[music playing] [music playing] JOEY LUFT: My name
is Joseph Wiley Luft. Most people call me
Joseph, Joe, or Joey. I had a wonderful life growing
up as Judy Garland's son and witnessing some of
the greatest moments in showbusiness history. My life was different
from most kids. To the outside world, I've
led a fascinating life. I grew up with the
Kennedys, the [inaudible], the Bogarts, and the
Sinatras, just to name a few. I had a mom, but I also had
like a mom to the world. [laughing] (SINGING) Everything
I had is gone. Even though I grew
up in a society where it was OK
to be homosexual, you know, it was still
nice to have a hero. Her resilience saved my life. (SINGING) All gone I feel. The thing about
transfixed me the most was how young she died. (SINGING) After-- What happened to her? (SINGING) Has gone away. I can look back
most of the time and admire who she was
instead of thinking about who she became. (SINGING) Somewhere
over the rainbow-- She was very beautiful at
certain points in her career. It's this magnetism. And her eyes have this
strange kind of, you know, hypnotic power. (SINGING) [inaudible]. And also a kind of
rock-and-roll quality, you know, where you knew
that it wasn't fake. JUDY GARLAND (SINGING):
Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high-- NARRATOR: Judy Garland was
born Frances Gumm in 1922. Her life was marked by
triumphs and tragedies. She was a Hollywood
star, a goddess on stage, and the most famous
drug addict of her day. Her autobiography remained
uncompleted at her death. Just a few tape
recordings remain. JUDY GARLAND: And
I'm sitting in a room all by myself, ho, ho, boy. And I'm just astounded
at this machine. This is the silliest
way I've ever known of spending the nights
alone, talking to yourself into an obvious Nazi machine. That's the story of my life. You go with it, even if you
don't know what's going on. I was trying to be a singer. I don't know how to read notes. I can't read music. My wounds I'd like to tape. I just am trying to get
a few thoughts down. And I'm all by myself, because
I, Judy Garland, am gonna talk. And everybody just
better sit on the bench and watch the ballgame. [music playing] (SINGING) You're off
to see the wizard, the wonderful Wizard of Oz. You'll find he is a whiz of a
Wiz if ever a Wiz there was. If ever, oh ever, a Wiz
there was, the Wizard of Oz is one because,
because, because, because, because, because,
because of the wonderful things he does. You're off to see the wizard,
the wonderful Wizard of Oz! "The Wizard of OZ" has been
seen by more people than any other movie in history. Won't you take me with you? Why, of course I will. Hooray! We're off to see a wizard! Oh, well, you're not
starting off very well. Oh, I'll try. Really, I will. To Oz? To Oz. (SIGNING) We're off
to see the wizard, the Wonderful Wizard of Oz. We hear he is a whiz of a
Wiz if ever a Wiz there was. She was Dorothy to every
child in America who was a part of, oh, well,
let's just go to the barn and put on a show. And it will all be
beautiful and wonderful. And life is wonderful. Oh, what's happening? What is it? I can't run anymore. I'm so sleepy. Here, give us your hands,
and we'll pull you along. Oh, no, please. I have to rest
for just a minute. The idea of traveling to some,
you know, glorious, you know, magical Emerald
City was very potent as a young Canadian,
freezing child. Dorothy, let's hurry! Yes, let's run! JASON WISE: I envied
Dorothy for that reason. She was, you know, transported
out of this mundane town into this wonderful place. And that was something that I
had dreamt could happen to me. She was born in Grand
Rapids, Minnesota, which is at the very
top of Minnesota, very, very cold very,
very cold, very cold winters, lots of snow, ice. And she loved it there. And her father ran
a movie theater. And she had two older sisters. They were both singers. The mother took
them out, and they performed at all
the local shows, at all the clubs around there. They were forced to move. The father had run into some
problems with approaching boys. Then they left, and they went
to the exact opposite place, Lancaster, California, which
is in the Mojave Desert, east of Los Angeles. [train whistling] And Judy began singing. And she was called Miss Leather
Lungs, which means that she had a powerful, powerful voice. JUDY GARLAND: I was too little
when I went into Vaudeville. I was two years old, and I
just knew "Jingle Bells." And my grandmother threw
me on my father's stage. He owned a theater in
Grand Rapids Minnesota. And I just sang "Jingle Bells,"
and nobody told me to stop, so nobody ever asked me. Now you will see a
dancing and singing number by the young sisters,
not the Wrigly sisters. (SINGING) When blue
skies [inaudible] sun is shining bright, [inaudible]. MICHAEL SIEWERT: She
loved to perform. She loved to be on the stage. And out of her and
her two sisters, she was the one that persevered
and continued to perform and got into big showbiz. I've been very
fortunate in that I'm known around the
world collecting Judy Garland memorabilia. So some people will offer me
something at a very good price because they know
it's in good hands and I will preserve
it and care for it and I'll share it
with the public. [MUSIC - JUDY GARLAND, "A CASTLE
FOR SALE"] This was Judy Garland's
father's scrapbook. There's pictures of him in
front of movie marquees, and he's laughing and smiling,
and he's with friends. He's with friends on
a beach having fun. People say that she ran
from this idea of her father being homosexual. But there seems to be a lot of
facts that prove that he was. These did belonged
to her, so I can only imagine after her father
passed that she held this scrapbook dear to her
heart and maybe under her pillow at bed at night. Judy loved her father. And when he died, he
died when she was, oh, just 12 or 13 years old. He died very quickly
of meningitis. It just happened like that. And Judy said at that
time, now I'm alone. There's no one at my back. [MUSIC - JUDY GARLAND, "A
COTTAGE FOR SALE"] Very soon, the mother discovered
that Judy was a standout star. And then they started going
to the theaters in Los Angeles, the big theaters. And so every Friday
afternoon after school, Judy's mother would
pack Judy in a car, and they would go
off to Los Angeles. And Judy got tired. And to keep her going,
her mother started giving her pep pills, amphetamines. And then Judy got too
revved up, and she couldn't go to sleep, so her mother
would then put her to sleep, would give her sleeping pills. So that's how Judy
got started on pills. JUDY GARLAND: My mother
was truly a stage mother, a mean one, wasn't she? Well, you didn't know her,
thank goodness/ But she used to-- she was very
jealous, because she had absolutely no talent. Now she's gonna
knock my earring off. [both laughing] My mother was--
you know, my mother died, and she-- whenever
I talk about her-- and I should because
she was so wicked. But whenever I start
to talk about her, she inevitably knocks
one earring off. So she's still around, so,
Mother, you behave yourself. She would sort of stand in the
wings when I was a little girl, and if I didn't feel good,
if I was sick to my tummy, she'd say, you get
out and sing, or I'll wrap you around the bedpost
and break you off short. [music playing] She started off at MGM, and
she was given very small parts. They were looking-- they had
two singers in those days. One was at MGM the same
age, Deanna Durbin, who sang classical songs. And Judy would sing pop. And they did one short movie. (SINGING) They say, have
you danced with the rhythm of Americana, from Tin
Pan Alley to Mexi-Cali, this is the ballyhoo. Do dat, do dat, wa! Do dat, do dat, do dat, wa! There was a question which
singer they should keep. Because they were only
going to keep one of them. And finally they
decided to keep Judy. Then Deanna Durbin went
on to another studio, RKO, and she became a huge
hit, one after another. And the studio bosses said,
well, we picked the wrong one. But, um, Judy quickly came
up, and several movies, she made her mark. [music playing] The studio was
like a mini city. They had their own
school, where the younger actors would go to school. At first, they
weren't too thrilled with how Judy Garland looked. I think they thought she was,
uh-- Louis B. Mayer called her his little hunchback. So supposedly, she had
a little deformity, and her teeth
weren't quite right, and her eyes were too
far apart, and she was prone to gain weight. And she was 4 foot 11,
so just a few pounds on that tiny frame would
make her look heavy. She needed to take off weight,
and they did that with pills. It was some kind
of speed that she took in order to speed up her
system and get the weight down. And I remember Judy telling me
that when she played Dorothy, they taped her bosom and
tried to make her look not as womanly as she was. So there were uppers,
and there were downers. NARRATOR: In 1939 playing
Dorothy in "The Wizard of Oz," Judy Garland became
a world star. It was the role of
a lifetime for her, unforgotten and
unforgettable for all time. Judy had a great
sense of humor. She would laugh
about everything. She would make jokes
about everything. She had a wonderful wit. The one thing she never made
fun of was the one song, "Over the Rainbow." That was like a
religious anthem for her. JUDY GARLAND: (SINGING)
Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high, there's a land that
I head of once in a lullaby. Somewhere over the
rainbow, skies are blue. Then the dreams that you dare
to dream really do come true. You know, "Over the Rainbow"
from the "Wizard of Oz" was voted by the members
of the Recording Academy and the Film Academy
as the number one song of the 20th century. [reporters yelling] The incredible Judy Garland,
one of my personal heroes, received an honorary
Juvenile Oscar after following the yellow brick
road right into our hearts. And tonight, here to
commemorate the legacy of "The Wizard of Oz" and
of Judy are Judy's kids. [applause] To celebrate the
75th anniversary of this magical
film, please welcome the gorgeous and talented
Alecia Moore, Pink. (SINGING) Somewhere
over the rainbow, way up high, there's a land that
I head of once in a lullaby. Somewhere over the rainbow-- JASON WISE: "Over
the Rainbow" to me is a song that never
loses its meaning. It's a song that
doesn't have an end. It doesn't have a resolution. It's open-ended, which is
why I think it's so fitting that that was her theme. You know, over the rainbow
is just this constant, you know, I don't care if
this has happened to me, I gotta keep going. And not only do I
have to keep going, but I have to-- I
have to be strong, and I have to make
other people happy. (SINGING) We danced
the whole night through. Good morning, good
morning to you. How do you do? NARRATOR: Within 15 years, Judy
Garland made over 30 films. She was the most
commercially successful female star of her time. (SINGING) Waiting on the levy,
waiting for the Robert E. Lee! RUFUS WAINWRIGHT: It's
hard to really conceive today of how famous she is. I mean, at that time,
she was the most famous woman in the world. (SINGING) All the
world loves a clown. Show 'em tricks! Tell 'em jokes! NARRATOR: Judy was an
actress and a musical star. But a classic beauty
she wasn't, something she suffered from all her life. I'll put your order baker,
ladies, never embrace. A barber for a ball would
be a social disgrace! She want a man who
thought she was beautiful, who thought she was funny,
who thought that she was deeply intelligent. [music playing] She fell in love very easily. She would always be falling in
love with one star or another or one man or another. And she married David Rose,
who was a well-known composer. Then she became pregnant, and
her mother and David Rose got together in the
studio, and they said, no, you cannot have a baby. And so the mother and David
Rose took her to an abortionist in Los Angeles, and
she describes it as really a very sad scene,
because she wanted the baby. She loved children. They certainly didn't
want her to have a baby. And so she lost her first
child to an abortion. [music playing] But they were divorced finally. She had other affairs. Joe Mankiewicz told me
she was like a little fawn in the woods, so
vulnerable, but really not somebody he wanted to marry. She-- Artie Shaw, she was
in love with Artie Shaw. She was in love
with Tyrone Power. He was handsome beyond anybody. He was one of the
handsomest men in Hollywood. This is from "Meet
Me in St. Louis," when Judy Garland
sang "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." This is from the MGM wardrobe. Some of her movies
people still adore today. "Meet Me in St. Louis,"
you'll see that pop up in "Sex and the City." There was a Diane Keaton movie
called "The Family Stone," and "Meet Me in St.
Louis" popped up in there. (SINGING) Have yourself
a merry little Christmas. Let your heart be light. Next year all our troubles
will be miles away. My God, she's never
looked more beautiful. That's one of the reasons
she married Vince Minnelli, because Vince Minnelli
was the director of "Meet Me in St. Louis," and
he made her look beautiful. STEVIE PHILLIPS: She gravitated
toward a lot of gay men, and Vincent Minnelli
wasn't the first. It must have been easy
to appreciate Vincent and to love Vincent for
what he did for her. I don't know that she
knew anything about it. She came home one afternoon
early from the studio and found him in bed
with a black chauffeur. And that pretty much
ended the relationship. By this time, they had
had a daughter, Liza. NARRATOR: Judy and Vincent
Minnelli separated. In 1950, after 15 years
of towering success, Judy Garland was fired
by her studio MGM. Her addiction to tablets made
working with her impossible, or so it was said
behind the scenes. JUDY GARLAND: I'm
outraged about many things that I've read about myself,
what people have said. They've affected me deeply. Liza came home
from school one day and said, what is
this nonsense that I always hear at school
that everybody knows you, Judy Garland? Everybody knows Judy. Yeah, but they really know her. They had a house
next door, and they heard all the insanity of Mama. And Liza looked at me and simply
said, look, I don't know you, Mama. And nobody ever will. I never will. [laughing] (SINGING) Don't know why
there's no sun up in the sky. Stormy weather. Judy was an insomniac. She always complained
that she couldn't sleep. We would sit and play cards
while she took a fruit cocktail of pills, reds, yellows, greens,
purples, whites, pinks, grays. (SINGING) Life is bare,
gloom and misery everywhere. Stormy weather. The drug problem became
more and more serious. She, Judy, was very often
late for-- on the set. The last movie, "Summer Stock,"
she was late all the time. And the director
was then later asked to do another movie with
Judy, and he said, no, she put me on-- she gave me ulcers. I'm sick. I can't do another
movie with Judy Garland. (SINGING) --outside. When he went away-- GERALD CLARKE: Judy was at
the end of her career, really, it seemed. The newspapers in Los
Angeles, one of the newspapers ran an article about famous film
stars who had just disappeared or died or drug
overdose or alcoholism or one thing or another. And Judy was-- they thought
that would happen to Judy, too. And it was a desperate time. (SINGING) Stormy weather. Since my man and
I ain't together keeps raining all the time. Keeps rainin' all the time. NARRATOR: Judy Garland's
salvation was the stage. Concert halls in
the US and Europe were eager to book
the fallen film star, and her concerts
were a sensation. RUFUS WAINWRIGHT: I'm
constantly reminded that I don't have the voice that Judy had. I mean, there's just this
kind of other department that she-- this secret
department that she could just push a button and this kind
of, you know, train of sound would just come out at certain
climaxes and stuff, which is just-- it was like super-human. [music playing] When you inhabit her persona--
not so much her persona, but her spirit, as
I did, you know, used her arrangements and
some of those athletic tricks that she would pull,
it is a workout. And it is daunting
and frightening. In fact, I mean, I'm
a huge opera fan. That's sort of my main love. I love opera the most. But I figured when I did the
Judy Garland concert, that would be the closest I
could get as a pop singer to interpreting an opera. (SINGING) Somewhere over
the rainbow, way up high, there's a land that I
heard of once in a lullaby. My father, actually,
grew up in Beverly Hills, and he was-- they were
neighbors with Judy Garland. And actually, my father
spent a lot of time at Judy Garland's house. She used to babysit
my dad. [laughing] (SINGING) Somewhere
over the rainbow-- NARRATOR: Joey Luft
spoke publicly in Los Angeles about his mother, Judy. There's a segment of it
that has a lot of photographs of myself growing up with her. And in the background,
"Happiness is Just a Thing Called Joe" is playing. It's kind of a gift
to her from myself. JUDY GARLAND: (SINGING)
Seems like happiness is just a thing called Joe. JOEY LUFT: In 1950,
my mom and my dad were having dinner with a
friend of hers, Freddy Finkhoff. My dad walks past the table,
and my mom says, sit down, Sid. They actually had been
introduced earlier on at the MGM lot, but it was that
night that their romance began. They hit it off immediately. My mom loved how tough my dad
was, and they started dating. Sid Luft was the
kind of man she had wanted all along, because
Sid was very hyper-masculine. So that's what she wanted. She wanted-- she
said, now I've got somebody who will fight for me. So he helped to
revive Judy's career. He gave her confidence. She got the backing for
another movie, this time at Warner Brothers, a different
studio, which was "A Star is Born." [cheering and chatter] Judy Garland aspired to
have an Academy Award. And unfortunately in
the '40s when she truly was on top of her
game, they didn't give Oscars to musical actresses. The great talent of our
generation, Miss Judy Garland. Oh, my goodness. And her husband and
producer Mr. Sid Luft. In a few moments, they're going
to see one of the greatest motion pictures
ever made, what I think one of the great
performances of all time given by yourself. George, we've
have been together on many, many
wonderful occasions, but I really think that
this is the most wonderful. For me, it's most thrilling. I hope the picture is that good. Well, it's a long jump
from little Frances down at the Oriental
Theater to Judy Garland, the most beloved singer
of songs and finest young actress in America. My darling husband. I know your darling husband. He did the whole thing. And I envy your
darling husband. By the time "A
Star is Born" came, which was a very
dramatic film, she was gonna be a shoo-in
for the Academy Award. I lived with a very
conservative Republican family, and I was not. I was very different
from my family. I was transformed by the
woman that I saw in this film. She was someone who
touched me very deeply and who I felt
like I could touch. This is in 1954. And you'll hear what I'm
talking about of the overtones. (SINGING) The night is bitter. The stars have
lost their glitter. The winds grow colder,
suddenly you're older. And all because of
the man that got away. JASON WISE: "A
Star is Born" to me is kind of the other great
Judy Garland film, because it's a completely different
Judy Garland than we met in "The Wizard of Oz." I do have to say that without
her, the torch song genre would not be what it is today. I think she was one of the
first strong, powerful women, and she's the original Beyonce. She's the original Adele. (SINGING) The man that won
you had run off and undone you. They don't call it a
standard for no reason. I mean, it's timeless, and
it's, um, for old people. It's for young people. It's for black people. It's for white people. It's for people in 1940. It's for people in 2015. (SINGING) No more
that old-time thrill-- NARRATOR: In 1955, this
role brought Judy Garland her first Oscar nomination. Judy was giving
birth to her son Joe, so she was in the hospital. And they made a big production. Everyone knew Judy
Garland was going to win. And they brought
in a camera crew, and the nurse was supposed
to open the blind, and the camera came
through the window and say, you know, greetings from
the hospital, here's Judy Garland, the best
actress of the year. But unfortunately, they
called Grace Kelly's name, and, um, they
pulled the wires out from Judy Garland's nightgown,
and the camera guys went out, and she thought they
treated her pretty shabbily. (SINGING) That great beginning
has seen a final inning. It meant to her that Hollywood
was not behind her, that she didn't have the
support of Hollywood that she thought she deserved
and of course she did deserve. Grace Kelly was good,
but she wasn't great. And Judy was great
in "A Star is Born." (SINGING) But
fools will be fools. And where's he gone to? NARRATOR: Judy
Garland and Sid Luft were married for over 10 years. They had a daughter,
Lorna, and a son, Joey. Things were up and down. Judy still played
a few film roles, but by the end of the 1950s,
the major successes had run out. And the marriage
itself became a drama. JUDY GARLAND: I've
spent years and years and years trying to please
through singing or acting. Lots of people got
rich off of me. My children didn't get rich. Sid Luft is an animal. He's just some kind of breed. And I'll tell the
world whenever I can that he's a thief, a sadist,
and a man who doesn't even care one bit one
way or the other about any other living soul. MICHAEL SIEWERT: Sid was
a guy who lived off women. And he went to the
racetracks all the time. Horse racing was very popular
among the studio people. Sid was always there
gambling with somebody's money, somebody else's money. STEVIE PHILLIPS: It was a whole
center in the middle of her that was missing. It was like 50% of
her was missing. And that 50% had to be
supplied by the love of a man. When Freddie found Judy
living in a flat in London, she was perhaps trying to
espouse a healthy lifestyle. She was cooking for
herself, perhaps not taking so many drugs. Freddie described her as
fat as a little Buddha and unable to get so much
as $500 for a concert. I doubt it took him 10
minutes, and she was on a plane and came that December,
cold afternoon when she walked into Freddy
Fields Associates, Freddie's first office. And I met her for
the first time, and I thought to
myself, oh, my God, this is the woman that I've
adored all of my childhood. I was there for
the stage set-up. I did the sound check. I dealt with the press. I cleaned up the dressing room
and was her-- her right hand, her left hand, her shadow. I really don't know how
to characterize myself. I was there 24/7. [cheering] MICHAEL SIEWERT: Judy was a
consummate showbusiness person. She knew how to
enthrall an audience. [MUSIC - JUDY GARLAND, "AS LONG
AS HE NEEDS ME] She would not just sing a song. She would tell a story. I watched people stream down
the aisles in appreciation from Maine to Los
Angeles, from one side of the country to the other. Audiences loved her. And so did I. I thought
that what she did on stage was always remarkable. She never cheated. (SINGING) When someone
needs you, you love him so. I won't betray his trust. I went to one of her concerts,
and it was Carnegie Hall. And that's when I realized
pretty much how famous she was. (SINGING) Oh, baby,
think what you're doing. I'm gonna haunt you so. I'm gonna taunt you so. It's gonna drive you to ruin. After you've gone,
after you've gone away! JOEY LUFT: By the
end of the show, the audience was
leaving their seats and crowding around the
stage to be closer to her. They called her
back for an encore after encore, even asking
her to repeat certain songs. I'll never forget that night. (SINGING) --away! Yes, I was there. It was the greatest night
I've ever spent in a theater. Nothing comes close. (SINGING) After
you've gone, there's no denying you're gonna feel blue,
and you're gonna feel sad. You're gonna feel
bad, and you miss. On the Carnegie Hall CD,
you can hear her running out of breath, and you can hear
her gasping for the breath to finish the song. It's almost like it was
life or death for her. Even though she sounds like
she's running out of breath, she-- you hear the gasp,
and then you think, why is-- why is she doing that? And it was just to deliver the
end of the song to an audience. [siren wailing] My name is Jason Wise. I'm a director-choreographer
here in New York. "Night of 1,000 Judys" is
a annual charity concert in New York, and it benefits
a charity that provides housing for homeless gay youth. Who is a gay icon? There's plenty of them. But, you know, Judy Garland
has this famous phrase, "There's no place like home." And that made
perfect sense to me, because that is what
the charity does, is it provides a home
for people who have lost theirs just for being gay. So aside from Judy having that
perfect catchphrase attached to her, you know, I
think gay people also respect her resilience
and find a hero in her. And it just kind of seemed
like the perfect pairing for an evening of entertainment. She was extremely charming
and extremely funny and extremely engaging. You know, what gay doesn't
want to be that? [laughing] Hi, Mama! Oh, Liza! I'm home! Hi, Liza! -How are you, dear?
-I'm fine. Oh, you look so pretty. Thank you very much. Hi, Liza! Joe. Uh, this is my daughter Liza. [applause] What's happening? What? What's happening? We're on television. Oh! Uh, hi, everybody. [music playing] (SINGING) Nobody tries
to be la-dee-da or uppity. There's a cup of tea for all. (SINGING) Only it's wise to be
handy with the rolling pin when the landlord comes to call! (SINGING) Consider
yourself our mate. (SINGING) We don't
wanna have no fuss. (SINGING) For after some
consideration we can stay. (SINGING) Consider yourself-- -(SINGING) Consider yourself--
-(SINGING) Consider yourself-- (SINGING) Consider yourself-- (SINGING) One, two,
three-- one of us! [applause] JOEY LUFT: My mother
was in show business. I mean, she was one
of the best actresses and one of the best singers. And Liza is a singer, great
singer, great actress. So it kinda runs in the family. My other sister Lauren
is a great singer. And, um. So I am kind of on the
other side. [laughing] So I'm not a singer. [laughing] (SINGING) Where is love? Does it fall from skies above? Is it underneath
the willow tree? JOEY LUFT: Sometimes she would
get nervous before the show. And you'd just have to
sit there and talk to her tell her that was all right. And I would just grab her
head and say, look, Mom, everything's gonna be OK. You're gonna get through this. And just remember
I'm right backstage. [laughing] [music playing] STEVIE PHILLIPS: After a
fruit cocktail of many pills one night when she was
appearing in Las Vegas, she got up and, as usual,
said, I think I can sleep now, and dropped like a stone. She lay on the carpet,
bleeding profusely. And I thought, it's over,
you know, she's dead. I was scared to touch her. It was an incident
not unlike many others that I faced that required that
I take some action, calling somebody, taking her to the
hospital to have her stomach pumped. [music playing] I'm in the bedroom of
Judy Garland's suite at New York's Plaza Hotel. And Judy is still in bed,
late for the 4 o'clock meeting in my office with her business
manager Charlie Renthal. What do you want to wear? I asked Judy sweetly. She doesn't answer me. I stand there like the dummy
I was at 25, staring at her. She takes the Salems
off the nightstand, removes a cigarette,
puts it in her mouth. She takes a pack of
matches, strikes one, and sets her nightgown on fire. What? An instantaneous
chill overtakes me. What if she could die? NARRATOR: Judy was
living in London again. She had two more
husbands, men who wanted to profit from her fame. Her daily routine was set
by tablets and alcohol. JUDY GARLAND: I've
just about got it made. All I have to do is talk, and
all you have to do is read or listen, and believe
me the way you believe me when I sang all those songs. Well, now I'm talking,
and listen to me, for goodness sakes. Don't make a joke of me anymore. People say and
print and believe, the stupid ones
and the minority, that I'm either a
drunk, a drug addict. Well, it's a goddamn
wonder I'm not. But I'm not. [music playing] For the very end of Judy's
life, she was out of control. You know, there was a
lesson there, you know, that if you're gonna sacrifice
everything for your art and your performance
and use whatever means possible to do it, there
was a tremendous price to pay. The bottom line is that
she was incredibly talened, and she had a-- she
had a magnificent gift. I do also believe, though, that
if the drugs hadn't have been there, she would have
been just as great, and it would have
been a whole other-- but it would have been
different. [laughing] It would have been different. STEVIE PHILLIPS: She
ended up with nothing. She was no different
than the bag lady that tears your heart out,
sleeping on a park bench in the winter time. She had nothing-- a couple
of pictures of the children. Where was the furniture? Where were the mementos? Where was the memorabilia? Where were the beautiful houses? Where were all the things
that her accomplishments had made possible for her? They weren't there. They were gone. And paradoxically
and sadly, they didn't mean anything to her. I took an option
on a musical, and I wanted to take it to Judy. This was in 1967. And I met her for a drink
at Jillie's on 52nd Street. And she was so
incoherent and out of it and high that I just pretended
I wanted to say hello. JUDY GARLAND: What's the
name of this song again? [laughter] (SINGING) Somewhere
over the rainbow-- NARRATOR: Judy continued
giving concerts and made television appearances. (SINGING) --there's a land that
I heard of once in a lullaby. JUDY GARLAND: Sometimes her
brilliance shone through. But often, she just
didn't have the strength. (SINGING) --skies are blue. JUDY GARLAND: I've sung. I've entertained. I've pleased your children. I've pleased your wives. I've pleased you,
you sons of bitches! And you can't deny that! I've maintained a way of life
to not sink with the sludge! And you better write it! You better pay for it! Or don't listen, and get
the hell out of my life! (SINGING) Somewhere over
the rainbow, bluebirds fly. We always had to like
keep a smile on our face or keep happy. Because it was, you know--
no matter how hard it got or what happened,
you'd always have to like look at the bright
side of it and, you know, try not to think
about the hard things. JUDY GARLAND: We can all
do it, you know. (SINGING) Why, oh, why can't I? NARRATOR: On the
22nd of June 1969, Judy Garland died in London
of an overdose of tablets. She was 47 years old. [applause] MAN: Judy Garland! Liza said that Judy
Garland was a flower that just wilted and died. REPORTER: Well, today
was for Judy's fans. NARRATOR: Her body was flown
to New York for the funeral. [chatter] The Stonewall Riots
happened the same weekend of Judy Garland's funeral
service in New York City. I think it was all coincidental. It wasn't a time,
even in the '60s, to really talk about gays. And when she was asked about
homosexuals, she would say, those are my audience
members, and I love them. That just freed
us to fly with her. If I would start getting
a little bit sad or down, I would think of her
songs, and they-- it would pull me back up.
[laughing] So, I mean-- I mean, it's, uh-- I just remember
her always trying to be happy. [music playing] (SINGING) Old man River,
that old man River, he must-- I had an hour and a half
of free time in London. It was the one thing that
I wanted to do for myself. You know, I look on my map,
and it says I'm approaching, and I'm looking at this
building, and it's decrepit. Anyone who was walking
down the street, if you were to stop them and
say, see that piece of shit? That's the house
that Dorothy died in. I took a piece of notebook
paper out of my backpack, and I wrote, "The
great Judy Garland lived and died in this house." I guess it was my way
of saying thank you. (SINGING) And old man River,
he just keeps rolling along! [applause] [music playing]
