Get Happy; The Life of Judy Garland by Gerald Clarke
2000 Time Warner Books
510 pages
I don't think I'll ever be able to watch a Judy Garland movie or listen to her songs without feeling desperate disbelief with the person behind the voice. This book crushed me. The love affair that I've had with Judy for over a decade has been mutilated into one of pity and anger instead of awe and celebration.
There was nothing to celebrate in Judy Garland's self-destructive life except her voice from heaven. Born Frances Ethel Gumm in 1921, she was the child of two vaudeville entertainers, and was thrown into the business herself at the tiny age of two. It was her oppressive mother Ethel that first introduced the use of pep pills into her life when she was barely a teenager. After dragging her around the country to auditions, she finally struck a deal with MGM, and stardom in the Andy Hardy movies with Mickey Rooney and then the Wizard of Oz that made her star in her own right. Robbed of her childhood by her mother, then dominated by the MGM studio that really fuelled her dependency on drugs, she was already a mess in her early 20s. Judy Garland on set became characterised by tardiness then locking herself into her dressing room for a couple hours and then even collapsing or hallucinating on set, or frequently not appearing at all together. Clarke tells of her suicide attempts and numerous overdoses that began already in her early 20s, and her addiction to all sorts of drugs that caused further mental instability and strengthened insecurities she'd had from her youth (for example, MGM owner Louis B. Mayer calling her "hit little hunchback" confirmed for her of her ugliness compared to beauties like Lana Turner).
Throughout the 1950s she was never able to make the movie comeback she needed, but instead made a living from live performances on the stage -- like she did in her childhood. Judy Garland was nonetheless as unstable as ever. She'd start a new tour, receiving glittering reviews, and crash at the end of them, broke, again (largely due to being swindled by her accountants and third husband Sidney Luft). At the time of her death in 1969, she was on her fifth husband, none of which had been able to succeed in their mission to save her. She died of a barbiturate overdose in London.
This short description is merely a brief summary, omitting all the wonderful but also horrifying details provided by Clarke. The beginning sheds a lot of light on Judy's family during her childhood, which is vitally important to understand what the life at MGM did to her -- turned her into a madwoman. Readers can also be guaranteed gossip-- from delicious to shocking-- about the various stars she associated with, such as Frank Sinatra, Mickey Rooney, Jane Russell, Humphrey Bogart... and the sexual favours that were common in Hollywood studios. Clarke also had access to the recordings of her unfinished autobiography, which no doubt added the personal touch and amplified her suffering. While being sympathetic to her suffering and its causes, Clarke nonetheless provides a ruthless sketch, making no excuses on her behalf, not covering up or ignoring the ugliness of her life.
Judy Garland's voice was a gift from heaven, and the only thing that made her Somebody. As I rewatched Easter Parade last night, I couldn't believe that this remarkable woman who steals every scene she appears in, was at the time, struggling for survival. She was one of the greatest performers ever. Unfortunately she could not perform so well in real life. Clarke's book is one of the most emotionally engaging biographies I have read. Halfway through I wanted to finish it as fast as I could, not only because I couldn't stop reading, but largely because I was suffering simply reading Clarke's excellent narrative of one of the most --if not the most-- tragic entertainer that ever lived.
Monday, June 27, 2005
Sunday, June 19, 2005
"The Asquiths" --Colin Clifford
The Asquiths by Colin Clifford
2002 John Murray Publishers
544 pages
When I bought this book, I had no idea what it would be about. All I knew about the Asquiths was that H.H. Asquith was the British Prime Minister during the first half of the Great War, and that Helena Bonham-Carter is one of his descendants. So, everything was relatively new and therefore interesting. I was completely engrossed at first. Clifford traces the rise of the Asquiths in Victorian England. The son of a wool merchant to goes to Oxford, marries his sweetheart Helen, who dies tragically after bearing his five children. He then marries the eccentric Margot Tennant, whose circle of friends called the "Souls" included some of the most prestigious personages of the day (including artists, art lovers, and writers like Henry James, Edith Wharton, H.G. Wells, and Oscar Wilde). Clifford then embarkes on a journey describing the interweaving lives of Asquith, Margot and the seven Asquith children, whose experiences were fatefully trimmed with struggle and tragedy.
The second half of the book is dedicated to the Great War period. Asquith's struggle to hold on to his power and Margot's erratic behaviour describe the war front at 10 Downing Street. Of their 4 sons that go fight, their eldest and cleverest, Raymond, was killed in the Somme, Beb suffered from shell shock, and Oc lost a leg. Painful experiences are recounted, often directly from their diary entries which desrcibe horrific scenes from the trenches and battlefields in detail; of the miles of fields of rotting flesh, of the endless pounding of deafening guns, of most of their friends who lost their lives. One of the chapter headings summed up the losses accurately, quoting the tragedy of "knowing more dead people than living people".
While the Asquiths' war experiences are wonderfully described, it does rather deviate from the former half of the book. I was disappointed that for example Margot and Violet's relationship received so little attention after the war began. Also, Asquith's own personality isn't explored much once he becomes Prime Minister. His personality is reflected mainly in his love letters to his lovers, which only succeed in sketching the portrait of a tired old man dependent on the attention and affections of younger women. Clifford appears to have understood Oc best, which perhaps made him the most likeable of the Asquiths. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for Raymond or Violet, or even Margot, whose behaviour is described, but not explained, and therefore not really understood. Clifford certainly could have done so for Margot, whose scintllating pre-Downing Street years are wonderfully depicted.
Overall, I found the Clifford's account of the Asquiths wonderfully readable. The intertwined lives of all the characters are beautifully presented as a whole in the narrative. The amount of research and information is truly tremendous and impressively compiled.
2002 John Murray Publishers
544 pages
When I bought this book, I had no idea what it would be about. All I knew about the Asquiths was that H.H. Asquith was the British Prime Minister during the first half of the Great War, and that Helena Bonham-Carter is one of his descendants. So, everything was relatively new and therefore interesting. I was completely engrossed at first. Clifford traces the rise of the Asquiths in Victorian England. The son of a wool merchant to goes to Oxford, marries his sweetheart Helen, who dies tragically after bearing his five children. He then marries the eccentric Margot Tennant, whose circle of friends called the "Souls" included some of the most prestigious personages of the day (including artists, art lovers, and writers like Henry James, Edith Wharton, H.G. Wells, and Oscar Wilde). Clifford then embarkes on a journey describing the interweaving lives of Asquith, Margot and the seven Asquith children, whose experiences were fatefully trimmed with struggle and tragedy.
The second half of the book is dedicated to the Great War period. Asquith's struggle to hold on to his power and Margot's erratic behaviour describe the war front at 10 Downing Street. Of their 4 sons that go fight, their eldest and cleverest, Raymond, was killed in the Somme, Beb suffered from shell shock, and Oc lost a leg. Painful experiences are recounted, often directly from their diary entries which desrcibe horrific scenes from the trenches and battlefields in detail; of the miles of fields of rotting flesh, of the endless pounding of deafening guns, of most of their friends who lost their lives. One of the chapter headings summed up the losses accurately, quoting the tragedy of "knowing more dead people than living people".
While the Asquiths' war experiences are wonderfully described, it does rather deviate from the former half of the book. I was disappointed that for example Margot and Violet's relationship received so little attention after the war began. Also, Asquith's own personality isn't explored much once he becomes Prime Minister. His personality is reflected mainly in his love letters to his lovers, which only succeed in sketching the portrait of a tired old man dependent on the attention and affections of younger women. Clifford appears to have understood Oc best, which perhaps made him the most likeable of the Asquiths. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for Raymond or Violet, or even Margot, whose behaviour is described, but not explained, and therefore not really understood. Clifford certainly could have done so for Margot, whose scintllating pre-Downing Street years are wonderfully depicted.
Overall, I found the Clifford's account of the Asquiths wonderfully readable. The intertwined lives of all the characters are beautifully presented as a whole in the narrative. The amount of research and information is truly tremendous and impressively compiled.
Saturday, June 18, 2005
intro
Miao pussycats!
I started this blog site to write about the (mainly historical) biographies I read. No, I'm not that bored, but I just WANT to and it's very theraputic for my obsession with them. So, welcome :) I'll only write about the ones I read after starting this, not the ones that I've read before this. But, for an impression of the types of bios that I read, these are the ones that I've gotten through so far (Yes, I keep track....):
THE LONELY EMPRESS --Joan Haslip
RASPUTIN --Edvard Radzinsky
THE VICEROY'S DAUGHTERS: THE LIVES OF THE CURZON SISTERS --Anne de Courcy
THE RED DANCER --Richard Skinner
LONER AT THE BALL --Fred Lawrence Guiles
POPISM AND THE WARHOL SIXTIES --Andy Warhol and Pat Hackett
NICO: SONGS THEY NEVER PLAYED ON THE RADIO --James Young
MARIE ANTOINETTE: THE JOURNEY --Antonia Fraser
WILD SAWNS --Jung Chang
AN UNCOMMON WOMAN: THE EMPRESS FREDERICK --Hannah Pakula
MARY WOLLESTONECRAFT: A REVOLUTIONARY LIFE --Janet Todd
THE BOOK OF COURTESANS --Susan Griffin
MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS --Antonia Fraser
THE MITFORD GIRLS --Mary S. Lovell
ELIZABETH I --Anne Somerset
LENIN --Robert Service
THE ROAD TO MAYERLING --Richard Barkeley
ELISABET D'AUTRICHE --Egon C. Corti
THE WARRIOR QUEENS: BOADICEA'S CHARIOT --Antonia Fraser
MADAME DE POMPADOUR --Nancy Mitford
ELIZABETH AND MARY --Jane Dunn
THE SIX WIVES OF HENRY VIII --Antonia Fraser
THE DARK SIDE OF CAMELOT --Seymour M. Hersh
MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS AND THE MURDER OF LORD DARNLEY --Alison Weir
THE ANDY WARHOL DIARIES --Andy Warhol and Pat Hackett
ARBELLA: ENGLAND'S LOST QUEEN --Sarah Gristwood
QUEEN MARY --James Pope-Hennessy
DIANA MOSLEY --Anne de Courcy
NANCY MITFORD: A MEMOIR --Harold Acton
WATER BEETLE --Nancy Mitford
VOLTAIRE IN LOVE --Nancy Mitford
LIFE IN A COLD CLIMATE: NANCY MITFORD: A BIOGRAPHY --Laura Thompson
THE FAVOURITE: SARAH DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH --Ophelia Field
UNITY MITFORD: A QUEST --David Pryce-Jones
THE SUN KING --Nancy Mitford
THE AFFAIR OF THE POISONS: MURDER, INFANTICIDE AND SATANISM AT THE COURT OF LOUIS XIV --Anne Somerset
THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND --Jane Austen
PERSEPOLIS --Marjane Satrapi
I started this blog site to write about the (mainly historical) biographies I read. No, I'm not that bored, but I just WANT to and it's very theraputic for my obsession with them. So, welcome :) I'll only write about the ones I read after starting this, not the ones that I've read before this. But, for an impression of the types of bios that I read, these are the ones that I've gotten through so far (Yes, I keep track....):
THE LONELY EMPRESS --Joan Haslip
RASPUTIN --Edvard Radzinsky
THE VICEROY'S DAUGHTERS: THE LIVES OF THE CURZON SISTERS --Anne de Courcy
THE RED DANCER --Richard Skinner
LONER AT THE BALL --Fred Lawrence Guiles
POPISM AND THE WARHOL SIXTIES --Andy Warhol and Pat Hackett
NICO: SONGS THEY NEVER PLAYED ON THE RADIO --James Young
MARIE ANTOINETTE: THE JOURNEY --Antonia Fraser
WILD SAWNS --Jung Chang
AN UNCOMMON WOMAN: THE EMPRESS FREDERICK --Hannah Pakula
MARY WOLLESTONECRAFT: A REVOLUTIONARY LIFE --Janet Todd
THE BOOK OF COURTESANS --Susan Griffin
MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS --Antonia Fraser
THE MITFORD GIRLS --Mary S. Lovell
ELIZABETH I --Anne Somerset
LENIN --Robert Service
THE ROAD TO MAYERLING --Richard Barkeley
ELISABET D'AUTRICHE --Egon C. Corti
THE WARRIOR QUEENS: BOADICEA'S CHARIOT --Antonia Fraser
MADAME DE POMPADOUR --Nancy Mitford
ELIZABETH AND MARY --Jane Dunn
THE SIX WIVES OF HENRY VIII --Antonia Fraser
THE DARK SIDE OF CAMELOT --Seymour M. Hersh
MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS AND THE MURDER OF LORD DARNLEY --Alison Weir
THE ANDY WARHOL DIARIES --Andy Warhol and Pat Hackett
ARBELLA: ENGLAND'S LOST QUEEN --Sarah Gristwood
QUEEN MARY --James Pope-Hennessy
DIANA MOSLEY --Anne de Courcy
NANCY MITFORD: A MEMOIR --Harold Acton
WATER BEETLE --Nancy Mitford
VOLTAIRE IN LOVE --Nancy Mitford
LIFE IN A COLD CLIMATE: NANCY MITFORD: A BIOGRAPHY --Laura Thompson
THE FAVOURITE: SARAH DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH --Ophelia Field
UNITY MITFORD: A QUEST --David Pryce-Jones
THE SUN KING --Nancy Mitford
THE AFFAIR OF THE POISONS: MURDER, INFANTICIDE AND SATANISM AT THE COURT OF LOUIS XIV --Anne Somerset
THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND --Jane Austen
PERSEPOLIS --Marjane Satrapi
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