Judy Garland’s Mother Was The “Real” Wicked Witch
“I never felt wanted unless I was onstage performing”
In almost every photograph and film from her early life, Judy Garland is smiling. From sharing sodas with teenage heartthrob Mickey Rooney to posing for photographs with her elder sisters, young Judy always seemed effervescent and happy.
Garland’s character of Dorothy Gale from The Wizard of Oz, the brown-eyed girl with pigtails and a blue-checkered dress became a fixture in American society at a time when the Great Depression had left businesses reeling.
Judy herself was from a poor family. She wasn’t just an otherworldly, wealthy actress. She was the embodiment of the American dream — a rags to riches story come true.
The cheerful heroine was also the perfect distraction from Adolf Hitler, whose bizarre tirades and emerging fascist regime were sending shock waves across Europe and the rest of the world. Dorothy’s iconic song, Somewhere Over the Rainbow, reflected the lost dreams of a generation.
Beneath the glamour, lights and technicolor of The Wizard of Oz, however, the young actress was suffering immeasurable pain.
