Judy Garland was the greatest female entertainer who ever lived but sadly her professional achievements have been obscured by some biographers who preferred to concentrate on the darker side of her life. While her dark side was an important part of the Garland legend and made her performances unrivalled in their passion and sincerity film critics have often forgotten her great contributions to the medium. She made thirty-two feature films, three of which are masterpieces of American cinema. Outside of the world of film her concert performances, TV and radio work revealed her as one of the great live entertainers. Her record albums particularly Judy at Carnegie Hall, which immortalises one of the greatest nights in showbusiness history, are also superb.

She made her "showbiz debut" on December 26, 1924 singing "Jingle Bells" to an enchanted audience. Between the ages of two and thirteen she fulfilled hundreds of live vaudeville and radio dates with her two older sisters.

In September 1935, thirteen-year-old Judy signed with MGM. Initially they didn't seem to know what to do with her. She sang Dear Mr Gable to the tune of You Made Me Love You at Clark Gable's birthday party, the song and Judy were featured in Broadway Melody of 1938 and at last she began to be taken seriously. Judy was cast in the immortal The Wizard of Oz (1939) and "Over the Rainbow" became her theme song for the rest of her life. It reached out to her audience while summing up her own lifelong search for happiness.

Judy's film career was at its peak in the Forties beginning with For Me and My Gal (1942) in which Gene Kelly made his film debut. Meet Me In St Louis (1944) is a masterpiece of vintage Americana, director Vincente Minnelli whom Judy later married made sure she never looked more beautiful on film. Sadly from her teenage years Judy had been fed uppers and downers so she could keep going over very long working days, by the mid Forties she was addicted to these drugs.

Over the next few years her relationship with the studio slowly deteriorated. None of this shows onscreen, her late 40s films while not as good as St Louis (1944) are still very entertaining from the unusual,underrated The Pirate (1948) to the more traditional Easter Parade (1948) and In the Good Old Summertime (1949). Her brilliant Get Happy number in Summer Stock (1950) was her last performance at MGM, it was the end of an era for the film musical.

During the Fifties and Sixties Garland continued to work as a concert and recording artist as well as appearing on the new medium of TV. In A Star Is Born (1954) she delivered her greatest acting performance as Esther Blodgett who struggles to save Norman Maine from self-destruction, it is obvious that Garland used much of her own life experiences in her portrayal. It was almost a decade before she was seen on film again : first in a supporting but very poignant performance in Stanley Kramer's Judgement at Nuremberg (1961) then in A Child Is Waiting (1963) and finally in I Could Go On Singing (1963), her last film which had a title song that seemed to sum up Garland's beliefs.

Judy Garland was a unique personality and left an indelible mark on showbusiness history. Whatever else may be said her incredible talent was undeniable. As Frank Sinatra said : "She was the greatest. The rest of us will be forgotten, never Judy."

(Thank you to my good friend David Alp for help in compiling this biography)