"They thought they could get away with anything because they were so small": Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz
Judy Garland's infamous childhood turmoil is the stuff of perverse legend, her anguish at the hands of Hollywood studio executives often blamed for a life of addiction, which ultimately killed her at the age of 47.
But now a sensational new autobiography has claimed that Garland's experiences on the set of The Wizard of Oz were even worse than previously described.
According to Garland's late husband Sid Luft, whose memoir is finally being published nearly 15 years after his death, the former child star was routinely groped and molested by actors portraying Munchkins in the film.
Margaret Hamilton and Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz Credit: MGM/Warner Bros
"They would make Judy's life miserable on set by putting their hands under her dress," he writes in Judy and I: My Life with Judy Garland. "The men were 40 or more years old."
"They thought they could get away with anything because they were so small," he added.
Rumours have long swirled about the hundreds of actors hired to play Munchkins in the film, with sources claiming over the years that they were repeatedly drunk, had mass orgies in their hotel, and even that one actor hung himself on set while the cameras were rolling, and can be seen swinging from a tree in the background of a shot. Though the latter has largely been debunked.
"They had sex orgies in the hotel, and we had to have police on just about every floor," claimed producer Mervyn LeRoy in 1939.
The Munchkin actors reportedly earned less than Toto the dog, forcing many to turn to prostitution
It has been claimed that many of the little people on set, who were scouted from all over the USA and Germany, had never previously met other little people, resulting in a set best described as 'dwarf Caligula'. All housed in the same hotel, the Munchkin cast were reportedly drunk and disorderly throughout the making of the film, while some were forced to panhandle and prostitute themselves to make ends meet. Earning just $50 a week for their work, the actors playing Munchkins earned $100 less than the dog that played Toto.
"They were very tiny, they were drunks," Garland said in 1967. "They put them all in a hotel in Culver City, and they got smashed every night, and they had to pick them up in butterfly nets."
"One of them, who was a gentleman of about 40, asked me out to dinner," she continued. "I couldn't say I didn't want to go out because you're a midget, so I just said 'No, my mother wouldn't like it', but he said to bring her too."
Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, Judy Garland and Bert Lahr in The Wizard of Oz
Garland's molestation only adds to the tragedy of her Hollywood upbringing, which included enforced corseting to slim her figure, the strapping down of her breasts to reinforce her studio-mandated 'girl next door' image, and a regular intake of pills and adrenaline shots to keep her strength up through filming.
It has been said that the actress, then just 16, was already addicted to barbiturates and amphetamines while shooting the classic children's film, while MGM boss Louis B. Mayer reportedly sent spies to the set to ensure she was sticking to her daily diet, which consisted of chicken soup, black coffee and 80 cigarettes.
#1: Justified To: cranky (#0)
This doesn't make sense since the average income in 1939 was $1400 a year or $26 a week.
To me it sounds as if the producer did not have control of the set!
Justified posted on 2017-02-08 08:41:53 Reply Private Reply
#2: Mudboy Slim To: Justified, tpaine, redleghunter (#1)
(Compliments of the Linux Fortune program.)
Kudos...MUD
/B^D>
Mudboy Slim posted on 2017-02-08 11:15:09 Reply Private Reply
#3: Tooconservative To: Mudboy Slim (#2)
It would be like a 6' tall man having sex with a 12' tall woman.
Wouldn't that be a bit too much like having sex with some hulking farm animal? It doesn't sound all that special to me. Maybe even a turn-off. I'm trying to picture having sex with a 12' tall Judy Garland. It doesn't seem all that hot to think about.
Tooconservative posted on 2017-02-08 12:08:01 Reply Private Reply
#4: nativist nationalist To: Tooconservative (#3)
nativist nationalist posted on 2017-02-08 12:55:44 Reply Private Reply
#5: misterwhite To: Tooconservative (#3)
misterwhite posted on 2017-02-08 13:35:21 Reply Private Reply
#6: redleghunter To: cranky (#0)
redleghunter posted on 2017-02-08 13:37:43 Reply Private Reply
#7: redleghunter To: cranky (#0)
They made her smoke 80 cigarettes a day?
redleghunter posted on 2017-02-08 13:40:07 Reply Private Reply
#8: redleghunter To: Justified (#1)
Ya think? LOL, marauding little folk bullying the motion picture industry.
redleghunter posted on 2017-02-08 13:41:30 Reply Private Reply
#9: Pinguinite To: redleghunter, Justified (#7)
And at 16 years old. Amazing.
And I'd agree that $50 per week in 1939 was probably pretty good pay. That would get more than an ounce of gold per week which would xlate to about 1500 per week today. A rough comparison but even half that for a filler movie role wouldn't be bad.
Pinguinite posted on 2017-02-08 13:49:44 Reply Private Reply
#10: redleghunter To: Pinguinite (#9)
$50 bucks a week and the small people probably got room and board too. No wonder they were partying it up every night. Each one with $50 burning a hole in their pocket.
redleghunter posted on 2017-02-08 14:22:46 Reply Private Reply
#11: Tooconservative To: nativist nationalist, misterwhite (#4)
Tooconservative posted on 2017-02-08 21:00:07 Reply Private Reply
#12: cranky To: redleghunter (#6)
From those dotty brits.
They'll print anything.
cranky posted on 2017-02-08 21:10:40 Reply Private Reply
#13: misterwhite To: redleghunter (#7)
No, silly. They were talking about her daily diet. She ate 80 cigarettes a day.
misterwhite posted on 2017-02-09 09:53:11 Reply Private Reply
#14: Mudboy Slim To: Tooconservative (#3)
Mudboy Slim posted on 2017-02-09 11:06:46 Reply Private Reply
#15: Mudboy Slim To: misterwhite (#13)
NOT that there's anything WRONG with that, Right, Mr. White?!
Mudboy Slim posted on 2017-02-09 11:08:07 Reply Private Reply
#16: Mudboy Slim To: redleghunter (#10)
Plus, it can't take all that much cash/bathtubGIN 2 git these little folks hammered...MUD
Mudboy Slim posted on 2017-02-09 11:11:20 Reply Private Reply
#17: Deckard To: Mudboy Slim (#2)
When did you become Bill Clinton?
Or are you Trump?
Deckard posted on 2017-02-09 11:24:13 Reply Private Reply
#18: misterwhite To: Mudboy Slim (#15)
Nope. Nothing wrong with what she eats. She could even eat me. So could you.
misterwhite posted on 2017-02-09 11:48:13 Reply Private Reply
#19: Tooconservative To: Mudboy Slim (#14)
Could be. It could also be that you have some deep-set sexual mommy issues if you fantasize about sex with giant women that are 2-3 times as tall as you are. You have to admit that Freud would have a field day with such fantasies.
Look at the following image (colorized in 2005, original b&w here). Is Snow White getting molested by the Dwarfs really all that sexy to you? If so, you have issues and are some kind of sicko. IMO.
Tooconservative posted on 2017-02-09 12:47:12 Reply Private Reply
#20: sneakypete To: redleghunter (#7)
You having a little trouble swallowing that one,too?
sneakypete posted on 2017-02-09 13:12:22 Reply Private Reply
#21: Mudboy Slim To: Tooconservative, goldilucky, Mayor Stoney, Kim Chen, Selena Cuffee-Glenn, dAVID iNGROFF, John Logan, Charles Peters, L. Douglas Wilder, Willie LaNIER (#19)
(Compliments of the Linux Fortune program.)
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Mudboy Slim posted on 2017-02-09 15:37:03 Reply Private Reply
#22: Tooconservative To: Mudboy Slim (#21)
Tooconservative posted on 2017-02-09 15:42:27 Reply Private Reply
#23: goldilucky To: Mudboy Slim (#21)
goldilucky posted on 2017-02-09 17:02:36 Reply Private Reply
#24: redleghunter To: Tooconservative (#19)
Shame, shame. How insensitive. :-)
redleghunter posted on 2017-02-09 18:17:35 Reply Private Reply
#25: Mudboy Slim To: Tooconservative (#22)
LOL...just sayin'...if'n I wuz a Munchkin, which I ain't...NOT that there's anything WRONG with that...MUD
Mudboy Slim posted on 2017-02-10 11:38:09 Reply Private Reply
#26: Mudboy Slim To: goldilucky (#23)
Pops up automatically whenever I "Sign-in"...MUD
Mudboy Slim posted on 2017-02-10 11:39:41 Reply Private Reply
#27: Mudboy Slim To: Tooconservative (#22)
BTW...that's ALL on U, 2con...MUD
Mudboy Slim posted on 2017-02-10 11:41:24 Reply Private Reply
#28: Tooconservative To: Mudboy Slim (#25)
You do think about it. Obviously.
Yer goin' straight to hell, Mudboy.
Tooconservative posted on 2017-02-10 20:48:46 Reply Private Reply
#29: Mudboy Slim To: Tooconservative (#28)
Nawww...I'm gonna go the round'about way 2 wherever I end up...MUD
Mudboy Slim posted on 2017-02-11 11:09:45 Reply Private Reply
#30: Mudboy Slim To: Tooconservative (#28)
(Compliments of the Linux Fortune program.)
Joe Mama, 2, 2con...MUD
Mudboy Slim posted on 2017-02-14 17:16:46 Reply Private Reply
#31: GrandIsland To: cranky (#0)
GrandIsland posted on 2017-02-14 17:55:32 Reply Private Reply
#32: Mudboy Slim To: Tooconservative, TOOkinky, 2kinKEY!!, A K A Stone, goldilucky, AuntB, mel_living (#22)
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(Compliments of the Linux Fortune program.)
Hmmm...MUD?!
Mudboy Slim posted on 2017-03-29 10:51:17 Reply Private Reply
#33: goldilucky To: Mudboy Slim (#26)
goldilucky posted on 2017-03-29 10:53:52 Reply Private Reply
#34: Mudboy Slim To: goldilucky (#33)
Mudboy Slim posted on 2017-03-29 11:43:02 Reply Private Reply
#35: Mudboy Slim To: goldilucky (#33)
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Mudboy Slim posted on 2017-03-29 14:55:20 Reply Private Reply
#36: redleghunter To: Liberator, TooConservative, cranky (#11)
Well not to be undone, here is an update posted at Drudge who seems to be enamored with the subject:
Claims that Wizard of Oz munchkins molested Judy Garland deserve a response
BTW, what happened to Cranky? Last post was in Nov of last year.
redleghunter posted on 2018-04-05 09:45:26 Reply Private Reply
#37: Tooconservative To: redleghunter (#36)
Dunno. nolu chan went missing that month too.
cranky posted a variety of articles but didn't make many posts himself. nolu made extensive and well-researched posts.
Tooconservative posted on 2018-04-05 10:04:26 Reply Private Reply