M
yfatherwaslike
atoughguy out
ofGuysandDolls,
and my mother
felt that was a
lot of fun,”Judy
GarlandandSidLuft’sdaughterLorna
LuftrevealstoCloser. “Theylovedeach
otherandhada realbond,buttheirre-
lationshipcouldbe volatilebecausemy
dad hada temperandwouldn’tsayno...
andshehad a temperandwouldn’tsay
no. So thatgotinteresting!”
JudyandSid’sturbulent13-year
marriage—herthird,andthelon-
gestof herfiveunionsby far—is ex-
aminedintheupcomingShowtime
documentarySid&Judy, airingOct.
18. “Sidhasbeenaccusedof beingan
alcoholic, gambling and stealing
[Judy’s]money,andallof thosethings
are probablytrue,”directorStephen
KijaktellsCloser. “Butwhatis also
trueis thattheyhadagreatrespect
andloveforeachother.He reallydid
cherishhertalent and helpedher
achievea lotof greatthingsthrough
thatpartnership.”
Bythetimetheymetin1950,Judy’s
li feandcareerwerein a downwardspi-
ralafteryearsof drugs,alcoholandbad
relationships.MGMhadrecentlysus-
pendedher,and“Judy’sattemptat sui-
cidewasconsidereda bidforattention”
bythestudio,producerSidwrotein
his posthumouslypublishedmemoir,
JudyandI.
Likeseveralmenbeforehim,Sid
triedtosaveJudyfromherdemons
and formorethana decade,he largely
succeeded.Whenmovierolesdriedup,
hestagedcomebackshowsthatrecon-
firmedherbrillianceandfedthelove
shecravedfromaudiences.
In1954,twoyearsaftertheywed,he
producedtheclassicmusicalremake
ofAStarIs BornthatearnedJudyan
Oscarnomination.And,mostimpor-
tantly,he fatheredherdaughterLorna
in 1952 andsonJoeyin 1955.
Sadly,Judysufferedfrompostpar-
tumdepressionandslitherthroataf-
terLorna’sbirth.“I didn’twantto die
—I hada babytolivefor.It wasjust
thatthepressurehadbeentoomuch
for me,”saidJudy,whodiedin 1969
atage47.
Thoughtheyhaddivorcedin
196 5, “theirconnectionwas
real,” saysKijak. “Whatev-
ertheirtraumaswerebehind
the scenes,thisintensecollab-
orationproducedsomeof her
great second-actvictories.”
—Reportingby
LindsayHoffman
A NEWFILMREVEALSHOWJUDY’SHUSBAND
FOUGHTTO SAVEHERCAREER— ANDLIFE
LOOK BACK
SID LUFT & JUDY GARLAND
TUMULTUOUS
MARRIAGE
Inside Their
SidandJudywiththeirkidsLorna
andJoey,andJudy’sdaughterLiza
Minnelli(fromhersecondmarriage
toVincenteMinnelli)around 1963
“Pictures tell
a thousand
words of how
much they
cared about
each other.”
— Lorna Luft on her parents,
Sid Luft and Judy Garland
16 August 26, 2019 CLOSER
