Judy Garland on Judy Garland: Interviews and Encounters

Description

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.

Randy L. Schmidt is the author of the acclaimed bestselling biography Little Girl Blue: The Life of Karen Carpenter and the editor of Yesterday Once More: The Carpenters Reader. He has also written articles for the Advocate and the Observer. He lives in Denton, Texas.

"Who was the 'real' Judy Garlandthe diminutive woman who lived a life away from the camera? Judy Garland on Judy Garland is an intriguing and seductive look at the icon through the eyes of the fragile woman who lived in the shadow of her own stardom. At last, we can read what Judy Garland thought of her talents, her struggles, her achievements, and her life. This is the true story of an international superstar whom the public never really knew. Flirtatious, defiant, sympathetic, contradictory, funny, sad, and charmingJudy Garland." Michael Gregg Michaud, author, Sal Mineo: A Biography "The Holy Grail for fans of Judy Garland! Randy L. Schmidt is the Indiana Jones of Garland archeology. Never before has Judy been given such a laser-focused spotlight to speak for herselfand like her greatest musical performances, she takes center stage and wows us with every phrase. Careening from the hilarious to the gut-wrenching, Judy will charm your socks off! This book is not just over the rainbow, it's out of the world!" Sam Irvin, author, Kay Thompson: From Funny Face to Eloise "A fascinating, impressively researched insight into the heart and mind of a twentieth-century icon. It reveals the true nature of Judy Garland: the incisive wit, wicked sense of humor, and self-deprecating lack of affectation. Life was not always a bowl of cherries for Judy, but she was far from the tragic figure that many bandwagon biographers have portrayed over the years. Four decades of the divine Ms. Garland, in her own words, restored to humanity at last." --Gary Horrocks, editor, Judy Garland: A Celebration, International Judy Garland Club "Garland is often seen, nowadays, as a sort of tragic figure, a superstar who achieved great heights and crippling lows, but here we see her perhaps as she would want to be remembered: a eager, supremely talented woman who never stopped dreaming of a brighter future for herself." Booklist Online "Movie buffs, especially Garland fans, may find parts of it entertaining." Library Journal "Schmidt aptly structures the book chronologically, which by default makes it the greatest Judy Garland encyclopedia out there, in terms of search-ability, as such also becoming a fascinating chronicle of how media focus has changed throughout the years, with the first interviews being too polished for their own good, and the last ones being messier, almost morbid in a way." PopMatters