Editing Judy Garland (section)

=== 1954–1963: Hollywood return, concerts, and television ===

==== 1954–1963: Hollywood comeback ====
[[File:Garland Star Born recrop.jpg|thumb|upright|Garland in ''[[A Star Is Born (1954 film)|A Star Is Born]]'' (1954)]]
Garland appeared with [[James Mason]] in the [[Warner Bros.]] film ''[[A Star Is Born (1954 film)|A Star Is Born]]'' (1954), the first remake of [[A Star Is Born (1937 film)|the 1937 film]]. She and Sidney Luft, her then-husband, produced the film through their [[production company]], Transcona Enterprises, while Warner Bros. supplied finances, production facilities and crew.{{sfn|Clarke|2001|p=308}} Directed by [[George Cukor]], it was a large undertaking to which she initially fully dedicated herself.<ref>{{cite web |title=Brief Descriptions and Expanded Essays of National Film Registry Titles {{!}} National Film Preservation Board {{!}} Programs at the Library of Congress |url=https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-film-preservation-board/film-registry/descriptions-and-essays/ |website=Library of Congress, Washington, DC |access-date=March 23, 2020}}</ref>

As shooting progressed, however, she began making the same pleas of illness that she had so often made during her final films at MGM. Production delays led to cost overruns and angry confrontations with Warner Bros. head [[Jack L. Warner]]. Principal photography wrapped on March 17, 1954. At Luft's suggestion, the "Born in a Trunk" medley was filmed as a showcase for her and inserted over director Cukor's objections, who feared the additional length would lead to cuts in other areas. It was completed on July 29.{{sfn|Clarke|2001|p=319}}

Upon its world premiere on September 29, 1954, the film was met with critical and popular acclaim. Before its release, it was edited at the instruction of Jack Warner; theater operators, concerned that they were losing money because they were only able to run the film for three or four shows per day instead of five or six, pressured the studio to make additional reductions. After its first-run engagements, about 30 minutes of footage were cut, sparking outrage among critics and filmgoers. Although it was still popular, drawing huge crowds and grossing over $6 million (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US-GDP|6|1954|r=1}} million in {{inflation-year|US-GDP}}{{inflation-fn|US-GDP}}) in its first release, ''A Star is Born'' did not make back its cost and ended up losing money. As a result, the secure financial position Garland had expected from the profits did not materialize.{{sfn|Clarke|2001|p=325}} Transcona made no more films with Warner.{{sfn|Juneau|1974|p=126}}
[[File:Judy Garland filming A Star Is Born.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Garland filming a scene as a restaurant [[carhop]] for ''A Star Is Born'' (1954)]]
Garland was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress and, in the run-up to the [[27th Academy Awards]], was generally expected to win for ''A Star Is Born''. She could not attend the ceremony because she had just given birth, so a television crew was in her hospital room with cameras and wires to broadcast her anticipated acceptance speech. The Oscar was won, however, by [[Grace Kelly]] for ''[[The Country Girl (1954 film)|The Country Girl]]'' (1954). The camera crew packed up before Kelly could even reach the stage. [[Groucho Marx]] sent Garland a telegram after the awards ceremony, declaring her loss "the biggest robbery since [[Great Brink's Robbery|Brinks]]".<ref>{{Cite web|title=Chicago Tribune: Chicago news, sports, weather, entertainment|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/|access-date=November 27, 2021|website=Chicago Tribune}}</ref> ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' labeled her performance as "just about the greatest one-woman show in modern movie history".{{sfn|Clarke|2001|p=326}} Garland won the [[Golden Globe Award]] for [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy|Best Actress in a Musical]] for the role.<ref>{{cite web|title=Judy Garland|publisher=[[Hollywood Foreign Press Association]]|url=http://www.goldenglobes.org/browse/member/29377|access-date=December 24, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080111182936/http://www.goldenglobes.org/browse/member/29377|archive-date=January 11, 2008}}</ref>

Garland's films after ''A Star Is Born'' included ''[[Judgment at Nuremberg]]'' (1961) (for which she was Oscar and Golden Globe-nominated for Best Supporting Actress),<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 5, 2013 |title=Gay Purr-ee (1962) |url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/17933/Judgment-at-Nuremberg/ |website=[[Turner Classic Movies|TCM]]}}{{dead link|date=April 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> the animated feature ''[[Gay Purr-ee]]'' (1962) and ''[[A Child Is Waiting]]'' (1963) with [[Burt Lancaster]]. Her final film was ''[[I Could Go On Singing]]'' (1963) with [[Dirk Bogarde]].<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Garland|first1=Judy|title=I Could Go on Singing|date=October 11, 1963|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057168/|work=IMDb|last2=Bogarde|last3=Klugman|last4=MacMahon|first2=Dirk|first3=Jack|first4=Aline|access-date=January 31, 2017}}</ref>

==== 1955–1961: Television, concerts and Carnegie Hall ====
[[File:Judy Garland at Greek Theater.jpg|thumb|left|Garland in her dressing room at the [[Greek Theatre (Los Angeles)|Greek Theatre]] (1957)]]

Garland appeared in a number of television specials beginning in 1955. The first was the 1955 debut episode of ''[[Ford Star Jubilee]]''; this was the first full-scale color broadcast ever on [[CBS]] and was a ratings triumph, scoring a 34.8 [[Nielsen ratings|Nielsen rating]]. She signed a three-year, {{US$|300000}} ({{Inflation|US-GDP|300000|1955|r=-4|fmt=eq}}) contract with the network. Only one additional special was broadcast in 1956, a live concert-edition of ''[[General Electric Theater]]'', before the relationship between the Lufts and CBS broke down in a dispute over the planned format of upcoming specials.{{sfn|Sanders|1990|p=24}}

In 1956, Garland performed for four weeks at the [[New Frontier Hotel and Casino|New Frontier Hotel]] on the [[Las Vegas Strip]] for a salary of {{US$|55000}} ({{Inflation|US-GDP|55000|1956|r=-4|fmt=eq}}) per week, making her the highest-paid entertainer to work in Las Vegas.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/judy-garland/about-judy-garland/600/ |title=Judy Garland – About Judy Garland &#124; American Masters |publisher=PBS |date=July 7, 2004 |access-date=April 3, 2010}}</ref> Despite a brief bout of [[laryngitis]], when [[Jerry Lewis]] filled in for her for one performance while she watched from a wheelchair, her performances there were so successful that her run was extended an extra week.{{sfn|Frank|1975|pp=420–21}} Later that year, she returned to the Palace Theatre, site of her two-a-day triumph. She opened in September, once again to rave reviews and popular acclaim.<ref>{{cite news
| title =Judy Reigns in Palace as Queen of New York
| publisher=[[United Press International|UPI]]
| date =October 31, 1952
}}</ref>

In November 1959, Garland was hospitalized after she was diagnosed with acute [[hepatitis]].<ref>{{cite news
| title =Judy Garland Said To Have Hepatitis
| publisher=[[United Press International|UPI]]
| date =November 26, 1959
}}</ref> Over the next few weeks, several quarts of fluid were drained from her body until she was released from the hospital in January 1960, still in a weak condition. She was told by doctors that she probably had five years or less to live and that, even if she did survive, she would be a semi-invalid and would never sing again.{{sfn|Clarke|2001|p=347}} She initially felt "greatly relieved" at the diagnosis. "The pressure was off me for the first time in my life."<ref name = Shana /> However, she recovered over the next several months and in August of that year, returned to the stage of the Palladium. She felt so warmly embraced by the British that she announced her intention to move permanently to England.{{sfn|Clarke|2001|p=349}}

At the beginning of 1960, Garland signed a contract with [[Random House]] to write her autobiography. The book was to be called ''The Judy Garland Story'' and to be a collaboration with [[Fred F. Finklehoffe]]. Garland was paid an advance of {{US$|35000}} ({{Inflation|US-GDP|35000|1960|r=-4|fmt=eq}}) and she and Finklehoffe recorded conversations about her life to be used in producing a manuscript. Garland worked on her autobiography on and off throughout the 1960s, but never completed it. Portions of her unfinished autobiography were included in the 2014 biography, ''Judy Garland on Judy Garland: Interviews and Encounters'' by Randy L. Schmidt.<ref name="Schechter-2018">{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/judygarlanddayby00sche|title=Judy Garland : the day-by-day chronicle of a legend|first=Scott|last=Schechter|date=September 21, 2018|publisher=New York : Cooper Square Press; [Lanham, MD] : Distributed by National Book Network|isbn=9780815412052|via=Internet Archive}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tdrvjgEACAAJ | title=Judy Garland on Judy Garland: Interviews and Encounters| isbn=978-1613735466| last1=Schmidt| first1=Randy L| year= 2016| publisher=Chicago Review Press, Incorporated|via=Google Books}}</ref>

Her concert appearance at [[Carnegie Hall]] on April 23, 1961, was a considerable highlight, called by many "the greatest night in show business history".<ref>{{cite news
| last =Cox
| first =Gordon
| title =Rufus Over The Rainbow
| work=Variety
| date =May 28, 2006
| url=https://variety.com/2006/legit/news/rufus-over-the-rainbow-1200335455/ |access-date=January 23, 2014}}</ref> The two-record album ''[[Judy at Carnegie Hall]]'' was certified [[Music recording sales certification|gold]], charting for 95 weeks on ''Billboard'', including 13 weeks at number one. It won four [[Grammy Award]]s, including [[Grammy Award for Album of the Year|Album of the Year]], [[Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance|Best Female Vocal of the Year]], [[Grammy Award for Best Recording Package|Best Album Cover]], and [[Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical|Best Engineering Contribution]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=4th Annual GRAMMY Awards {{!}} GRAMMY.com |url=https://grammy.com/awards/4th-annual-grammy-awards |access-date=June 22, 2024 |website=grammy.com}}</ref>