Born
June 10, 1922
in Grand Rapids, Minnesota -
Judy Garland spent
her earliest years
in this house. . .
Logging Town
“Grand Rapids
is a
beautiful, beautiful town.
It’s right in the middle
of the iron ranges
of Minnesota,
surrounded by lakes.”
(Judy Garland, talking about her home)
A Star Is Born...
On Friday, December 26, 1924, at the age of thirty months, Baby Frances joined her two big sisters for her first song-and-dance performance, “When My Sugar Walks Down the Street,” from the Gene Austin/Jimmy McHugh Broadway musical Grab Bag.
Afterwards, as her first onstage solo, she rang a dinner bell and sang,
 Jingle Bells,
Jingle Bells,
Jingle all the way. . .
She kept ringing and singing to the audience’s delighted cheers and applause, continuing non-stop for five choruses, until she was carried off crying, "I wanna sing some more!"
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Basically, I am still
Judy Garland,
a plain American girl from
Grand Rapids, Minnesota,
who’s had a lot of good breaks,
a few tough breaks,
and who loves you
with all her heart
for your kindness
in understanding that I am
nothing more, nothing less.
(Judy Garland, writing to her fans
in a 1958 film magazine)
Judy hails from Minnesota!
The Gumm Family
The Gumms
named their third daughter
“Frances Ethel” for her father, Frank -
a vaudeville tenor
who managed the New Grand Theatre -
and for her mother, Ethel, who
accompanied the silent films
on the piano.
Judy was known as “Baby.”
The family vaudeville act featured
her two older sisters,
nine-year-old Mary Jane and
seven-year old Dorothy Virginia.
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