Judy Garland's NYC
From the legendary Carnegie Hall,to the famous Palace Theater, to celebrity hangout Patsy's restaurant, tour New York City landmarks that played a part in Judy Garland's life and career, hosted by End of the Rainbow co-star and 2012 Tony Award nominee Michael Cumpsty.
The ex-husband of Judy Garland has claimed the teenage icon was groped by the munchkins on the set of "The Wizard of Oz."
The actress was just 16 when she took on the role of Dorothy in the classic movie.
Now ex Sid Luft claims the dwarf actors who starred with Judy sexually assaulted her.
He said: “They thought they could get away with anything because they were so small. They would make Judy’s life miserable on set by putting their hands under her dress. The men were 40 or more years old.”
Judy – who was married to Sid for 13 years from 1952 – became a Hollywood icon after the movie.
But the child star turned self-destructive diva and eventually succumbed to her life-long addiction to prescription drugs, dying of an overdose aged just 47.
Sid, the second of Garland’s five husbands, witnessed both her epic triumphs and chaotic descent from inside her showbiz bubble.
As Judy’s tour manager and film producer he oversaw a triumphant period in Judy’s career which saw her play a string of comeback concerts in the 1950s and get nominated for an Oscar.
But throughout their passionate relationship Sid watched helpless as his wife was trapped in a destructive cycle of pill-popping, dangerous dieting and violent suicide attempts.
The window into Garland’s chaotic existence has been laid bare by the publication of a memoir Sid began writing after their divorce in 1965.
Luft died in 2005 and the unfinished book was discovered a year ago among among his archives and has now been published entitled, "Judy and I: My Life with Judy Garland."
The couple’s relationship began amid scandal as Judy was still married to first husband Vincente Minnelli, Liza’s father, and Sid was in the process of divorcing his wife actress Lynn Bari.
They met at a Manhattan club and Sid was instantly smitten, sensing an "electrical force" coming from Garland who was “glowing like a ripened cherry.”
Sid recalled: “It was virtually impossible to be cool around Judy since I lusted so entirely after her.”
Of the first night they spent together he said: “I was to discover just how different Judy was from other women. She was uninhibited, giving herself over to her passions so completely.”
But during the heady days of their early romance the producer confesses how he couldn’t bring himself to ask about the "thin scars" he spotted on the insides of Judy’s wrists.
It was only over time that he saw first-hand the actress’s heavy use of amphetamines and barbiturates which left her depressed with suicidal thoughts.
He wrote: “She was married to the drugs before she met me, and she never really got divorced.”
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