Judy Garland had a terrible life (despite having that wonderful voice) starting as a child and being fed drugs by her pushy stagestruck mother, then having to go through the relentless and humiliating The Hollywood factory system where her and Mickey Rooney worked continuously propped up on amphetamines to work and barbiturates to sleep and always being made to feel that she wasn't pretty enough. It is often overlooked, but Garland had to work harder than her contemporaries, like Lana Turner & Hedy Lamarr, who got by on just learning lines and looking beautiful, by having to learn songs and exhausting dance routines as well as the lines. She burnt out and her Hollywood studio career was over at the age of 28 (imagine what that felt like?).
Later on, in the early 60s she did a weekly TV show for a year, where her management kept her in booze and drugs and then absconded with her million dollar earnings leaving her broke and in debt. It seems like the temptation to steal her earnings was too great for those around her. Her tragic life was a catalogue of endless work, drug addiction, disappointments and continued exploitation, despite always trying to maintain a happy, breezy famous facade.
Death at 47 must have been a tremendous relief. Her tragic story reads like one of addiction, modern slavery and exploitation.
It's also surprising how many of Golden Hollywood's stars (especially the tragic 'self-destructive' ones) were caught up in downward spirals of addiction, but that is often brushed aside with just a few lines, for more sensationalist scenarios or reports of their 'crazy' behaviour.
Somebody needs to write a good expose of the chemical craziness of 1940s+ Hollywood.