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Get Happy: The Life of Judy Garland

3.89 of 5 stars 3.89 · rating details · 914 ratings · 102 reviews

Judy Garland. The girl with the pigtails, the symbol of innocence in The Wizard of Oz. The brightest star of the Hollywood musical and an entertainer of almost magical power. The woman of a half-dozen comebacks, a hundred heartbreaks, and thousands of headlines. Yet much of what has been written about her is either inaccurate or incomplete, and the Garland the world though...more

Hardcover, 528 pages

Published November 9th 2000 by Random House Inc (first published March 28th 2000)

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Apr 14, 2013 Paul rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: verysleazyfun, to-the-movies-we-go, lifestyles-of-the-weird-and-famous

LADY GAGA - RICHARD NIXON - FINALLY THE TRUTH

There are a couple of very nasty anecdotes in this judy garland bio which I would have suppressed, because now they're in my brain whenever I hear her extraordinary voice. But of course biography isn't hagiography, and if you go round censoring the lurid aspects of your subject you're now engaged in PR which is a whole other thing. I dunno. Do we really need to know that Marlon Brando and J Edgar Hoover were lovers? Or that Richard Nixon sired a love...more

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Jun 05, 2012 Catherine M rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: finished-irp-books

Get Happy: The Life of Judy Garland by Gerald Clarke gives you an in depth look at Judy Garlands life. This book told me more than I could ever imagine learning about someone who’s been dead since the 60’s. Get Happy: The Life of Judy Garland is a biography, and a very good one at that. The biography starts out before Garland’s even born, giving you background information on her parents, Frank and Ethel Gumm, also illustrating their rocky courtship period. Upon Garland’s birth, Clarke jumps righ...more

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May 27, 2012 Lisa rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: history, memoir, nonfiction

My teenage years were during the 1970s, probably the only decade since 1940 to mostly ignore Judy Garland's oeuvre. Yes, The Wizard of Oz was on TV every year (and it was miraculous), but other than than an occasional Andy Hardy movie on Saturday afternoons, her body of work didn't really make an appearance. I'm really just now discovering the depth of her acting and singing talent and her great movies.

I think that the world in the 1970s was too stunned, too sad, too ashamed, too angry, too dee...more My teenage years were during the 1970s, probably the only decade since 1940 to mostly ignore Judy Garland's oeuvre. Yes, The Wizard of Oz was on TV every year (and it was miraculous), but other than than an occasional Andy Hardy movie on Saturday afternoons, her body of work didn't really make an appearance. I'm really just now discovering the depth of her acting and singing talent and her great movies.

I think that the world in the 1970s was too stunned, too sad, too ashamed, too angry, too deeply grieving her sad end to face up to the loss of such an extraordinary talent. Her struggle with addiction made her into a person who, like all other addicts, can form a relationship only with her drug, thus driving away those she loved and everyone else. The pattern is so clear in this book: the pain of exploitation as a child submerged beneath uppers & downers, the agony of being used and viewed simply as a paycheck by those who should have loved and treasured her, more drugs, more rage, more despair, more suicide attempts, and finally early death by overdose. Yes, the world loves to watch the anonymous train wreck, but ultimately, we loved Judy and it was unbearable to watch her crumble. So in the 70s, we turned away.

Gerald Clarke is a wonderful writer who does the next-to-impossible: he tells all without making us hate Judy. It's not that he excuses her or blames everyone else, but he reveals her heart & vulnerability, he tells "her side of it," making us always understand Judy's motivations even when they are so entirely wrong-headed or delusional. He makes it clear that Judy could only really Get Happy on stage. Interacting with and responding to an audience was the only place that she felt confident and alive -- off-stage were shark-infested waters. Clarke tackles the inherent mystery of WHY Judy Garland's voice and songs strike such a deep chord across all categories of people -- like, why gay men love her so -- and does a good job of explaining its resonance of joy & pain.

Clarke is a wonderful storyteller. Generally, I struggle through biographies when I read them because they often founder on the details and can't convey the sweep of a life or make the subject feel known. Ultimately, Clarke does all that as skillfully as a master weaver -- creating a whole cloth that both warms and scalds as we wrap it around ourselves and see Judy's life from the inside. (less)

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Jun 02, 2010 Krystal rated it 5 of 5 stars

Credited as being one of the most researched and comprehensive accounts of the life of Judy Garland, Get Happy by Gerald Clarke is in essence the story of a girl who wanted to be loved. Born Frances Ethel Gumm and nicknamed “Baby,” Judy began singing in vaudeville acts with her two sisters by the age of three. Ten years later would find her with her first movie contract, and ten years after that in danger of becoming irrelevant, another child star grown up. As Clarke comments throughout the book...more Credited as being one of the most researched and comprehensive accounts of the life of Judy Garland, Get Happy by Gerald Clarke is in essence the story of a girl who wanted to be loved. Born Frances Ethel Gumm and nicknamed “Baby,” Judy began singing in vaudeville acts with her two sisters by the age of three. Ten years later would find her with her first movie contract, and ten years after that in danger of becoming irrelevant, another child star grown up. As Clarke comments throughout the book, this seems to be the pattern of Garland’s life: the highest highs followed by the lowest lows, only to be followed by an even more buoyant comeback. As a reader of Garland’s story, you can’t help but feel a similar rollercoaster of emotions which I feel in large part was due to Clarke’s delicate treatment of her life. He is eternally respectful of the talent that Garland possessed, while at the same time he is able to discuss her often scandalous personal life honestly and without judgment. What remains is a true portrait of Judy Garland, at both her best and her worst—exactly what I want out of a biography.

I found Get Happy to be one of the most moving (and at the same time haunting) biographies I’ve ever read. Having studied psychology, it’s easy to see how Garland’s childhood and adolescent experiences shaped the person she became: a woman incapable of lasting happiness and repeatedly drawn to people who only wanted her around for her money, fame, etc. So even though I would argue that by all definitions Garland was the original diva, each incident, regardless of who was at fault, would leave me thinking, “Poor, poor Judy Garland.” What was amazing to me is that a person that seemed so weak in most areas of her life was able to make comeback after comeback throughout her career, her fans able to love her in a way that those close to her seemingly could not. This paradox of utter weakness met with supreme strength was for me, the most fascinating aspect of the book.
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Dec 28, 2011 Jordan Kinsey rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

*prepare for stereotypically gay comments and response to this book*

Pretty much everyone knows that Garland's life was a true American Tragedy. This book altered that opinion in me only by making it clear that the story is more complex than that. Was it ALL "everyone else's" fault? (MGM, her parents, her lovers/husbands, etc.) or is she partially to blame? Some of her "diva-like" behaviors in her later career (trashing dressing rooms, being completely impossible to work with, etc.) were nobody's...more *prepare for stereotypically gay comments and response to this book*

Pretty much everyone knows that Garland's life was a true American Tragedy. This book altered that opinion in me only by making it clear that the story is more complex than that. Was it ALL "everyone else's" fault? (MGM, her parents, her lovers/husbands, etc.) or is she partially to blame? Some of her "diva-like" behaviors in her later career (trashing dressing rooms, being completely impossible to work with, etc.) were nobody's fault but hers. Or were they? Were these just natural reactions to the way she was treated earlier? It's a complex story.

Clarke is an incredibly gifted writer...I will definitely be reading his Capote biography. He has the rare gifted of crafting a non-fiction work that is impossible to put down, but at the same time doesn't appear to take huge liberties with the truth. (I can usually detect that...Nigel Cawthorne comes to mind).

A quote that stuck out to me, which I think sums up what my response to Judy's voice has always been, even before I had the words to describe it. This quote is also handy to describe my reaction to excellent performances of any kind, and thereby my choice of profession. Clarke is describing Judy's enormous triumph at the Palace, not long after her enormous triumph at Carnegie Hall:

"Judy's conquest was so complete that critics and commentators, hard to account for it, eventually gave up, likening it to a miracle - and miracles can only be described, not explained. 'Where lay the magic?' inquired a bewildered Clifton Fadiman, who saw her not at the opening, but many weeks later, at a point when many shows have lost that first-night fervor. 'Why did we grow silent,' Fadiman went on, 'self-forgetting, our faces list as with so many candles, our eyes glittering with unregarded tears? Why did we call her back again and again and again, not as if she had been giving a good performance, but as if she had been offering salvation?'"

Such is great performance...a miracle each and every time. A miracle which "can only be described, not explained." And the best part? You don't need a music degree to recognize it when it happens. You just have to be there.(less)

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Aug 12, 2011 Kerra rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favourites

I'm going to start off by saying that I love reading biographies so I may be a little biased.

I picked up this book because I needed a biography of a tragic hero for a grade 12 English assignment. I did not know anything about Judy Garland before reading this except for the fact that she was Dorothy in one of my favourite movies, "The Wizard of Oz".

The beginning chapters were a little dull because Judy had not yet entered the world of the famous, but it is necessary to know someone's past before...more

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Apr 22, 2010 Ellen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography

As trashy celebrity biographies go, this is one of the best. Clarke manages to bring Judy Garland's world to life without just creating a laundry list of appearances or affairs or overdoses. He nicely balances all three. He also explores the hot mess that she became in her later years without making the reader completely lose sympathy for her or turning her into a saint.

But, I really toyed with stopping reading after her first comeback at the Palladium. I told myself to stop and to fabricate a...more

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Sep 03, 2012 Brian Francis rated it 5 of 5 stars

I was in New York last month and caught the Broadway play, End of the Rainbow, which chronicles the final weeks of Judy Garland’s life. The actress, Tracie Bennett, was spellbinding in her performance, capturing Garland’s innocence, talent and self-destruction. I bought Get Happy afterwards to dig deeper into Garland’s life. Gerald Clarke does an excellent job of putting Garland into context, which is something we don’t always do with our celebrities. We prefer to see them in ways that suit our...more

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Apr 01, 2011 Julian rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography, arts

This is, I suspect, not a book for those who maintain the belief in Judy as being eternally pure and happy, rather like Dorothy in 'Oz'. Such fans, like the person we meet at one point herein who called himself Judy's number-one fan but who refused to help a down-on-her luck Judy when she feared a plot to kill her, because his Judy (he said) existed only in sunlight, probably do her no good and, I would suggest, by denying the terrible nature of her final years, diminish Judy's achievement.

And t...more

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May 11, 2009 Judy rated it 2 of 5 stars

When you think that you are overwhelmed with the problems of day to day living, pick up this book and give it a whirl. Yikes, is all that i can say. Isn't it bad enough to have a stage mother (from Hell) without having that mother dole out drugs and launch her young daughter into life-long addiction? Or maybe the thing that freaked me out was the pattern from mother, to daughter, to granddaughter (Liza) to marry men that you would subsequently find in your bed engaging in homosexual relations? C...more

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Nov 30, 2012 James rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is actually a pretty good read. Not just because I’m currently in a trashy memoir/biography phase, but because Judy lived a hell of a life and is THE original train wreck. Amy Winehouse? Whitney Houston? Lilo? Whatever. Judy was the real deal. And if it’s sordid details you want out of a biography, then this will not disappoint.

The narrative reads like your guiltiest pleasure trashy fiction. It’s no wonder that Jacqueline Susann modeled her character Neely O’Hara after Judy (yes, I’ve read...more

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Sep 24, 2012 Snapekat rated it 2 of 5 stars

Judy was kinda crazy. Not her fault, she had a pretty rough child hood. But she was self involved, impetuous, immature, notoriously difficult to work with, alcoholic, drug addicted and incapable of having a healthy relationship with anyone. She was also very talented so people put up with her. But I have to say I liked/respected her a lot less after I read this. Like a lot of old Hollywood biographies the author spent a lot of time talking about this or that movie and who directed it and product...more

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Oct 30, 2011 Janet rated it 1 of 5 stars

If you are just now discovering the magnificence that is Judy Garland, please do not read this book. The majority of it is trashy rumors. Clarke explores only the tragic headlines, not Judy the person. He skips over the important parts to include all of the things that probably didn't happen but will surely sell a few more copies.

If you're looking for a great Judy biography that doesn't focus on 'Judy: The Tragedy', try Judy by Gerold Frank, it's dated, but it's amazing. Also, anything by John F...more

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Jan 08, 2013 Samantha Glasser rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: movies, non-fiction

Judy Garland is one of the most heralded stars in history. Judy Garland is recognized by young and old because of her participation in The Wizard of Oz, but her long career and undeniable talent have made her a legend. Just 47 years old when she died, the victim of an overdose of sleeping pills, Judy drew masses to her funeral who loved her and felt sorry for the many hardships she faced in her life. They are all spelled out here in great detail, from her controlling and ambitious mother, to her...more Judy Garland is one of the most heralded stars in history. Judy Garland is recognized by young and old because of her participation in The Wizard of Oz, but her long career and undeniable talent have made her a legend. Just 47 years old when she died, the victim of an overdose of sleeping pills, Judy drew masses to her funeral who loved her and felt sorry for the many hardships she faced in her life. They are all spelled out here in great detail, from her controlling and ambitious mother, to her difficult relationship with Louis B. Mayer at MGM, to her drug addiction that she tried and failed many times to overcome, to her never-ending financial difficulties, and her attractions to the wrong men.

Reading this left me with a bad taste in my mouth. Although there are moments of glowing awe over Garland's talent, Clarke succeeds in making her out to be a selfish and vindictive woman whose irrational behavior consistently hurt the people who loved her. These passages make it difficult to understand the intense adoration of her even after all of these years.

This book ends rather abruptly with Judy's death and has little reflection on her life. What about her children? Clarke touches on Liza's blossoming career, Judy's last husband and their rocky relationship, Lorna and Joey going to live with their father, but all of that falls by the wayside and none of those stories are included here. Nor are the reactions of Judy's friends and family to her death in any great detail. It all wraps up quickly and without flourish.

It is odd that it ends this way, because Clarke embellishes quite a bit when he describes Judy's singing and the impact she had on audiences. He writes with the overly enthusiastic gusto of a fan and is far from objective. Perhaps other avid fans will relate, but I found the praise to be overkill.

While I enjoyed reading this book, I did not find it to be the be-all end-all of Garland biographies. I will need to read on to get a full picture of the woman who still captivates audiences decades after her death. (less)

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Jul 28, 2011 Marianne Meyers rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

You know, this book broke my heart. Having been a child performer, there's a lot I innately understand here, and how one grows up and deals with or doesn't deal with the ghosts it leaves behind. Her overwhelming dependence on drugs was staggering to me - frankly, taking drugs like that starting in childhood damaged her brain function beyond understanding, her later years and whatever her reality of the moment was were frightening. That said, this book covers many of the aspects of her entire lif...more

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Mar 15, 2011 Lori L (She Treads Softly) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Gerald Clarke's Get Happy is, perhaps, the definitive biography of Judy Garland. It was very well researched over ten years, including over five hundred interviews. At the back, the book includes an extensive section of notes, referenced to the book by page numbers, and a vast bibliography. Get Happy also features an index, photo credits, and acknowledgments. If you want to know anything about Judy Garland, this is the biography to read first.

Starting with her parents, Clarke follows Judy Garlan...more

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Aug 19, 2009 Paris rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: memoirs

I have become a huge sucker for anything Judy Garland related in the past several years, so reading her biography seemed like an obvious step towards knowing more about her as a person, and her career as a singer/actress.

This book is heavily researched, and told me a lot about how many failed marriages Garland suffered through, and how underrated of an actress she was. I find the title of the book to be simultaneously sad and ironic, just like her life. A tell-all sad story for one of the most...more

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Jan 01, 2013 Christina rated it 3 of 5 stars

Well-researched, well-written… the tail end of Judy’s life felt rather rushed, but I guess her actual life went downhill almost overnight at the end…. tons of pictures scattered throughout the book, instead of the one or two glossy photo sections like most biographies. Certain parts were shocking, like Judy’s sexual history, which I was not prepared for…. (Dorothy Gale could never give beej’s under a table at a restaurant during dinner, right? Right guys? Hello?) All in all, a good read…

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Oct 17, 2012 Kayla rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is the biography of Judy Garland. I always knew she had a rough life and knew that the story would end with her unfortunate demise at the age of 47 in 1969. However, I had no idea how many of her issues were the result her treatment by her mother, the head of MGM and other influential people in her life who constantly made her feel like she was never enough. Her story is very interesting; but at the same time, very sad. I highly recommend this if you're a fan of Judy Garland.

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May 03, 2009 Heidi rated it 3 of 5 stars

An obviously well-researched and well-written biography leaves little to criticize except I have to admit, sometimes the author seemed to take a little delight in the exploits of Garland, especially in her failed romances and diva-esque escapades during her last years at MGM. A lifelong Garland fan, I was blown away by how manipulated this young talent was by the "adults" around her... can't say the rest was a big surprise. An interesting reminder of how exploiting a young and gifted artist (be...more

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Jun 04, 2012 Cathi rated it 2 of 5 stars

I really love Judy Garland, so maybe I knew too much going in (really all I'd seen before this was the tv movie Me and My Shadows, which is better than you would think, for a tv movie), but there was a lot in this book that wasn't new information. Combined with too much hyperbole (I'm sorry, but Garland is not the only singer to have a signature song) and not a whole lot of insight to her psyche, I was disappointed.

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May 16, 2012 Roxanne rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is one of the most thorough biographies I have read to date. My only suggestion was there should have been more pictures.

I think Judy was so beautiful, but it is a very downer of a read if you are a Judy Garland fan.

I'm a fan of biographies, so I enjoyed every word on every page.

I can only say that to be happy in life was a fleeting dream and her life was crowded with all the wrong things.

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Aug 02, 2010 Angie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography, summer-2010

Ever since I was a little girl, I have enjoyed the musical genre. And the best of the best was Judy Garland. This poor, sick woman was a little dynamo. After reading about her personal demons and addictions, it is a miracle that she was ever able to perform. It makes me appreciate her as an artist even more. I must buy a CD of Judy music!

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Apr 20, 2011 Laura rated it 5 of 5 stars

I cried a lot through this book. Judy Garland led such a tragic life. From the abusive mother to trying to find a husband that could TRULY love and take care of her to trying to be a good mother and yet not succeeding. This book reveals the truth behind Judy Garland and what life was like on the other side of the Rainbow.

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Jan 31, 2008 Emily rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: biographies

I enjoyed this book, it seemed a bit long and slow moving in places, but her life was tough and had lots to cover in it. It was very well written I think and didn't concentrate to much on parts that were needed to make it longer. I liked how the pictures were done in the book in that they were inserted every now and then, not like most with a photo album section in the middle, but I wanted more of them.

I think that Judy had a very hard life and it was sad for the circumstances and decisions tha...more

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Dec 26, 2010 David Cerda rated it 3 of 5 stars

I finally got around to reading this and it was fascinating but so sad to see a person of her enormous gifts waste her life. Not sure if all of the facts were correct as Patty Duke gives quite a different account of the director of Valley of the Dolls.

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Jan 01, 2012 Lia Banks rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

If you're a fan of Judy Garland, don't read this book! It will totally depress you. If you just thought you might want to know a bit more about her, it's kind of interesting, but also depressing if all you know of her is from The Wizard of Oz.

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Dec 21, 2008 Charlotte (Buried in Books) rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

A Star is Born and the Wizard of Oz are two of my favourite films and I've always wanted to know more about Judy Garland. The common perception of her as a classic victim (a la Marilyn Monroe) I found was undeserving after reading this book.

Hers was an addictive personality, whether it was men, or pills. Yes, her marriages were not great, but when things got tight she packed things up and went on the road to get her family back in the black. As an actress she was woefully underated.

This was an...more

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Nov 01, 2012 Angela rated it 4 of 5 stars

Always great to read a biography! My heart bled for Judy the entire time. She lead a very sad life, despite the joy she exuded with such ease on camera!
I have to say that I really prefer biographies that do NOT end with long chapters about the aftermath of the star's death. This one did not disappoint!

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Aug 21, 2011 Camilla rated it 3 of 5 stars

I would love to sing like Judy Garland but not at this price. What a messed up life. (Though she might have been, at her better moments, an amazing person.) How she live 20 years longer than amy Winehouse is incredible.

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