Episode Details

Judy Garland was put on amphetamines to keep her energy up and barbiturates to bring her down, starting at age thirteen. MGM controlled her diet, her sleep, and her image while she sang her way through some of the most beloved films in American history. The industry that made her a star also destroyed her.

This episode traces Garland from her vaudeville childhood through The Wizard of Oz, her firing from MGM, her concert comeback, and the addiction and exhaustion that killed her at forty-seven.

• She was given amphetamines and barbiturates by the studio starting at age thirteen to control her weight and energy
• She was sixteen when she recorded "Over the Rainbow," which became her signature song for life
• MGM fired her in 1950 after years of absences and breakdowns caused by studio-imposed drug regimens
• She died of an accidental barbiturate overdose at forty-seven, leaving behind five decades of recordings and performances