Judy Garland

Judy Garland

Reading Comprehension for June 10

You've heard the familiar story. A young girl and her dog get caught up in a tornado. The wind drops them in a magical land somewhere over the rainbow! She learns that there is no place like home. The young girl's name is Dorothy Gale. The actress who played her was called Judy Garland.


Born Frances Ethel Gumm on June 10, 1922, the child nicknamed "Baby" performed with her older sisters from the time she was two to age thirteen. The three girls traveled with their mother, who has been described as the typical pushy stage mother. This prevented the trio from spending much time with their father. The Gumm Sisters Kiddie Act performed at the 1934 World's Fair in Chicago. Frances Gumm was "discovered," as they say in the entertainment business. She was then twelve years old. She became Judy Garland. The next year, her beloved father, Frank Gumm, died of spinal meningitis.


Garland is quoted as saying, "I was born at the age of 12 on a Metro Goldwyn Mayer lot." She signed a contract with MGM, and she was soon singing and acting her way into America's heart. In 1939 she appeared in the most popular of all her films, The Wizard of Oz.


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