Page 6 - The Local Eye - Issue 128 - June 2016

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June 2016 History Spotlights...

Judy Garland (June 10, 1922 - June 22, 1969)
Born in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, Judy was actually named Frances Ethel
Gumm after her father (Francis “Frank” Gumm) and mother (Ethel Milne). Her
parents were former vaudeville performers who bought a theater and settled
in Grand Rapids. She was the third of three girls: Mary Jane (nicknamed Susie,
variously spelled “Suzy”) was born in 1915, and Dorothy Virginia (nicknamed
Jimmie) was born in 1917. Frances was nicknamed “Baby”, and was known as
Baby Gumm until 1934 when she changed her name to Judy.
Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years, Garland attained
international stardom as an actress in both musical and dramatic roles, as a
recording artist and on the concert stage.
After appearing in vaudeville with her sisters, Garland was signed to Metro-
Goldwyn-Mayer as a teenager. There she made over two dozen films, including
nine with Mickey Rooney, and the film with which she would be most identified, The Wizard of Oz (1939).
Oz is certainly Judy’s best remembered film today (it has been seen by more people than any other film
ever made), but many of her films have become classics and now rank among the best movie musicals ever
made, including Meet Me in St. Louis, Easter Parade, The Harvey Girls, A Star Is Born, In the Good Old
Summertime and The Pirate.
Despite her professional triumphs, Garland battled personal problems throughout her life. Insecure about
her appearance, her feelings were compounded by film executives
who told her she was unattractive and overweight. Plied with
drugs to control her weight and increase her productivity, Garland
endured a decades-long struggle with addiction. Garland was
plagued by financial instability, often owing hundreds of thousands
of dollars in back taxes. Married five times, four of her marriages
ended in divorce. She attempted suicide on a number of occasions.
Garland died of an accidental drug overdose at the age of forty-
seven, leaving children Liza Minnelli, Lorna Luft and Joey Luft.

Jacques-Yves Cousteau (June 11, 1910 - June 25, 1997)
Jacques Cousteau was and still probably is the most famous undersea explorer in
the world, known by his dozens of books and films from the 1950s until his death
in 1997.
He served in the Navy as an officer during the mid ‘30s and revolutionized
underwater exploration when he invented the Self Contained Underwater
Breathing Apparatus (SCUBA - also known as the aqualung). Cousteau also
pioneered techniques in underwater photography and explored the oceans of the world aboard his vessel
Calypso. His filmmaking career included three Oscars, frequent television specials and the series, The
Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau (1966). In his later years Cousteau devoted himself to educating the
public on environmental issues, and working with the Cousteau Foundation, founded in 1973 to further
marine research and exploration.
Birthdays This Month Include...
Tom Jones
Suzi Quatro Angelina Jolie 7th June 1940
3rd June 1950 4th June 1975

Mel Brooks Bjorn Borg Prince William
28th June 1926 6th June 1956 21st June 1982
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