Judy Garland

Judy Garland may have had fame, money and more husbands then I’ve had hot dinners but it did not make her happy. Even at the peak of her success, in the mid to late thirties she began to fall victim to the pressures of Stardom. While filming ‘Wizard of Oz’ they taped down her breasts and forced her fast on alternate days in order to make her sixteen year old body appear five years younger. Judy was continually bullied by studio bosses to keep playing childhood roles. The constant taping and corseting she endured over the next half a decade permanently damaged her breasts leaving her disfigured. Life didn’t get any easier and a string of broken marriages and failed projects forced her to prescription drugs and the bottle. She was reputed to drink on set and would raid friend’s medicine cabinets in the hope of finding something to numb her mental anguish. Not even a huge gay following and an Oscar nomination, could save her fragile ego from the depths of depression and at the tender age of 47 she died of a drug overdose. It’s a sobering thought that fame and fortune are no ticket to a happy life. But let us not dwell on the negative. Stick a hand in your muff and pull out the vodka bottle, its time to raise a glass to the Queen of Musicals!