Judy Garland & Liza Minnelli, Too Many Damn Rainbows

by Darwin Porter, Danforth Prince

Overview

For millions of fans, Judy Garland will forever remain a relentlessly cheerful adolescent (Dorothy) skipping along a yellow brick road toward the other side of the rainbow. Liza followed her down that hallucinogenic path, searching for the childhood, the security, and the love that eluded her. Ferociously loyal but fiercely competitive, they live, laugh, and weep again in the tear-soaked pages of this remarkable biography from the entertainment industry's most prolific archivists, Darwin Porter and Danforth Prince.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781936003693
Publisher:	Blood Moon Productions
Publication date:	08/04/2020
Pages:	734
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 1.53(d)

About the Author

Darwin Porter is the award-winning author of at least 50 celebrity exposés. Alan Petrucelli at Examiner.com once described him like this: "There are guilty pleasures. Then there is the master of guilty pleasures, Darwin Porter. He is the Nietzsche of Naughtiness, the Goethe of Gossip, the Proust of Pop Culture. Porter knows all the nasty buzz anyone has ever heard whispered in dark bars, dim alleys, and confessional booths. And lovingly, precisely, and in as straightforward a manner as an oncoming train, his prose whacks you between the eyes with the greatest gossip since Kenneth Anger. Some would say better than Anger." Danforth Prince is co-author of many of editions of the European series of the FROMMER TRAVEL GUIDES and the founder of what's been described as the feistiest independent press in America, Blood Moon Productions. He's also the Innkeeper for MagnoliaHouseSaintGeorge.com, a historic, "celebrity-centric" AirBnb in New York City.

Table of Contents

CONTENTS

Chapter 1: BORN IN A TRUNK: Unwanted and Almost Aborted, Baby Judy Dislikes her Mother,

Adores Her Father, and Shines Onstage, Even as a Two-year-old.

Chapter 2: THE ROAR OF THE CROWD: Judy, as "Baby Gumm Drop," Gets Hooked on Show-Biz.

Chapter 3: JUVENILE JUDY: Raging Hormones & Predatory Insiders.

Chapter 4: Judy's Male Friends Agree that JUDY IS HIP, CHARMING, & INCREASINGLY FAMOUS.

Chapter 5: LANDING IN OZ, DOROTHY & TOTO MEET THE WIZARD

Chapter 6: As a Pill-Popping Ingénue, Judy Grinds Out Films, Songs, and Dance Routines.

Chapter 7: JUDY GETS MARRIED! AMERICA GOES TO WAR.

Chapter 8: LAVENDER HIP. MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS! MORE ZIEGFELD FOLLIES. HARVEY GIRLS.

Chapter 9: VICTORY IN EUROPE. EXHAUSTED AND PILL-ADDICTED, Judy Looks for the Silver Lining As Clouds Roll By.

Chapter 10: EASTER PARADE. MARIO LANZA: IN THE GOOD OLD SUMMERTIME: ANNIE GET YOUR GUN.

Chapter 11: Deep Diving and Cranking Things Up with SID LUFT.

Chapter 12: JUDY ENTERS HER CONCERT YEARS. HELL AT HOLMBY HILLS. The IRS. THE DUKE & DUCHESS OF WINDSOR A STAR IS BORN.

Chapter 13: The Convoluted Academy Awards of 1954. PACKING IT IN WITH THE RAT PACK. JUDY'S AFFAIR WITH PRINCE ALY KHAN.

Chapter 14: BITTER AND BROKE, Judy Records Albums & Entertains Random Beaux.

Chapter 15: COMEBACK CONCERTS, THE LONG ARM OF UNCLE SAM: FIGHTS & FANCY FINANCING FROM SID. JUDY GOES HIGHBROW:

Chapter 16: Introducing DIRK BOGARDE. PARTIES AT THE WHITE HOUSE. JUDGMENT AT NUREMBERG. CARNEGIE HALL.

Chapter 17: WHY DID JUDY DEFINE 1961 AS HER BEST YEAR? Read About It Here. AMERICAN PIE: Judy reinforces her role as a Religious Icon.

Chapter 18: THE SLAMMING OF DOORS & THE GNASHING OF TEETH: JUDY KIDNAPS HER CHILDREN: Sid Pursues Them in the U.S. & British Courts. SLUGFEST AT THE SAVOY: HANDLING JUDY: CRASH DIETS & TOO MANY PILLS.

Chapter 19: 26 Episodes of Judy's Prime-Time TV Show Get Stressfully Broadcast. GOSSIP FROM BEYOND THE LITTLE BLACK BOX.

Chapter 20: HOW THE JUDY SHOW" STAGGERED DYSFUNCTIONALLY ONWARD. MARK HERRON: He Isn't Perfect, But Neither Is Judy. MADNESS IN MELBOURNE. INTRODUCING PETER ALLEN.

Chapter 21: SUICIDE & ARSON ATTEMPTS, DRUG ABUSE, SELF-MUTILATIONS, & WIDELY PUBLICIZED ÜBER-DRAMAS. A Spontaneous (4th) Marriage at a Tacky All-Night Chapel in Vegas. Wedding Bell Blues: More About Mark.

Chapter 22. LIZA BECOMES A RED MENACE ONSTAGE, A CABARET SENSATION AT THE PLAZA, A RECORDING STAR (LIZA! LIZA! LIZA!), AND A COMPETITIVE THREAT TO HER MOTHER. JOHN CARLYLE GOES UNDER THE RAINBOW WITH JUDY. GOSSIPY CHITCHAT & SOCIAL HORROR. LOVE IS PAIN: The Sad and Tawdry Saga of Tom Green. THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS: Pretentious, UnFunny, and Trashy, It's Another Nail in Judy's Professional Coffin.

Chapter 23: OVERMEDICATED, EXHAUSTED, & MENTALLY UNSTABLE, JUDY STAYS CAMERA-READY FOR CLOSEUPS at Concert Gigs. FAMILY, FAMILY, FAMILY: Judy Lashes Out at Her Children. In London, Judy Becomes the Talk of the Town. MICKEY DEANS: The Man Who Wanted to Get Away, but Couldn't. DEATH OF AN ICON: "Judy Garland as the Star in Her Final Role" (NY Daily News).

Recording the Voices (Authors' Bios)

Editorial Reviews

Judy Garland & Liza Minnelli: Too Many Damn Rainbows, by Darwin Porter & Danforth Prince

As Reviewed by DIANE DONOVAN, Senior Editor at California Bookwatch, The Midwest Book Review, & Donovan's Bookshelf

More than anything ever published before, this book provides a comprehensive overview of Judy Garland's troubled, scandal-soaked marriages to five men, three of whom were gay, and deep insights into her repeated humiliations. Husbands were not her only problem: Her show-biz career in the aftermath of her "firing" from MGM was a traumatized mix of buoyant and/or sometimes suicidal movie deals and concerts, many of them sold out and delivered to audiences of devoted (sometimes fanatically loyal) fans.

Her beaux were memorable and varied, many of them show-biz stars and in some cases, political lions in their own right. They included John F. Kennedy, bandleader Artie Shaw, avant-garde filmmaker Orson Welles, billionaire Prince Aly Khan, matinee idol Tyrone Power, Yul ("The King and I") Brynner, and James Mason, her co-star in A Star Is Born. Also prominent (and notorious since she was underaged at the time) was her teenaged dalliance with the much older actor, Spencer Tracy. And the book covers, non-judgmentally and tenderly, but with a disarming candor, the "frantic" behind the scenes politicking of her (aborted) CBS-TV series, depressions "as deep as the Mariana Trench," her inglorious, self-destructive manias, and the multiple embarrassments (and boyfriends) in the years preceding her demise.

Because so much information is included, it would have been too easy for Too Many Damn Rainbows to have become weighty and overloaded. The information is complimented (and the weighty feel of over 700 pages is countered) by the book's inviting structure. Sidebars of information, photos on nearly every page, and an attention to lively, controversial, appealing details makes this read a delight.

The only prerequisite to enjoyment is some basic familiarity with or interest in either Judy Garland or Liza Minnelli.​ Permeating everything is an abiding respect and admiration for a woman who's remembered as "the greatest entertainer in the history of American show-biz."

From the Publisher