Judy Garland on Judy Garland

“I
t's going to be one hell of a greatâeverlastingly greatâbook with humor, tears, fun, emotion, and love,” Judy Garland said of her plans to tell her life story. But she died at the age of forty-seven before seeing it through.

Judy Garland on Judy Garland
is the closest we will likely come to experiencing and exploring the legend's abandoned autobiography. Collecting and presenting the most important Garland interviews and encounters that took place between 1935 and 1969, this work opens with her first radio appearance under contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and concludes with her last known interview, one taped for Radio Denmark just months before her death.

What makes this collection unique and distinguishes it from the plethora of Garland biographies is that it places Judy in the role of storyteller. She wrote a number of essays for various publications and sat for countless print, radio, and television interviews. These and the other autobiographical efforts she made are proof that Judy Garland wanted her story told, and wanted it told in her own words.

Finally, here it is.

O
THER
B
OOKS IN THE
M
USICIANS IN
T
HEIR
O
WN
W
ORDS
S
ERIES

Coltrane on Coltrane: The John Coltrane Interviews Hendrix on Hendrix: Interviews and Encounters with Jimi Hendrix Keith Richards on Keith Richards: Interviews and Encounters Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen: Interviews and Encounters Miles on Miles: Interviews and Encounters with Miles Davis Springsteen on Springsteen: Interviews, Speeches, and Encounters Tom Waits on Tom Waits: Interviews and Encounters

Copyright Â© 2014 by Randy L. Schmidt
All rights reserved
First edition
Published by Chicago Review Press, Incorporated
814 North Franklin Street
Chicago, Illinois 60610

ISBN 978-1-61374-945-6

A list of credits and copyright notices for the individual pieces in this collection can be found on
pages 437â38.

Interior and cover design: Jon Hahn

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Garland, Judy.

Judy Garland on Judy Garland : interviews and encounters / edited by Randy L. Schmidt. â First edition.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-61374-945-6 (cloth)

1. Garland, Judy. 2. Garland, JudyâInterviews. 3. SingersâUnited Statesâ Interviews. 4. Motion picture actors and actressesâUnited StatesâInterviews. I. Schmidt, Randy (Randy L.) editor. II. Title.

ML420.G253A5 2014

772.42164092âdc23

2014010486

Printed in the United States of America

5 4 3 2 1

For Jaime

In memory
Coyne Steven Sanders
(1956â2013)

Would that my throat were blessed by the nightingale That I could but sing of my heart's great love In some lonely tree flooded with silver, Sing till I burst my breast with such passion, Sing, then fall dead to lay at your feet.

âF
ROM
“T
HE
W
ISH,” A POEM BY
J
UDY
G
ARLAND,
1939

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Preface

PART I â¢ THE 1930s

Radio Interview |
WALLACE BEERY

October 26, 1935 |
Shell Chateau Hour

Radio Interview |
WALLACE BEERY

November 16, 1935 |
Shell Chateau Hour

Judy Garland Faces Stardom |
VICTORIA JOHNSON

August 1937 |
Modern Movies

Judy Garland Looks Back Over 10 Years in the Show Business |
HELEN CHAMPION