First published 2001
Judy Garland blazed through life at maximum intensity, creating legendary performances while battling personal demons that would ultimately destroy her at forty-seven. Gerald Clarke draws on hundreds of interviews and Garland's own unpublished autobiography to reveal the woman behind the icon. The biography traces her journey from troubled child performer, shaped by parents who planted seeds of future heartbreak, through Hollywood's golden era with its hidden scandals and ruthless executives. Clarke exposes the parade of lovers, artists, and opportunists who lifted Garland to creative heights only to abandon her in her inevitable descents. The book captures both her extraordinary talent and her flawed humanity, sorting truth from legend in the story of America's most tragic entertainment figure. Clarke applies the same narrative skill he brought to his acclaimed Capote biography, creating a portrait that reveals Garland's authentic spirit alongside the self-destructive forces that consumed her.
Genres: biography, drama, 20th-century, non-fiction
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: celebrity, flawed-protagonist
Setting: Hollywood
Period: 20th-century
529 pages · Paperback · Random House Publishing Group
Content warnings: addiction, mental-illness, suicide