Judy Garland

Born: 10 June 1922
Where: Grand Rapids, Minnesota

Died: 22 June 1969
Where: Chelsea, London

A dreaming Dorothy from the Wizard Of Oz she may have been at the start of her career, but by the end of her tumultuous life, found unconscious (a suspected accidental drug overdose) by her fifth husband, the Hollywood icon was a picture of sad and faded grandeur.

Seen by many as a victim of the Hollywood system, Garland began her performing career at the age of three. While she and two older sisters were performing as the Gumm Sisters Kiddie Act, showman George Jessel suggested the change of stage name to Garland.

Bubbling over with talent, it was not long before MGM boss Louis B Mayer signed her to a contract after a personal audition.

And so the star was born.

After a mediocre start, The Wizard Of Oz came along in 1939 and won her a special juvenile Oscar.

Garland's initial teaming with fellow teen star Mickey Rooney was in Thoroughbreds Don't Cry, and they went on to work together in a series of MGM musicals-including Babes in Arms, Strike Up the Band, Babes on Broadway, and Girl Crazy.

But behind the glittering success hid a traumatic personal life. Garland, like so many child stars, did not enjoy good relations with her driven stage mother, and even worse, her gruelling schedule at the studio led to a dependency on sleeping pills that was to dog her for the rest of her life and eventually end it.

Over the course of 28 years Garland was married five times. In 1945 she wed director Vincente Minnelli, with whom she had daughter Liza, and was involved in many well-publicized lawsuits, breakdowns, and suicide attempts.

By 1944 her immense unhappiness was beginning to manifest itself onscreen.

After hitting rock bottom in the early 1950s after Summer Stock (that year she was even replaced as the star of Annie Get Your Gun) Garland bounced back, all vibrant and vulnerable, as aspiring actress Vicki Lester in Cukor's 1954 remake of A Star Is Born a hand-tailored comeback vehicle she produced with then husband Sid Luft. It earned her an Oscar nomination, but sadly, there were no follow-ups.

A comeback TV variety show gave her one last burst of glory in 1963-64, but though she recorded tracks and filmed costume tests for Valley of the Dolls she had to be replaced by Susan Hayward when shooting began. An accidental overdose of sleeping pills took her life in 1969.