Get Happy: The Life of Judy Garland
by Gerald Clarke
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars
As irresistible as its subject, this fine biography had me grinning for weeks, occasionally gasping and, now and then, just a tad teary.
Much has been written about Judy Garland, some of it even true. This, however, is well documented material that we instinctively trust to be uninvented.
Judy's artistic and aesthetic insecurities sometimes robbed her from knowing how widely loved she was. Nor was this not uncommon Hollywood syndrome helped by her not uncommon addiction. She did, however, know deep down, which was how she was able to reach out and have live concert audiences eating from the palm of her hand right up to the end. Some fans turned on her as she unravelled, but more remained steadfast in their loyalty.
The little Francis Gumm and her performing vaudeville sisters had precarious moments in what now, in retrospect, appears an earthy, well rooted professional start. They learned the ropes, on the job, from being knee high.
When Judy went on to Hollywood and attended school with other young aspirants, she was the ugly duckling of the class and never really forgot that. Of course, we see her as beautiful in many of her big screen hits, but she was 'different' in her beauty. (So many demographics related to this.)
Her common touch was priceless, her voice incredible. When Fred Astaire called her 'the greatest entertainer who ever lived' he was not consciously exaggerating. We assume she never got to hear those kind words.
Judy won a Juvenile Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, Grammy Awards and a Special Tony Award. She had Academy Award nominations for Best Actress in the remake of A Star Is Born (1954) and Best Supporting Actress in Judgment at Nuremberg (1961). She remains the youngest recipient (at 39) of the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement in the motion picture industry. She was posthumously honoured with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997.
We wonder whether she'd have laughed out loud at suggestions that her demise was the final straw that triggered the Stonewall riots, giving rise to the modern gay liberation movement. Or whether she'd have been flattered.
Her legacy includes the precious recordings of her legendary singing and films - not to mention some pretty legendary offspring. And to help cement that legacy is this decently penned biography, to hopefully put lesser, more gossipy works back where they belong.
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