of movie posters, costume sketches, and props" to be sold are Charlie Chaplin's bowler hat and Marilyn Monroe's white "subway dress", whose skirt is lifted up by the breeze from a passing subway train in the film ''The Seven Year Itch'' (1955).

On June 18, 2011, the subway dress was sold for $4.6 million dollars, far in excess of pre-auction estimates of $1-2 million. Another Monroe dress, which she wore in ''Gentlemen Prefer Blondes'', fetched $1.2 million, four times the upper pre-sale expectation.

Personal life

Marriages

Reynolds has been married three times. Her first marriage was to singer Eddie Fisher in 1955. They are the parents of Carrie and Todd Fisher. A public scandal ensued when Fisher and Elizabeth Taylor fell in love following the death of Taylor's then-husband Mike Todd, and Reynolds and Fisher were divorced in 1959. In 2011, first on ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'' only weeks before Elizabeth Taylor's death from congestive heart failure, Reynolds explained that she and Taylor happened to be traveling on the ocean liner ''Queen Elizabeth'' at the same time when they made up. Reynolds sent a note to Taylor's room, and Taylor sent a note in reply asking to have dinner with Reynolds and end their feud. The two reconciled, and, as Reynolds put it, "...we had a wonderful evening with a lot of laughs".

Her second marriage, to millionaire businessman Harry Karl, lasted from 1960 to 1973. He was previously married to Marie McDonald. Reynolds later found herself in financial difficulty because of Karl's gambling and bad investments.

Reynolds was married to real estate developer Richard Hamlett from 1984 to 1996. They purchased Greek Isles Hotel & Casino, a small hotel and casino in Las Vegas, but it was not a success. In 1997, Reynolds was forced to declare bankruptcy.

Charity work

Since 1955, Reynolds has been active in the Thalians Club, a charitable organization, devoted to children and adults with mental health issues. In 2011 she stepped down after 55 years of involvement, and is now an emeritus member.

In keeping with the celebrity tradition of the Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival of Winchester, Virginia, Reynolds was honored as the Grand Marshal of the 2011 ABF that took place from April 26 to May 1, 2011.

Filmography

Features:

''June Bride'' (1948)

''The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady'' (1950)

''Three Little Words'' (1950)

''Two Weeks with Love'' (1950)

''Mr. Imperium'' (1951)

''Singin' in the Rain'' (1952)

''Skirts Ahoy!'' (1952)

''I Love Melvin'' (1953)

''The Affairs of Dobie Gillis'' (1953)

''Give a Girl a Break'' (1954)

''Susan Slept Here'' (1954)

''Athena'' (1954)

''Hit the Deck'' (1955)

''The Tender Trap'' (1955)

''Meet Me in Las Vegas'' (1956)

''The Catered Affair'' (1956)

''Bundle of Joy'' (1956)

''Tammy and the Bachelor'' (1957)

''This Happy Feeling'' (1958)

''The Mating Game'' (1959)

''Say One for Me'' (1959)

''It Started with a Kiss'' (1959)

''The Gazebo'' (1959)

''The Rat Race'' (1960)

''Pepe'' (1960)

''The Pleasure of His Company'' (1961)

''The Second Time Around'' (1961)

''How the West Was Won'' (1962)

''Mary, Mary'' (1963)

''My Six Loves'' (1963)

''The Unsinkable Molly Brown'' (1964)

''Goodbye Charlie'' (1964)

''The Singing Nun'' (1966)

''Divorce American Style'' (1967)

''How Sweet It Is!'' (1968)

''What's the Matter with Helen?'' (1971)

''Charlotte's Web'' (1973) (voice)

''Busby Berkeley'' (1974) (documentary)

''That's Entertainment!'' (1974)

''Kiki's Delivery Service'' (1989) (voice in 1998 English dub)

''The Bodyguard'' (1992) (cameo as herself)

''Jack L. Warner: The Last Mogul'' (1993) (documentary)

''Heaven & Earth'' (1993)

''That's Entertainment! III'' (1994)

''Mother'' (1996)

''Wedding Bell Blues'' (1996)

''In & Out'' (1997)

''Halloweentown'' (1998)

''Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas'' (1998)

''Zack and Reba'' (1998)

''Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie'' (1998) (voice)

''Keepers of the Frame'' (1999) (documentary)

''Rugrats in Paris: The Movie'' (2000) (voice)

''Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge'' (2001)

''Cinerama Adventure'' (2002) (documentary)

''Connie and Carla'' (2004)

''Halloweentown High'' (2004)

''Return to Halloweentown'' (2006)

''Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project'' (2007) (documentary)

''The Jill & Tony Curtis Story'' (2008) (documentary)

''Blaze of Glory'' (2008) (voice)

''The Brothers Warner'' (2008) (documentary)

''Fay Wray: A Life'' (2008) (documentary)

''Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age'' (2009) (documentary)

''One for the Money'' (2012)

Short subjects:

''A Visit with Debbie Reynolds'' (1959)

''The Story of a Dress'' (1964)

Television work

''Jukebox Jury'' (1953)

''The Eddie Fisher Show'' (recurring guest star from 1957–1959)

''A Date with Debbie'' (1960)

''Go!!!'' (1967)

''...And Debbie Makes Six'' (1968)

''The Debbie Reynolds Show'' (1969–1970)

''Debbie Reynolds and the Sound of Children'' (1969)

''Leapin' Lizards It's Liberace'' (1978)

''Aloha Paradise'' (1981) (canceled after seven episodes)

''Win, Lose or Draw'' (1987)

''Sadie and Son'' (1987)

''Perry Mason: The Case of the Musical Murder'' (1989)

''The Golden Girls'' (1990) (guest star, There Goes The Bride pt. 1 & 2 as Truby)

''Movie Memories with Debbie Reynolds'' (1991–1992)

''Battling for Baby'' (1992)

''Wings'' (1994)

''Roseanne'' (1997)..."Arsenic and Old Mom" as Audrey Conner

''Halloweentown'' (1998)

''The Christmas Wish'' (1998)

''Will & Grace'' (recurring cast member from 1999–2006)

''A Gift of Love: The Daniel Huffman Story'' (1999)

''Rugrats'' (2000-2004) (voice)

''Virtual Mom'' (2000)

''These Old Broads'' (2001)

''Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge'' (2001)

''Generation Gap'' (2002) (unsold pilot)

''Tracey Ullman in the Trailer Tales'' (2003)

''Kim Possible'' (recurring cast member from 2003–2007) (voice)

''Pryor Offenses'' (2004)

''Halloweentown High'' (2004)

''Lolo's Cafe'' (2006) (voice)

''Return to Halloweentown'' (2006)

''Secret Talents of the Stars'' (2008) (canceled after one episode)

''RuPaul's Drag Race'' (2010) Guest Judge

''The Penguins of Madagascar'' (2010) (Lost Treasure of the Golden Squirrel) (voice)

''So You Think You Can Dance'' (2011) Guest Judge

''Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil'' (2011) (season 2)

See also

List of American film actresses

List of people from California

List of people from Texas

References

Further reading

External links

debbiereynolds.com, Reynolds's official website

Debbie Reynolds' Hollywood Motion Picture Museum website

Debbie Reynolds at TVGuide.com

Radio appearance WSRQ "Big Band Files w/Doug Miles

Photographs and literature

Debbie Reynolds at Emmys.com

Category:1932 births Category:20th-century actors Category:20th-century singers Category:21st-century actors Category:21st-century musicians Category:Actors from California Category:Actors from Texas Category:American collectors Category:American female singers Category:American film actors Category:American members of the Church of the Nazarene Category:American musical theatre actors Category:American people of English descent Category:American people of Scotch-Irish descent Category:American television actors Category:Girl Scouts of the USA Category:Living people Category:MGM Records artists Category:Musicians from Texas Category:People from Beverly Hills, California Category:People from Burbank, California Category:People from El Paso, Texas Category:Singers from California Category:Traditional pop music singers

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Name	Judy Garland
Birth name	Frances Ethel Gumm
Birth date	June 10, 1922
Birth place	Grand Rapids, Minnesota
Death date	June 22, 1969
Death place	Chelsea, London, England
Death cause	Barbiturate overdose
Restingplace	Ferncliff Cemetery, Hartsdale, New York
Other names	Judy Garland
Occupation	Singer, actress, vaudevillian
Years active	1924-1969 as a singer 1929-1967 as an actress
Nationality	American
Spouse	David Rose (m. 1941-1944; divorced) Vincente Minnelli (m. 1945-1951; divorced) Sid Luft (m. 1952-1965; divorced) Mark Herron (m. 1965-1967; divorced) Mickey Deans (m. 1969, her death)
Children
Awards	List of awards and honours }}

Judy Garland (June 10, 1922 – June 22, 1969), was an American actress, singer and vaudevillian. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage. Respected for her versatility, she received a Juvenile Academy Award and won a Golden Globe Award, as well as Grammy Awards and a Special Tony Award. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the remake of ''A Star is Born'' and for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the 1961 film, ''Judgment at Nuremberg''. At 39 years of age, she remains the youngest recipient of the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement in the motion picture industry.

After appearing in vaudeville with her two older sisters, Garland was signed to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as a teenager. There she made more than two dozen films, including nine with Mickey Rooney and the 1939 film with which she would be most identified, ''The Wizard of Oz''. After 15 years, she was released from the studio but gained renewed success through record-breaking concert appearances, including a return to acting beginning with critically acclaimed performances.

Despite her professional triumphs, Garland battled personal problems throughout her life. Insecure about her appearance, her feelings were compounded by film executives who told her she was unattractive and manipulated her on-screen physical appearance. She was plagued by financial instability, often owing hundreds of thousands of dollars in back taxes. She married five times, with her first four marriages ending in divorce. She had a long struggle with alcohol and drug use during most of her career, dying of an accidental drug overdose at the age of 47, leaving children Liza Minnelli, Lorna Luft, and Joey Luft.

In 1997, Garland was posthumously awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Several of her recordings have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 1999, the American Film Institute placed her among the ten greatest female stars in the history of American cinema.

Early life

Born Frances Ethel Gumm in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, Garland was the youngest child of Ethel Marion (née Milne; November 17, 1893–January 5, 1953) and Francis Avent "Frank" Gumm (March 20, 1886–November 17, 1935). Her parents were vaudevillians who settled in Grand Rapids to run a movie theatre that featured vaudeville acts.

Garland's ancestry on both sides of her family can be traced back to the early colonial days of the United States. Her father was descended from the Marable family of Virginia, her grandfather from a Milne ancestry from Aberdeen, and her maternal grandmother from a Patrick Fitzpatrick, who emigrated to America in the 1770s from Smithtown, County Meath, Ireland.

Named after both her parents and baptized at a local Episcopal church, "Baby" (as she was called by her parents and sisters) shared her family's flair for song and dance. Her first appearance came at the age of two-and-a-half when she joined her two older sisters, Mary Jane "Suzy/Suzanne" Gumm (1915–1964) and Dorothy Virginia "Jimmie" Gumm (1917–1977), on the stage of her father's movie theater during a Christmas show and sang a chorus of "Jingle Bells". Accompanied by their mother on piano, The Gumm Sisters performed there for the next few years.

Following rumors that Frank Gumm had made sexual advances toward male ushers, the family relocated to Lancaster, California in June 1926. Frank purchased and operated another theater in Lancaster, and Ethel, acting as their manager, began working to get her daughters into motion pictures.

Early career

The Gumm Sisters

In 1928, The Gumm Sisters enrolled in a dance school run by Ethel Meglin, proprietress of the Meglin Kiddies dance troupe. They appeared with the troupe at its annual Christmas show. It was through the Meglin Kiddies that they made their film debut, in a 1929 short subject called ''The Big Revue''. This was followed by appearances in two Vitaphone shorts the following year, ''A Holiday in Storyland'' (featuring Garland's first on-screen solo) and ''The Wedding of Jack and Jill''. They next appeared together in ''Bubbles''. Their final on-screen appearance came in 1935, in another short entitled ''La Fiesta de Santa Barbara''.

In 1934, the trio, who by then had been touring the vaudeville circuit as "The Gumm Sisters" for many years, performed in Chicago at the Oriental Theater with George Jessel. He encouraged the group to choose a more appealing name after "Gumm" was met with laughter from the audience. According to theatrical legend, their act was once erroneously billed at a Chicago theater as "The Glum Sisters".

Several stories persist regarding the origin of the name "Garland". One is that it was originated by Jessel after Carole Lombard's character Lily Garland in the film ''Twentieth Century'' which was then playing at the Oriental; another is that the girls chose the surname after drama critic Robert Garland. Garland's daughter, Lorna Luft, stated that her mother selected the name when Jessel announced that the trio "looked prettier than a garland of flowers". Another variation surfaced when he was a guest on Garland's television show in 1963. He claimed that he had sent actress Judith Anderson a telegram containing the word "garland," and it stuck in his mind.

By late 1934 the Gumm Sisters had changed their name to the Garland Sisters. Frances changed her name to "Judy" soon after, inspired by a popular Hoagy Carmichael song. By August 1935 they were broken up when Suzanne Garland flew to Reno, Nevada and married musician Lee Kahn, a member of the Jimmy Davis orchestra playing at Cal-Neva Lodge, Lake Tahoe.

Signed at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

In 1935, Garland was signed to a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, supposedly without a screen test, though she had made a test for the studio several months earlier. It did not know what to do with her, as at age 13 she was older than the traditional child star but too young for adult roles. Her physical appearance created a dilemma for MGM. At only , her "cute" or "girl next door" looks did not exemplify the more glamorous persona required of leading ladies of the time. She was self-conscious and anxious about her appearance. "Judy went to school at Metro with Ava Gardner, Lana Turner, Elizabeth Taylor, real beauties," said Charles Walters, who directed her in a number of films. "Judy was the big money-maker at the time, a big success, but she was the ugly duckling ...I think it had a very damaging effect on her emotionally for a long time. I think it lasted forever, really." Her insecurity was exacerbated by the attitude of studio chief Louis B. Mayer, who referred to her as his "little hunchback". During her early years at the studio, she was photographed and dressed in plain garments or frilly juvenile gowns and costumes to match the "girl next door" image that was created for her. She was made to wear removable caps on her teeth and rubberized disks to reshape her nose.

She performed at various studio functions and was eventually cast opposite Deanna Durbin in the musical short ''Every Sunday''. The film contrasted her alto vocal range and swing style with Durbin's operatic soprano and served as an extended screen test for the pair, as studio executives were questioning the wisdom of having two girl singers on the roster. Mayer finally decided to keep both actresses, but by that time Durbin's option had lapsed and she was signed by Universal Studios.

On November 16, 1935, in the midst of preparing for a radio performance on the ''Shell Chateau Hour,'' Garland learned that her father, who had been hospitalized with meningitis, had taken a turn for the worse. Frank Gumm died the following morning, on November 17, leaving her devastated. Her song for the ''Shell Chateau Hour'' was her first professional rendition of "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart", a song which would become a standard in many of her concerts.

Garland next came to the attention of studio executives by singing a special arrangement of "You Made Me Love You" to Clark Gable at a birthday party held by the studio for the actor; her rendition was so well regarded that she performed the song in the all-star extravaganza ''Broadway Melody of 1938'' (1937), singing to a photograph of him.

MGM hit on a winning formula when it paired Garland with Mickey Rooney in a string of "backyard musicals". The duo first appeared together in the 1937 B movie ''Thoroughbreds Don't Cry''. They became a sensation and teamed up again in ''Love Finds Andy Hardy''. She would eventually star with him in nine films.

To keep up with the frantic pace of making one film after another, Garland, Rooney, and other young performers were constantly given amphetamines, as well as barbiturates to take before going to bed. For Garland, this regular dose of drugs led to addiction and a lifelong struggle and contributed to her eventual demise. She later resented the hectic schedule and felt that her youth had been stolen from her by MGM. Despite successful film and recording careers, awards, critical praise and her ability to fill concert halls worldwide, she was plagued throughout her life with self-doubt and required constant reassurance that she was talented and attractive.

''The Wizard of Oz''

In 1938, aged 16, she was cast as Dorothy Gale in ''The Wizard of Oz'' (1939), a film based on the children's book by L. Frank Baum. In this film, she sang the song for which she would forever be identified, "Over the Rainbow". Although producers Arthur Freed and Mervyn LeRoy had wanted her from the start, studio chief Mayer tried first to borrow Shirley Temple from 20th Century Fox. Her services were denied and Garland was cast.

She was initially outfitted in a blonde wig for the part, but Freed and LeRoy decided against it shortly into filming. Her breasts were bound with tape and she was made to wear a special corset to flatten out her curves and make her appear younger; her blue gingham dress was also chosen for its blurring effect on her figure.

Shooting commenced on October 13, 1938, and was completed on March 16, 1939, with a final cost of more than US$2 million. With the conclusion of filming, MGM kept Garland busy with promotional tours and the shooting of ''Babes in Arms''. She and Rooney were sent on a cross-country promotional tour, culminating in the August 17 New York City premiere at the Capitol Theater, which included a five-show-a-day appearance schedule for the two stars.

''The Wizard of Oz'' was a tremendous critical success, though its high budget and promotions costs of an estimated $4 million coupled with the lower revenue generated by children's tickets meant that the film did not make a profit until it was re-released in the 1940s. At the 1940 Academy Awards ceremony, Garland received an Academy Juvenile Award for her performances in 1939, including ''The Wizard of Oz'' and ''Babes in Arms''. Following this recognition, she became one of MGM's most bankable stars.

Stardom as an adult

In 1940, she starred in three films: ''Andy Hardy Meets Debutante'', ''Strike Up the Band'', and ''Little Nellie Kelly''. In the latter, she played her first adult role, a dual role of both mother and daughter. ''Little Nellie Kelly'' was purchased from George M. Cohan as a vehicle for her to display both her audience appeal and her physical appearance. The role was a challenge for her, requiring the use of an accent, her first adult kiss, and the only death scene of her career. The success of these three films, and a further three films in 1941, secured her position at MGM as a major property.

During this time Garland experienced her first serious adult romances. The first was with the band leader Artie Shaw. She was deeply devoted to him and was devastated in early 1940 when he eloped with Lana Turner. Garland began a relationship with musician David Rose, and, on her 18th birthday, he gave her an engagement ring. The studio intervened because he was still married at the time to the actress and singer Martha Raye. They agreed to wait a year to allow for his divorce from her to become final, and were wed on July 27, 1941. Garland, who had aborted her pregnancy by him in 1942, agreed to a trial separation in January 1943, and they divorced in 1944. She was noticeably thinner in her next film, ''For Me and My Gal'', alongside Gene Kelly in his first screen appearance. She was top billed over the credits for the first time and effectively made the transition from teenage star to adult actress.

At the age of 21, she was given the "glamour treatment" in ''Presenting Lily Mars'', in which she was dressed in "grown-up" gowns. Her lightened hair was also pulled up in a stylish fashion. However, no matter how glamorous or beautiful she appeared on screen or in photographs, she was never confident in her appearance and never escaped the "girl next door" image that had been created for her. One of Garland's most successful films for MGM was ''Meet Me in St. Louis'' (1944), in which she introduced three standards: "The Trolley Song", "The Boy Next Door", and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas". Vincente Minnelli was assigned to direct and he requested that makeup artist Dorothy Ponedel be assigned to Garland. Ponedel refined her appearance in several ways, including extending and reshaping her eyebrows, changing her hairline, modifying her lip line and removing her nose discs. She appreciated the results so much that Ponedel was written into her contract for all her remaining pictures at MGM.

During the filming of ''Meet Me in St. Louis'', after some initial conflict between them, Garland and Minnelli entered a relationship. They were married June 15, 1945, and on March 12, 1946, daughter Liza was born. In 1951, they divorced.

''The Clock'' (1945) was her first straight dramatic film, opposite Robert Walker. Though the film was critically praised and earned a profit, most movie fans expected her to sing. It would be many years before she acted again in a non-singing dramatic role. Garland's other famous films of the 1940s include ''The Harvey Girls'' (1946), in which she introduced the Academy Award-winning song "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe", and ''The Pirate'' (1948).

Leaving Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

During filming for ''The Pirate'' in April 1947, Garland suffered a nervous breakdown and was placed in a private sanitarium. She was able to complete filming, but in July she undertook her first suicide attempt, making minor cuts to her wrist with a broken glass. During this period, she spent two weeks in treatment at the Austen Riggs Center, a psychiatric hospital in Stockbridge, Massachusetts Following her work on ''The Pirate'', she completed three more films for MGM: ''Easter Parade'' (in which she danced with Fred Astaire), ''In the Good Old Summertime'', and her final film with MGM, ''Summer Stock''.

Because of her mental condition, Garland was unable to complete a series of films. During the filming of ''The Barkleys of Broadway'', she was taking prescription sleeping medication along with illicitly obtained pills containing morphine. It was around this time she also developed a serious problem with alcohol. These, in combination with migraine headaches, led her to miss several shooting days in a row. After being advised by her doctor that she would only be able to work in four-to-five-day increments with extended rest periods between, MGM executive Arthur Freed made the decision to suspend her on July 18, 1948. She was replaced by Ginger Rogers.

Garland was cast in the film adaptation of ''Annie Get Your Gun'' in the title role of Annie Oakley. She was nervous at the prospect of taking on a role strongly identified with Ethel Merman, anxious about appearing in an unglamorous part after breaking from juvenile parts for several years and disturbed by her treatment at the hands of director Busby Berkeley. She began arriving late to the set and sometimes failed to appear. She was suspended from the picture on May 10, 1949, and was replaced by Betty Hutton.

Garland was next cast in the film ''Royal Wedding'' with Fred Astaire after June Allyson became pregnant in 1950. She again failed to report to the set on multiple occasions and the studio suspended her contract on June 17, 1950. She was replaced by Jane Powell. Reputable biographies following her death stated that after this latest dismissal, she slightly grazed her neck with a broken water glass, requiring only a Band-Aid, but at the time, the public was informed that a despondent Garland had slashed her throat. "All I could see ahead was more confusion," Garland later said of this suicide attempt. "I wanted to black out the future as well as the past. I wanted to hurt myself and everyone who had hurt me."

Later career

Renewed stardom on the stage

In October 1951, Garland opened in a vaudeville-style, two-a-day engagement at Broadway's newly refurbished Palace Theatre. Her 19-week engagement exceeded all previous records for the theater, and was described as "one of the greatest personal triumphs in show business history". Garland was honored for her contribution to the revival of vaudeville with a Special Tony Award.

In May 1952, at the height of Garland's comeback, her mother Ethel was featured in a ''Los Angeles Mirror'' story in which she revealed that while Garland was making a small fortune at the Palace, Ethel was working a desk job at Douglas Aircraft Company for $61 a week. They had been estranged for years, with Garland characterizing her mother as "no good for anything except to create chaos and fear" and accusing her of mismanaging and misappropriating her salary from the earliest days of her career. Garland's sister Virginia denied this, stating "Mama never took a dime from Judy." On January 5, 1953, Ethel Gumm was found dead in the Douglas Aircraft parking lot. She was 59 years old.

''A Star Is Born''

In 1954, Garland filmed a musical remake of the 1937 film ''A Star is Born'' for Warner Bros. She and her third husband, Sid Luft (whom she had married in 1952) produced the film through their production company, Transcona Enterprises, while Warner Bros. supplied the funds, production facilities, and crew. Directed by George Cukor and costarring James Mason, it was a large undertaking to which she initially fully dedicated herself.

As shooting progressed, however, she began making the same pleas of illness which she had so often made during her final films at MGM. Production delays led to cost overruns and angry confrontations with Warner Bros. head Jack Warner. Principal photography wrapped on March 17, 1954. At Luft's suggestion, the "Born in a Trunk" medley was filmed as a showcase for her and inserted over director Cukor's objections, who feared the additional length would lead to cuts in other areas. It was completed on July 29.

Upon its September 29, 1954 world premiere, the film was met with tremendous critical and popular acclaim. Before release, it was edited at the instruction of Jack Warner; theater operators, concerned that they were losing money because they were only able to run the film for three or four shows per day instead of five or six, pressured the studio to make additional reductions. About 30 minutes of footage was cut, sparking outrage among critics and filmgoers. ''A Star is Born'' ended up losing money, and the secure financial position Garland had expected from the profits did not materialize. Transcona made no more films with Warner.

Garland was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress and, in the run-up to the 27th Academy Awards, was generally expected to win. She could not attend the ceremony because she had just given birth to her son, Joseph Luft, so a television crew was in her hospital room with cameras and wires to televise her anticipated acceptance speech. The Oscar was won, however, by Grace Kelly for ''The Country Girl'' (1954). The camera crew was packing up before Kelly could even reach the stage. Groucho Marx sent her a telegram after the awards ceremony, declaring her loss "the biggest robbery since Brinks". ''TIME'' magazine labeled her performance as "just about the greatest one-woman show in modern movie history". Garland won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Musical for the role.

Garland's films after ''A Star Is Born'' included ''Judgment at Nuremberg'' (1961) (for which she was Oscar- and Golden Globe-nominated for Best Supporting Actress), the animated feature ''Gay Purr-ee'' (1962), and ''A Child Is Waiting'' (1963) with Burt Lancaster. Her final film was ''I Could Go On Singing'' (1963), costarring Dirk Bogarde.

Television, concerts, and Carnegie Hall

Garland engaged Sid Luft as her manager the same year she divorced Minnelli. He arranged a four-month concert tour of the United Kingdom, where she played to sold-out audiences throughout England, Scotland, and Ireland. It included her first appearances at the renowned London Palladium, for a four-week stand in April. Although some in the British press chided her before her opening for being "too plump", she received rave reviews and the ovation was described by the Palladium manager as the loudest he had ever heard.

Garland and Luft were married on June 8, 1952, in Hollister, California. Garland gave birth to Lorna Luft, herself a future actress and singer, on November 21, 1952, and to Joey Luft on March 29, 1955.

Beginning in 1955, Garland appeared in a number of television specials. The first, the 1955 debut episode of ''Ford Star Jubilee'', was the first full-scale color broadcast ever on CBS and was a ratings triumph, scoring a 34.8 Nielsen rating. She signed a three-year, $300,000 contract with the network. Only one additional special, a live concert edition of ''General Electric Theater'', was broadcast in 1956 before the relationship between the Lufts and CBS broke down in a dispute over the planned format of upcoming specials. In 1956, Garland performed four weeks at the New Frontier Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip for a salary of $55,000 per week, making her the highest-paid entertainer to work in Las Vegas. Despite a brief bout of laryngitis, her performances there were so successful that her run was extended an extra week. Later that year she returned to the Palace Theatre, site of her two-a-day triumph. She opened in September, once again to rave reviews and popular acclaim.

In November 1959 Garland was hospitalized, diagnosed with acute hepatitis. Over the next few weeks several quarts of fluid were drained from her body until, still weak, she was released from the hospital in January 1960. She was told by doctors that she likely had five years or less to live, and that even if she did survive she would be a semi-invalid and would never sing again. She initially felt "greatly relieved" at the diagnosis. "The pressure was off me for the first time in my life." However, she recovered over the next several months and, in August of that year, returned to the stage of the Palladium. She felt so warmly embraced by the British that she announced her intention to move permanently to England.

Her concert appearance at Carnegie Hall on April 23, 1961, was a considerable highlight, called by many "the greatest night in show business history". The two-record ''Judy at Carnegie Hall'' was certified gold, charting for 95 weeks on ''Billboard'', including 13 weeks at number one. The album won four Grammy Awards including Album of the Year and Best Female Vocal of the Year. The album has never been out of print.

In 1961, Garland and CBS settled their contract disputes with the help of her new agent, Freddie Fields, and negotiated a new round of specials. The first, entitled ''The Judy Garland Show'', aired in 1962 and featured guests Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. Following this success, CBS made a $24 million offer to her for a weekly television series of her own, also to be called ''The Judy Garland Show'', which was deemed at the time in the press to be "the biggest talent deal in TV history". Although she had said as early as 1955 that she would never do a weekly television series, in the early 1960s she was in a financially precarious situation. She was several hundred thousand dollars in debt to the Internal Revenue Service, having failed to pay taxes in 1951 and 1952, and the failure of ''A Star is Born'' meant that she received nothing from that investment. A successful run on television was intended to secure her financial future.

Following a third special, ''Judy Garland and Her Guests Phil Silvers and Robert Goulet'', Garland's weekly series debuted September 29, 1963. ''The Judy Garland Show'' was critically praised, but for a variety of reasons (including being placed in the time slot opposite ''Bonanza'' on NBC) the show lasted only one season and was canceled in 1964 after 26 episodes. Despite its short run, the series was nominated for four Emmy Awards. The demise of the series was personally and financially devastating for Garland.

Garland sued Luft for divorce in 1963, claiming "cruelty" as the grounds. She also asserted that he had repeatedly struck her while he was drinking and that he had attempted to take their children from her by force. She had filed for divorce from Luft more than once previously, including as early as 1956, but had reconciled.

Final years

With the demise of her television series, Garland returned to the stage. Most notably, she performed at the London Palladium with her then 18-year-old daughter Liza Minnelli in November 1964. The concert, which was also filmed for British television network ITV, was one of her final appearances at the venue. She made guest appearances on ''The Ed Sullivan Show'', ''The Tonight Show'', ''The Hollywood Palace'', and ''The Merv Griffin Show'', on which she guest-hosted an episode.

A 1964 tour of Australia was largely disastrous. Garland's first concert in Sydney, held in the Sydney Stadium because no concert hall could accommodate the crowds who wanted to see her, went well and received positive reviews. Her second performance, in Melbourne, started an hour late. The crowd of 7,000, angered by her tardiness and believing her to be drunk, booed and heckled her, and she fled the stage after just 45 minutes. She later characterized the Melbourne crowd as "brutish". A second concert in Sydney was uneventful but the Melbourne appearance garnered her significant bad press. Some of that bad press was deflected by the announcement of a near fatal episode of pleurisy.

Garland's tour promoter Mark Herron announced that they had married aboard a freighter off the coast of Hong Kong; however, she was not legally divorced from Luft at the time the ceremony was performed. It became final on May 19, 1965, but she and Herron did not legally marry until November 14, 1965 and then separated six months later.

In February 1967, Garland was cast as Helen Lawson in ''Valley of the Dolls'' for 20th Century Fox. During the filming, she missed rehearsals and was fired in April, replaced by Susan Hayward. Her prerecording of the song "I'll Plant My Own Tree" survived, along with her wardrobe tests.

Returning to the stage, Garland made her last appearances at New York's Palace Theatre in July, a 16-show tour, performing with her children Lorna and Joey Luft. She wore a sequined pantsuit on stage for this tour, which was part of the original wardrobe for her character in ''Valley of the Dolls.''

By early 1969, Garland's health had deteriorated. She performed in London at the Talk of the Town nightclub for a five-week run and made her last concert appearance in Copenhagen during March 1969. She married her fifth and final husband, musician Mickey Deans, at Chelsea Register Office, London, on March 15, 1969, her divorce from Herron having been finalized on February 11.

Death

On June 22, 1969, Garland was found dead by Deans in the bathroom of their rented house in Chelsea, London. At the subsequent inquest, coroner Gavin Thursdon stated that the cause of death was "an incautious self-overdosage" of barbiturates; her blood contained the equivalent of ten Seconal capsules. Thursdon stressed that the overdose had been unintentional and that there was no evidence to suggest she had committed suicide. Her autopsy showed that there was no inflammation of her stomach lining and no drug residue there, which indicated that the drug had been ingested over a long period of time, rather than in one dose. Her death certificate stated that her death had been "accidental". Even so, a British specialist who had attended her said she had been living on borrowed time due to cirrhosis of the liver. She had turned 47 just twelve days prior to her death. Her ''Wizard of Oz'' costar Ray Bolger commented at her funeral, "She just plain wore out."

On June 26, Deans took Garland's remains to New York City, where an estimated 20,000 people lined up for hours at the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel in Manhattan to pay their respects. On June 27, James Mason gave a eulogy at the funeral, an Episcopal service led by the Rev. Peter A. Delaney of Marylebone Church, London, who had officiated at her marriage to Deans. The public and press were barred. She was interred in a crypt in the community mausoleum at Ferncliff Cemetery, in Hartsdale, New York.

Legacy

Garland's legacy as a performer and a personality has endured long after her death. The American Film Institute named her eighth among the Greatest Female Stars of All Time. She has been the subject of over two dozen biographies since her death, including the well-received ''Me and My Shadows: A Family Memoir'' by her daughter, Lorna Luft, whose memoir was later adapted into the television miniseries ''Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows'', which won Emmy Awards for the two actresses portraying her (Tammy Blanchard and Judy Davis).

Garland was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997. Several of her recordings have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. These include "Over the Rainbow", which was ranked as the number one movie song of all time in the American Film Institute's "100 Years...100 Songs" list. Four more Garland songs are featured on the list: "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" (#76), "Get Happy" (#61), "The Trolley Song" (#26), and "The Man That Got Away" (#11). She has twice been honored on U.S. postage stamps, in 1989 (as Dorothy) and again in 2006 (as Vicki Lester from ''A Star Is Born'').

Gay icon

Garland always had a large base of fans in the gay community and has become a gay icon. Reasons often given for her standing, especially among gay men, are admiration of her ability as a performer, the way her personal struggles mirrored those of gay men in America during the height of her fame and her value as a camp figure. When asked about how she felt about having a large gay following, she responded, "I couldn't care less. I sing to people."

Some have also suggested a connection between the date of Garland's death and funeral on June 27, 1969 and the Stonewall riots, the flashpoint of the modern Gay Liberation movement, which started in the early hours of June 28. However, in a 2009 interview gay historian David Carter stated that this connection is untrue, and based on a mocking reference to the riot by an anti-gay writer in the ''Village Voice'' the next day.

Filmography and performances

Portrayals in fiction

Garland has been portrayed on television by Andrea McArdle in ''Rainbow'' (1978), Tammy Blanchard (young Judy) and Judy Davis (older Judy) in ''Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows'' (2001) and Elizabeth Karsell in ''James Dean'' (2001). Anne Hathaway is set to play Garland in a biopic titled ''Get Happy: The Life of Judy Garland'' which is in production and is set to be released in either 2012 or 2013.

On stage, Garland is a character in the musical ''The Boy from Oz'' (1998), portrayed by Chrissy Amphlett in the original Australian production and by Isabel Keating on Broadway in 2003. ''End of the Rainbow'' (2005) featured Caroline O'Connor as Garland. Adrienne Barbeau played Garland in ''The Property Known as Garland'' (2006) and ''The Judy Monologues'' (2010) featured Kimberly Roberts as Garland. Garland was briefly mentioned in the biopic film ''Introducing Dorothy Dandridge'' for the 1954 Academy Awards for ''A Star Is Born''.

Discography

Awards

Notes

References

Bianco, David. ''Gay Essentials: Facts For Your Queer Brain''. Alyson Publications. Los Angeles, 1999. ISBN 1-55583-508-2.

Clarke, Gerald (2001). ''Get Happy: The Life of Judy Garland''. New York, Random House. ISBN 0-375-50378-1.

DiOrio, Jr., Al. ''Little Girl Lost: The Life and Hard Times of Judy Garland''. Manor Books. New York, 1973.

Duberman, Martin (1993). ''Stonewall''. Penguin Books. ISBN 0-525-93602-5.

Edwards, Anne. ''Judy Garland''. Simon & Schuster. New York, 1975. ISBN 0-671-80228-3 (paperback edition).

Finch, Christopher. ''Rainbow: The Stormy Life of Judy Garland''. Ballantine Books. 1975. ISBN 0-345-25173-3 (paperback edition).

Frank, Gerold. ''Judy''. Harper & Row. New York, 1975. ISBN 0-06-011337-5.

Juneau, James. ''Judy Garland: A Pyramid Illustrated History of the Movies''. Pyramid Publications. 1974, New York. ISBN 0-515-03482-7.

Luft, Lorna. ''Me and My Shadows: A Family Memoir''. Simon & Schuster. New York, 1999. ISBN 0-283-06320-3.

Sanders, Coyne Steven. ''Rainbow's End: The Judy Garland Show''. Zebra Books. 1990 ISBN 0-8217-3708-2 (paperback edition).

Seaman, Barbara. ''Lovely Me: The Life of Jacqueline Susann''. Seven Stories Press. 1996, New York. ISBN 0-9658770-6-X (1996 edition).

Shipman, David. ''Judy Garland: The Secret Life of an American Legend''. Hyperion. New York, 1992. ISBN 0-7868-8026-0 (paperback edition).

Steiger, Brad (1969). ''Judy Garland''. New York, Ace Books.

Wayne, Jane Ellen (2003). ''The Golden Girls of MGM''. New York, Carroll & Graf Publishers. ISBN 0-7867-1303-8.

External links

Judy Garland at TV Guide

The Judy Room Celebrating the life and career of Judy Garland

The Judy Garland Birthplace and Museum in Grand Rapids, MN

The Judy Garland Club official international fan club

American Masters special">''Judy Garland: By Myself'' – American Masters special

Judy Garland's Film "The Wizard of Oz" Film site on Judy and Oz

Judy Garland at The Biography Channel

Category:1922 births Category:1969 deaths Category:People from Grand Rapids, Minnesota Category:Academy Juvenile Award winners Category:Accidental deaths in England Category:Actors from Minnesota Category:University High School (Los Angeles, California) alumni Category:American people of English descent Category:American child actors Category:American child singers Category:American contraltos Category:American film actors Category:American voice actors Category:American people of Irish descent Category:American people of Scottish descent Category:American radio personalities Category:Best Musical or Comedy Actress Golden Globe (film) winners Category:Burials at Ferncliff Cemetery Category:Capitol Records artists Category:Decca Records artists Category:Drug-related deaths in England Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners Category:Tony Award winners Category:Traditional pop music singers Category:Vaudeville performers

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name	Shop Boyz
background	group_or_band
alias	The Boyz of Shop
origin	Raleigh, North Carolina, United States
genre	Hip Hop, Southern Rap, Rap Rock
years active	2004-2010
label	OnDeck Records/Universal Republic
associated acts	DJ Drama, Mims, Lil Boosie
website	http://www.shopboyzonline.com
current members	MeanieFatSheed
past members	Rich Shoo }}

The Shop Boyz are an Atlanta-based hip hop group, originating from the Kings Glen Trail in Decatur.They relocated to Des Plaines, Illinois during the early nineties. They are most known for their single "Party Like a Rockstar" from their debut album ''Rockstar Mentality''. The group is composed of Demetrius "Meany" Hardin, Richard "Fat" Stevens and Rasheed "Sheed" Hightower. In mid-2008, Rich "Shoo" left the group of a battle with Sheed.

Rockstar Mentality

The group's debut album, ''Rockstar Mentality'', was released through OnDeck Records, an imprint of Universal Records on June 19, 2007. The lead single, "Party Like a Rockstar," charted on the ''Billboard'' rap charts as well as "Rocking My New Hair Do" and the Hot 100 (peaking at #2 on the Charts). "Party Like a Rockstar" was the number one selling ringtone of 2007. Despite the success of "Party Like A Rockstar", the album sold fewer than 200,000 copies as of August 24, 2007.

Shop Boyz performed at CollegeFest 2007 in Boston, Massachusetts.

Discography

Studio albums

Year	Album details	Peak chartpositions
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2007		* Release date: June 19, 2007	* Label: Universal Republic	11	4	2

Singles

Year	Song	Peak chart positions					Album
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		2	3	1	10	23
	—	111	—	—	—
2008		—	79	—	—	—

References

External links

Official website

Even Rappers Want to Be Rock Stars, ''The New York Times''. Published April 22, 2007. Retrieved May 17, 2007.

Shop Boyz Category:American hip hop groups Category:Rappers from Atlanta, Georgia Category:People from Atlanta, Georgia Category:Southern hip hop groups

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