Always for Judy: Witness to the Joy and Genius of Judy Garland

By Joan Beck Coulson

Joan Beck Coulson was lucky enough to meet Judy Garland at the party after the last show at the Dominion in November 1957. She greeted Judy at the Press Reception in 1960 and invited to attend recording sessions (London Sessions) with her. Later in the summer, she witnessed the two one-woman shows that Judy did at the Palladium (preclude to Carn

• Language: English
• Publisher: Yarnscombe Books
• Release date: Aug 28, 2014
• ISBN: 9780991373918

Joan Beck Coulson

Joan Beck Coulson spent her working life in high technologies companies in England, Southern and Northern California. She brought up two performing arts children (one an Assistant Professor of History and Drama at a university in Virginia and another who is a jazz musician and high school music director. Consequently she know about bring up performing arts children. She completed three degrees, BS from USF, BA and MA from San Jose State. Coulson was a member of the UK Judy Garland Club from 1955 onward. Present at many concerts and parties, met Judy personally and observed her kindness to fans.

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ALWAYS FOR JUDY:

Witness to the Joy and Genius of Judy Garland

Joan Beck Coulson

Copyright © 2014 by Joan Beck Coulson

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

In line with Judy’s caring for handicapped children, a percentage of profits from this book will be donated to Autism organizations.

Published by Yarnscombe Books, PO Box 577, Elmira, CA.95625

Printed in the United States of America

ISBN 13: 978-0-9913739-1-8 (ebook)

Library of Congress No. 2014900590

Cover designed by Betty Lucke

Cover photograph by courtesy of Photofest, also photographs on pages 89, 173, 175 and 176.

In memory of Coyne Steven Sanders

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FOREWORD

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

INTRODUCTION

PREFACE

PART ONE

Chapter 1

The Early Influences

Michael Apted—Filmmaker

PART TWO BABY GUMM

Chapter 2

Parents and Vaudeville

Chapter 3

Grand Rapids

Chapter 4

Los Angeles and Lancaster

PART THREE MGM YEARS 1935—1950

Chapter 5

Early Movies-The Wizard of Oz-

Radio and Recordings

Chapter 6

Marriage to David Rose

Becoming a Young Lady

Chapter 7

Entertaining the Troops

Visiting Veterans’ and Children’s Hospitals

Chapter 8

Marriage to Vincente Minnelli

Back to Hollywood and the Work Grind

PART FOUR THE CONCERT YEARS 1951—1955

Chapter 9

Judy Comes to the London Palladium

Her love affair with Britain begins

Chapter 10

The Luft Dynasty

Between Palladium 1951 and Dominion 1957

Chapter 11

The Dominion, London 1957

Chapter 12

Judy and The Musicians in her life

Chapter 13

1958—59 in the States

Chapter 14

Judy comes back to London—1960

PART FIVE Final Years Standing Alone 1961—1969

Chapter 15

1961—Creative Management Artists

Chapter 16

I Could Go on Singing—1962 Until mid-1963

Chapter 17

CBS Television Series, 1963—1964

Chapter 18

June 1964—Australia and London

Chapter 19

1965 to April 1966

Chapter 20

Clutching at Straws

April 1966—December 1968

Chapter 21

Return to England for the Last Time

Talk of the Town

Chapter 22

The Joy and the Genius Lives on…

Chapter 23

Since Judy has left us

NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX

FOREWORD

Battle lines were drawn the first time I encountered Joan Coulson back in 1997. We were both attending a Judy Garland Club meeting at the Concert Artistes Association in Covent Garden, London. I was on the verge of taking over the editorship of the Club journal ‘Rainbow Review,’ young, enthusiastic, fascinated by Garland’s history, equally so by the people who had been drawn to her orbit during a glorious career. I was hosting an auction of Judy memorabilia and Joan and I competed for a copy of Club founder Lorna Smith’s touching 1975 biography ‘Judy - with Love.’ Between the two of us we sent the price sky high, and Joan eventually capitulated, convinced that I was insane. It was the start of a friendship and collaboration, initially resulting in the publication of some of Joan’s writing in the Club journal and most recently with Judy meetings, dinners, wine, cocktails, laughter and music in Los Angeles, New York and London. She has been a key contributor to the Club’s digital archive of interviews with fans who had not only grown up with Judy Garland, but also gone on to meet her, to experience the tangible excitement of her live performances. Here lies the essence of this profoundly personal biography.

Very few books about Garland (and there have been many) have captured Judy the human being, the lady with a wicked sense of humour, the performer who offered no artificial Hollywood edifice, who gave her heart and soul in a personal connection with her fans. Joan’s story has always fascinated me, offering a unique insight into a private world that has eluded many writers. Judy at press receptions; working in the recording studio or inviting her fans to after show parties. At Abbey Road in 1960, on the verge of recording some of her greatest songs for posterity, Judy is shown as the consummate professional, guiding and advising the orchestra but also joking with her fans, ‘I’m afraid you’re going to find this terribly boring.’ Joan reveals the vulnerability, sincerity and self-deprecation that encapsulated Judy, but also the accessibility and absence of affectation that made her so appealing to her fans. Anybody who thinks of Judy as tragic should perhaps find another book to read. ‘Always for Judy’ helps to break the mold and offers some sympathetic insight to what Judy was really like.

This book also celebrates the loyalty and longevity of the fan community, the faithful collective that followed Judy throughout the ‘30s, ‘40s, ‘50s and ‘60s. Paths that collided all those years ago laid the foundations for lifelong friendships that still survive today. I am profoundly grateful and proud to have been able to capture the wonderful stories of so many people like Joan. Some observers often degrade Judy’s memory and contribution to show business history by assigning to her the dubious nomenclature of ‘gay icon.’ The diversity of her fan base, during her lifetime and today, contradicts this entirely. Housewives, husbands, school children and teenagers adored her equally; she tapped into a demographic across the board. Between these pages we can experience the essence of Judy’s talent and humanity - sincerity, warmth, charisma and comedic capability to 'laugh at it all.'

I was born in September 1964 so sadly never got to experience Garland. The heartfelt contributions of people like Joan have brought her back to life for me. These fan anecdotes, diaries, letters and reviews will enable us all to celebrate the memory of Judy Garland for many years to come.

Gary Horrocks, Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire, June 2014

Editor ‘Judy Garland – a Celebration’

International Judy Garland Club

www.judygarlandclub.org

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This book would not have been possible without the help of so many people. My history with the Judy Garland Fan Club in Great Britain gave me access to their records and I am grateful to all those who, through the years, sent Lorna Smith their own reviews of concerts and television performances along with newspaper cuttings. This information is now in the digital archives of the International Judy Garland Club preserved by Gary Horrocks and Dr. Justin Sturge. Lorna Smith ran the Judy Garland Club UK as a part of the US club from the mid-1950s. In March 1963, with Judy Garland’s blessing and approval; the official Judy Garland Club was established by Smith with Judy as Honorary President.

Occasionally I refer to Scott Schechter’s book, Judy Garland, The Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Legend (2009), and other references. My daughter and I met Scott at the two-day Carnegie Hall event honoring Judy in New York in 1998 and found him a sincerely and caring person. Sadly, he left us too early. He attempted to record every aspect of Judy’s life. A daunting task as I later discovered.

After I left employment at CBS in 1963, I lost contact with Judy’s activities. When I re-connected with Lorna Smith in 1997 and received copies of her 1960’s Club records, I immersed myself in this history. I wrote my first piece documenting the six months 1964 when Judy lived in London, which was published in the Club magazine. I began to think about Judy’s life and how she became the icon she was. I researched her background: parents, life in vaudeville, Grand Rapids and Lancaster. Kate Russell helped me with these early chapters and gave me inputs to the final version. As I wrote, I began to understand the damage done to her as a child in Lancaster and I thought back to Michael Apted’s 7 Up documentary, which I had seen many years ago in England. I contacted Michael in 2011 and asked him for permission to use his study as a basis of my book and he readily agreed.

Because the young fans enjoy hearing about my meetings with Judy and witnessing her perform, I retrieved my records and included many of the write-ups I did for the Club when she performed at the Dominion 1957, Palladium 1960, in the movie, I Could Go on Singing and The Judy Garland Show at CBS Television.

As I had no first-hand knowledge of her work across the country in the years 1965—1969 I have included stories that my friends have shared with me. Particularly I want to thank Lorna Smith, Brian Glanvill and John Theaker from England; Gordon Stevens from Canada and Nancy Barr-Brandon, Sonny Gallagher, Eleanor Lyon, Wayne Lawless, Jon Perdue, Bill Seidel, Jack Wood and Kenneth Young from the States. They have helped me recreate those years by sharing their stories about seeing Judy perform and talking with her.

If there were such a thing as a Research Assistant, it would have to be Amelia Armijo who was always there to look up information for me and champion me on in moments of doubt.

Gary Horrocks, Lauren McShea, Frank Labrador, Peter Mac, Jon Perdue, Les Pack, Elizabeth Rublein, Heather Siebert, Dr. John Schaefer, Clayton Schiebel, George Sunga, Christopher Ward and Bobby Waters have always been there to help and encourage me onwards in many different ways.

Then there are my children, Carolyn and Adrian, who have lived with Judy Garland all their lives and, perhaps have the lives they have now, because of my love of Judy and the marvelous movies of MGM.

By far my main inspiration to continue with this book was Coyne Steven Sanders. He constantly encouraged me and felt I had something worth contributing to the history of Judy. I was devastated when he passed early in 2013, but Martha Wade Steketee gave me the guidance to finish this project.

I doubt I would have completed this endeavor without my local writing group, the Town Square Writers sponsored by our local library. Particularly Deni Harding, who did the first edit for me; Terry Murray and Dotty Schenk for their artistic talents; Betty Lucke, who prepared the cover and has become an expert in the self-publishing field and Joseph Whitson from Adventure in Personal Computing who helped me with formatting the book. A special thanks has to go to Gerald Ward of the I Street Press, Sacramento Public Library with his help preparing the book for printing on the Xerox Espresso Book Machine for early copies of the book.

This book is in no way a pictorial exploration of Judy’s life; there are so many books more beautifully done by others. I only chose photographs to illustrate a point; many are mine or are from my collection, which I acquired over the last seventy-five years, and many shared with me by my friends. The following people have generously allowed me to use their photographs: Amelia Armijo, Nancy Barr-Brandon, Daniel Berghaus, Mickie Esemplare, Jan Glazier, Gordon Gush, Gary Horrocks, Steve Jarrett, Eleanor Lyon, Jon Perdue, David Price, Bill Seidel, Gordon Stevens, Jack Wood, Michael Siewert, Brent Phillip with John Fricke, Heather Siebert and Charles Triplett. Sadly, I could not include them all.

INTRODUCTION

So how and why did I decide to write a book about Judy? Judy has been in my life since I was about six years old, but it had never occurred to me to write a book about her. Sometimes I feel that life is a path we meander down, people we meet, ideas which are exchanged (rather like The Celestine Prophecy), and suddenly we are doing something which a few months ago would never have occurred to us. My endeavors to write this book are in this category.

In October 1996, my son and I are in New York State for my daughter’s wedding, and we spend a few days in Manhattan. While in the Theatre Circle shop, I notice someone buying the shop’s last copy of the famous poster for the Judy Garland’s concert at Carnegie Hall on April 23, 1961—I had one of those once, now lost along with many of my Judy press clippings—and so I look ruefully at the item. The woman who was making the purchase tells me of the Judy Garland FestivalError! Bookmark not defined. in Grand Rapids in June 1997. She urges me to go because it would be the celebration of Judy’s 75th birthday. The person behind the counter asks if we had visited Ferncliff Mausoleum, where Judy is at rest.

No, I say, Can we find it? I ask my son. We are leaving the next day for Monroe, fifty miles from Manhattan, and it appears we will go past Ferncliff—that is, if we can find it! Time is of the essence because we must to be in Monroe by 5 p.m. for the wedding festivities to start. I begin to get very anxious.

I know we won’t get to Judy, I wail.

Oh, yes we will, my son insists.

It is a beautiful October day in New York City, with Frank Sinatra singing Autumn in New York on the car stereo as we leave. I search the map as my son drives, and suddenly he sees a small sign: Ferncliff. We turn quickly and drive through the beautiful grounds. We are videotaping, so the moment is captured. I go to the search desk to find her gravesite. There are a few people ahead of us. I expect to feel a fool asking, Where is Judy Garland? But just at that moment my son rushes up.

I found her, I found her! We run through the quiet halls to where she lies. Sadly I realize that in the rush to leave I have not brought any flowers! Everything has been too unexpected, but two vases of flowers stand there with messages of love. (There is one vase from the Judy Garland Club-UK and I always contribute to their fund now.) We take a few photographs, and my son asks if I want to be alone, but I just want to see it, and I am content.

GRAND RAPIDS 1997

The next spring I think about going to the big Judy Garland Festival in honor of Judy’s 75th birthday and start trying to find out about it. I call the Michigan Tourist Office first (there is a much larger Grand Rapids in another Midwestern state) before I find my way to the Minnesota Grand Rapids that is Judy’s birthplace. I manage to locate the site and plan to attend, but my life becomes very confused, as there are other demands on my time and an opportunity to work in an archaeology laboratory in Mexico, and the dates clash. I decide I will do both activities and my travel plans ultimately involve a night flight to Minneapolis, a rented car and four-hour drive to Grand Rapids for the weekend, and a four-hour return rush back down to the airport on Sunday night for a Monday flight to Mexico City.

I am a little apprehensive about attending a Festival on my own, being rather shy. As I am checking out the rental car, the woman at the next counter asks about the route to Grand Rapids and I catch her eye. It takes one to know one: I meet my first friends, Bill and Carolyn Seidel.

After the long drive to Grand Rapids, I check into the Sawmill Hotel, where most of the Judy activities take place. The first people I meet are five or six fifteen-year-old girls and one boy from Holland of a similar age. They are all wearing Judy tee shirts, and I want to know how they became friends. From one of the Judy Garland web forums, they tell me. They all live in different parts of the country and have met for the first time that day and they are very excited. (I have kept in contact with one of the girls through the years and in 2011, I met another of the group in New York. Really, these young people are the reason I am writing this book.) Moments later Sid Luft and son Joey Luft come down the stairwell and go into the indoor Jacuzzi. The young people run screaming after them We know it is Sid from his baggy eyes. I have not forgotten how to be a fan and I am not going to be left behind. I leave my suitcases in the middle of the hallway and follow the girls.

Sid is shaking hands with the girls and after they leave, I say, Hello Sid, do you remember me from the recording studio in London, with Lorna Smith, in the 60s? Of course, he replies (what else could he say?). And what are you doing here, dear? I’m here for the same reason you are: the 75th Festival. Isn’t it wonderful about all the young fans? We talk of this and how the last time I had seen Joey was when he was eight years old at the CBS Television Studio. Joey does not seem very impressed with this memory, but later we will have several delightful conversations about his mother. Sid and I talk more.

In one conference presentation, Sid spoke of the early days in Hollywood, and, of course, answers questions about Judy. One comment stands out in my memory: I consider the greatest moments of my life were when she was my wife.

Judy’s daughter, Lorna, is also present that year in Grand Rapids. Both she and Joey talk about the thrill of working with their mother in the summer tour of 1967 and performing at the Palace in New York. They both loved their mother’s serious work in movies, such as A Star is Born, Judgment at Nuremberg, and A Child is Waiting.

During one of my private conversations with Sid, we talk of both our survival of cancer. He says encouragingly, We will beat it: we’ll still be here when everyone else is gone and I could imagine him telling Judy, Don’t worry; we will deal with those agents, managers, and studios. I could understand the confidence he must have given her at times of doubt and uncertainty. His relationship with stepdaughter, Liza Minnelli, was good. He had come into the Judy life when Liza was about six years old and became her Poppa. He appears to be obviously exceedingly fond of Liza. Liza recently appeared at a theatre near me and I have a good newspaper review with me, which I give him to pass on to Joey. Sid comments, She was always a good girl.

The days in Grand Rapids are full of meetings with other fans. I am on a panel, trying to explain what it was like to attend one of Judy’s concerts and this experience leads me to dig down deep into my memory to articulate them. I realize that I had experiences, which others had not had, and that I should share these memories. People come up to me and ask me for my autograph! I am no one, why do they want my autograph? This is when I start using the expression, Always for Judy. The Judy Garland Club-UK organized this panel and urged me to attend their next meeting, which would occur two days after my next trip to England. I am going to be there for three months and a second club meeting would happen before I left in October. So, suddenly, I am in the middle of the Judy World. I am meeting so many old friends and new young fans of Judy.

LONDON 1997

For thirty-five years, after moving to the United States in 1962, having and bringing up a family, I had no contact with other Judy fans. I have no idea how or why I lost contact with Lorna Smith, who ran the British Chapter of the American Judy Garland Club in the 1960s, but trying to survive in Los Angeles as a new immigrant was not exactly easy. It was not that I had forgotten Judy—she was always in my thoughts and I listened to my LPs—but I just did not meet anyone to talk with about her.

While in London I am able to renew my contact with Lorna Smith and our friendship continues where it had left off. Lorna had written two books. The first is a straightforward biography, Judy, with Love, which came out in 1975 along with Anne Edward’s Judy Garland and Gerold Frank’s Judy. Perhaps as a result, Lorna’s book did not get much attention, but now when a copy comes up on E-Bay, it sells very quickly. The second book is about some psychic experiences Lorna had with Judy. Now, I have to explain that Lorna was a very serious person, a government official before she retired, and not someone to become involved in bizarre activities, so I was interested to hear about how this book had come into being. All this is in Lorna’s book, My Life Over the Rainbow. Lorna gave me a copy of the book, and I thought the words in it were beautiful. She told me that many copies of the second book were sitting on the patio of longtime fan Sonny (Francis) Gallagher in Pennsylvania. I determined to try to get the books out to the public. (Sonny was ill with cancer and, sadly, eventually left us, but he was such a charming, kind and sensible man.) I advertise the book on various internet sites and speak to even more young fans.

People still say to me about Judy Garland, But she committed suicide, and suddenly I understood why Lorna Smith felt she had to write her books. I met other fans of Judy at this time. Beverly Shields bought one of Lorna Smith’s books. She introduced me to Frank Labrador, who came to my house in Palm Springs to interview me. (Frank started his video career then!)

I also met many other fans: Wayne Lawless, Meredith Ponedel (niece of Judy’s make-up artist, Dottie Ponedel), Eleanor Lyon and Maureen Case Davis (members of the famed Bench Wenches—fans who waited outside CBS) and Kate Russell. During the next few years, we often met up, attended parties and shared our love of Judy. Just before I leave England that summer, I visit two clinical psychologists I had met on a vacation in Europe. In discussing my recent activities, I mention Judy and my thoughts of her life and one of the women says, of course, she was an abused child. After I discuss my life and my mother’s marriage, they classify me as an abused child also; but that is the subject for another book. There is always a reason that we go somewhere and meet someone, and he or she leads us to the truth. Well time goes by, five grandchildren are born, several house moves occur, various medical problems have to be overcome and I continue to wander the world seeking out strange and magical places. However, Judy is always with me—I spend many days with Lorna Smith hearing first-hand her experiences with Judy, write articles for the fan Club; attend several London Club meetings and then the advent of Facebook brings more young fans into my orbit.

I attend a A Salute to Judy Garland concert by Richard Glazier on April 7, 2009 in San Rafael and Jan, his lovely wife, incorporates me into her Judy Family of Garland fans and encourages me to tell some early fan Club stories.

In April 2010, Jan organizes a Judy in Hollywood function. We will spend over three days visiting many of the sites where Judy performed, including CBS where I worked many years ago and MGM, which is now Sony studios. Again, I meet more young fans and realize that Judy’s magic will go on forever, 100, 200 and even 500 years. Young people will hear her voice somewhere, or see one of her old movies on television and will become captivated and want to learn more about her. I would like there to be a book out there, which is not sensational but looks at Judy’s life sensibly.

PREFACE

My background in social science and anthropology enables me to look at Judy Garland’s life from a different perspective than most of her other biographers. My Master’s thesis covers the life of a Chinese woman who spent 17 years attempting, and finally succeeding, to escape from Communist China.¹ Exploring women’s lives is my interest and passion. As most of my writing has been in the academic field, I have chosen to use the Chicago Manual of Style in this book showing Endnotes with a digital number.

Digging back into my anthropology theory, in The Personal Document in Anthropological Science, Clyde Kluckholm points out, life events have meaning only in their context. This context is, in part, created by the contemporary situation of the subject and by the sequence of experience which are peculiar to him as an individual. ²

It is necessary to place the life of Judy Garland into the era in which she grew up: vaudeville stages where she witnessed hundreds of acts and performed herself, sound studios where she recorded songs; MGM sets where she sang, danced and acted as she grew up. I wanted to understand why and how this special person evolved, her challenges, how she dealt with the chaos of her life, what motivated her loves. Most importantly, I wanted to understand the damage done to her in those years by being forced to audition as a child. I hope to explain some of her actions and incorporate my experiences at witnessing her perform in concerts and meeting her.

As we will see Judy knew the drugs she was given were not good for her. It is thought now that Ethel Gumm gave her three daughters drugs while they were touring, and later agreed with MGM’s practice of administering drugs to keep them working. Only when it became clear that Judy was addicted and the drugs were rendering her useless to the studio did anyone try to help her. Many times, she admitted herself into hospitals trying to get free of the drugs and get well. However, she was

Reviews for Always for Judy

[knahs_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The amount of detail in this book was incredible. Just reading her tour dates exhausted me although I do think they would have been better presented in a list format. The writer is definitely a fan of Garland and as such, felt that Judy could do no wrong. No one is perfect. However, since the writer did get to meet Garland several times, it was an interesting and through read. There were numerous photographs but most were too small to really get any idea of and there were no captions.