Judy Garland was 16 when she was cast as Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz, 17 when the movie was released in 1939. Born Frances Ethel Gumm into a vaudeville family, she began performing at age two with her older sisters. At 12, she signed with MGM, where she made 27 of her 34 films. Her long career earned Garland an Academy Award, two Grammys, and a posthumous Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Her personal life was a struggle however, and she died of an accidental overdose at 47. Read Who Cares? about the struggle for dignity at Woodruff Home for the Aged, “a lively place where old people go to die.” Learn more about the book and its characters, aged 9-90, in NOVELS.
The iconic singer-actress was successful on screen but troubled in life
Woodruff Home for the Aged, a lively place where old people go to die
