(1922 - 1969) American film actress and
singer. The child of
vaudeville performers she started on
stage at the age of five. Unable to stand the
pace of her own
success she began seeing a
psychiatrist at the age of 21. She was married five
times and made a number of
suicide attempts, dying in 1969 of an apparent overdose of sleeping pills.
professional name of Frances Gumm (1922-1969),
American singer and actress. Garland made her debut as a
singer in her father's theater around the age of three. She first gained fame in the musical film
Broadway Melody of 1938 (1937), but won her greatest accolades for her portrayal of Dorothy in the
classic musical film The Wizard of Oz (1939). Garland went on to perform in many more musicals, but the last fifteen years of her
life were troubled with nervous breakdowns, drug dependence and attempted suicides. She made spectacular comebacks, however, and her
singing performances drew enormous crowds.