Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922 – June 22, 1969) was a legendary American actress and singer who possessed one of the most iconic voices in entertainment history. After starting in vaudeville with her sisters, she was signed to MGM as a teenager and quickly became a major star. Her time at the studio included a popular series of musicals with Mickey Rooney, but it was her unforgettable performance as Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz (1939) that made her an international icon and gave her the timeless signature song, “Over the Rainbow.”
After leaving MGM, Garland reinvented herself and achieved even greater success as a record-breaking concert performer, most notably with her legendary 1961 live album, Judy at Carnegie Hall. She also made a triumphant return to film, delivering what many consider her greatest performance in A Star Is Born (1954), which earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. Her dramatic power was further recognized with a Best Supporting Actress nomination for Judgment at Nuremberg (1961).
A true phenomenon, Judy Garland received a special Juvenile Academy Award, a Golden Globe, a Special Tony, and multiple Grammy Awards during her lifetime, and was the youngest-ever recipient of the Cecil B. DeMille Award. Her legacy endures; she was posthumously awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 1999, the American Film Institute named her one of the ten greatest female stars of classic American cinema.
