Contrary to the biopic “Judy,” the first encounter between Judy Garland and her future husband Mickey Deans was in no way a “meet-cute” at a party. In fact, their first encounter was decidedly unglamorous.
As the film tells it, Garland (played by Renee Zellwegger) was invited to a party by her daughter Liza Minnelli (Gemma-Leah Devereux), who, by that time, had already wowed audiences in a chip-off-the-old-block way with a Tony-winning performance in “Flora the Red Menace.” We see Garland and Deans (Finn Wittrock) lock eyes across the crowded room, his approach, flirtation, flying sparks, and so on.
But the truth is, there was no happenin’ Hollywood party, no instant chemistry, not even a magical moment when their eyes met. The truth: They first met when he delivered drugs to her hotel room in the middle of the night.
“One night when we were in New York she ran out of Ritalin, and I ended up calling her friend John Carlysle in California in the middle of the night to see if he could find us some,” Garland’s youngest daughter, Lorna Luft, writes in her book, “Me and My Shadows: A Family Memoir.”
In 1961, Garland’s doctors started her on Ritalin, a stimulant currently used to treat attention deficit disorder. Although Luft was only 15 or 16 at the time, she had become her mother’s caretaker of sorts, making sure she ate, slept and moderated her prescription drug intake, including for Ritalin.
Luft said Carlysle called Charlie Cochran, a mutual friend of his and Garland’s, who, according to her book, “didn’t yet understand the real implications of her medication problem and thought nothing of the request for Ritalin. Half the musicians they knew took Ritalin and other stimulants to keep themselves alert for late-night performances.”
And that’s where Deans entered the picture. He was a jazz pianist and the manager of a popular New York disco called Arthur.
“Charlie called around and eventually showed up in the wee hours of the morning with a couple of Ritalin for my mom and a man he introduced as ‘Dr. Deans.’ I was thankful to see them,” Luft wrote. “It meant that my mother had her medication and I could go back to bed. What I didn’t know was that ‘Dr. Deans’ was disco manager Mickey Deans, who two years later would become my mother’s last husband. To this day John regrets what he did, and he is still my good friend.”
Garland and Deans married in March 1969. She died three months later of an accidental overdose of the barbiturate Seconal.
'Wizard of Oz': 10 Things You Probably Didn't Know About the Classic (Photos)
It was 80 years ago today that a cyclone whisked Dorothy from her drab, sepia tone life in Kansas to the Technicolor land of little people, bewitched poppy fields and flying monkeys. You may know the story well, but here are a few things about "The Wizard of Oz" that might take you by surprise.
MGM
Judy Garland had a difficult time shaking the giggles after the Lion burst into tears when Dorothy smacked him for scaring Toto. After numerous takes, you can spot her holding back a grin in what made it to the big screen.
MGM
Continuity issues arose during filming, including one that slipped through the cracks and made it into the final film. We're talking about Dorothy's hair length in the scene where she first encounters the Scarecrow. It’s short, it's long, it's short again.
MGM
The purple, red and yellow Horse of a Different Color was created with a Jell-O-based tint that wouldn’t be harmful to the animals. You can spot the purple horse trying to lick it off its chops.
MGM
Margaret Pellegrini was only 16 years old when she played one of the Flowerpot Munchkins. She told a Glendale news station that she was paid $50 a week, which was less than what Toto made. "He got $125 a week!"
MGM
The Cowardly Lion's costume weighed almost 100 pounds and was made with real lion pelts. His hefty tail was attached to a square block inside the Lion's backside." You can see it as he and the Tin Man scale the cliff to the Witch's castle.
MGM
Toto -- whose real name was Terry -- was a little on the jittery side when it came to the special effects. You can see the terrier take off running when the Tin Man gave his hat a honk during his dance number.
MGM
Victor Fleming -- who also directed "Gone With the Wind" the same year -- had little patience for fun on the set. When Garland could stop laughing during a scene, Fleming slapped her and ordered her to "Go in there and work."
MGM
The Lion needed courage, but judging by the lyrics to "King of the Forrest," he could probably use a brain, too. In it, he sings "What makes the Sphinx the Seventh Wonder?" The thing is, the Sphinx isn't one of the Seven Wonder's of the World.
MGM
Actress Clara Blandick will always be best remembered as Auntie Em. Sadly, Blandick took her own life with an overdose of sleeping pills and a plastic bag pulled tightly over her head.
MGM
When the Wicked Witch vanished from Munchkinland in a cloud of red smoke and a burst of flames, her portrayer, Margaret Hamilton, was badly burned as she dropped through the trap door. Her green makeup was not fireproof.
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Here are a few bloopers, wardrobe malfunctions and behind-the-scenes secrets of the film that made Judy Garland a star
It was 80 years ago today that a cyclone whisked Dorothy from her drab, sepia tone life in Kansas to the Technicolor land of little people, bewitched poppy fields and flying monkeys. You may know the story well, but here are a few things about "The Wizard of Oz" that might take you by surprise.