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TCM Birthday Tribute: Judy Garland
TCM, beginning at 5 a.m.
Frances Ethel Gumm — better known as legendary singer and actress Judy Garland — would have turned 99 today (she passed away at the untimely young age of 47 in 1969). To commemorate the anniversary of Garland’s birth, Turner Classic Movies presents a morning and afternoon of some of her notable movie performances, with the lineup refreshingly featuring some deep cuts from Garland’s filmography. First up is 1943’s “Presenting Lily Mars” (pictured), Norman Taurog’s musical comedy featuring Garland as the title character in one of her first adult type roles in a movie. Next is another musical comedy, “Listen, Darling” (1938), co-starring Freddie Bartholomew and Mary Astor. Another early adult type of role came for Garland in the next film, “For Me and My Gal” (1942), a Busby Berkeley musical also starring Gene Kelly in his film debut. Following that, in the musical “Till the Clouds Roll By” (1946), Garland portrays 1920s-’30s Broadway star Marilyn Miller as she leads a cast stacked with musical stars in a fictionalized biopic of famed composer Jerome Kern (portrayed by Robert Walker). Garland and Kelly are back together in the next two films: the 1948 musical “The Pirate,” featuring songs by Cole Porter; and “Summer Stock” (1950), Garland’s final onscreen pairing with Kelly and her last film for MGM. The day concludes with one of Garland’s most famous performances, her Best Actress Oscar-nominated turn in the 1954 musical drama “A Star Is Born.”