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78- CAPE GAZETTEi Friday,
Book Nook
By Gerry Lore
Get Happy: The Life of Judy
Garland by Gerald Clarke
Certain great entertainers leave
indelible lifelong memories of
specific performances; Judy Gar-
land ranks as one of these. Who
can forget her skipping through
Kansas in The Wizard of Oz, or
singing and dancing with Fred
Astaire or Gene Kelley in those
great MGM musicals, or of her
mesmerizing the Carnegie Hall
audience with Over the Rainbow.
Gerald Clarke, the author of
Capote, has written a vastly enter-
taining, sobering and balanced bi-
ography, with much new informa-
tion, on Judy Garland. Get Happy
June 9 ,' 15,'2000"
is also an im-
pressive saga
of the leading
characters of
the Golden
Age of Holly-
wood and
Broadway.
Clarke offers
a penetrating
look at Gar- LORE
land's childhood in Minnesota
and California. Her parents trav-
eled, with Judy, the vaudeville
circuit as a song and dance team,
and brought Judy and her sister
into the act as soon as they could
talk. The family was asked to
leave a number of towns because
of her father's homosexuality.
Her mother was the classic stage
mother - pushing Judy into per-
forming and controlling all as-
pects of her life. It was her mother
,Boat Drinks Bacchanal 2000'
slated for Fisherman's Wharf
Delaware. Donations from ticket
sales to "Boat Drinks Bacchanal
2000" will benefit this cause, with
advance tickets $10 and tickets at
the door $12. Children, "Para-
keets," 6 and under are free and
ages 7 to 20 are $5. There will al-
so be a silent auction, items to raf-
fle and a 50/50 raffle.
Entertainment will be provided
by Jim Morris and the Big Bam-
boo Band. Morris is a successful
Florida singer, songwriter and
recording artist who has released
three CDs that are available at the
Mizzen Mast Gift Shop in Re-
hoboth Beach. His earlier music
has been described as similar to
Jimmy BuffeR's early recordings.
Local DJ Richard "Shock"
Shockley will also be on hand to
spin favorite Buffet tunes.
Advance tickets can be pur-
chased at the Mizzen Mast in Vil-
lage by the Sea or by calling
Sylvia Diehl at 227-2157 or e-
mail at <delbelle2@aol.com>;
call Denise at 684-4117 or e-mail
at <Pets007@aol.com>, or call
Joe at 302-697-9757 or e-mail at
<Jopenick@dol.net>..
The Delaware Seashore Parrot
Head Club will hold its first
"phlocking," titled "Boat Drinks
Bacchanal 2000," from noon to 5
p.m., Saturday, June 17, on the
deck of the Fisherman's Wharf on
Lewes Beach.
Parrot Heads in Paradise is the
national Jimmy Buffett fan club
with 135 chapters. Chapters from
the Cape Region and neighboring
states will converge in Lewes for
the "phlocking,' or Parrot Head
event, which is truly a sight to be-
hold. Brightly colored Hawaiian
shirts, leis, grass skirts, coconut
bras and crazy hats decorated
with themes depicting Jimmy
Buffet song lyrics combine to
make a colorful party atmosphere.
Featured will be $1.50 Coronas,
$2 margaritas and $6 for a bucket
of Coronitas.
However, Parrot Heads are also
seriously dedicated to working for
the environment and raising mon-
ey for various charities. Their
credo is "Parrot Heads Party with
a Purpose" and the purpose of this
event is to raise money for the
Alzheimer's Association of
: :i!! : !i 1
• ....... !
" e
BLACK ANaUS STEAKS
FRESH LOCAL SEAFO00
Er llmouE PASTAS
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.... Our New Men0000:
Open 7 niglts D|n-:::!,OPm. 227-3100
i
who introduced Judy to drugs to
keep her performing.
With her remarkable voice and
stage presence, Judy was a child
prodigy, and signed a movie con-
tract at age 14. Thus began her
lifelong love-hate relationship
with mogul Louis B. Mayer.
Garland became America's
most popular movie star with her
smash hits Wizard of Oz, Babes
in Arms and Meet Me in St.
Louis. Clarke is particularly per-
ceptive in describing Judy's tu-
multuous relationships with such
figures as Mickey Rooney, Frank
Sinatra, Tyrone Power, Yul Bryn-
ner, Artie Shaw, Lana Turner,
James Mason, Joan Crawford,
Humphrey Bogart and Elizabeth
Taylor.
Clarke chronicles how Garland
soon became a major problem for
the studio with her physical and
emotional illnesses, drinking and
rages which delayed many pro-
ductions. As her mental health de-
teriorated, she was hospitalized at
least a dozen times alone during
her MGM career for alcohol and
drug addiction.
Clarke recounts how Judy's
Hollywood friends learned to
empty their medicine chests be-
fore she visited, after they learned
she would steal every available
pill.
Clarke also details Judy's six
troubled marriages, which only
aggravated her addictions and
mental illness. Her first husband's
only interest was his toy trains,
another beat her and stole her
money and three others preferred
the company of other men. Clarke
tells of one bizarre situation in
which Judy's fifth husband had an
affair with her daughter Liza's
first husband, when all were mar-
ried. Because Judy was constantly
broke because her husbands and
agents stole millions from her,
and from her drug and alcohol ad-
dictions, she was forced to tour
and perform even when ill.
Clarke details how, when her
movie career ended, Garland em-
barked on a new successful con-
cert career with some remarkable
performances. She toured all over
the world and even had her own
television show.
Despite this comeback, and
these successes, Judy's mental
breakdown and drug abuse esca-
lated as her private life collapsed.
Unable to care for herself because
of her addictions, including hero-
in and cocaine, her daughter Liza
took over the role of Judy's moth-
er.
Clarke ponders why so few of
Garland's friends, coworkers or
employers stepped forward to
force her to obtain the medical
help she so desperately needed.
Towards the end of her life, broke
and sick, with no home, she de=
pended for food and lodging from
a few friends.
Garland died in London at age
48 of an overdose of barbiturates,
ending a too short and tragic life,
yet filled at tomes with a bril-
liance rarely seen in any per-
former.
Clarke has produced an authen-
tic, sensitive and engrossing story
of a remarkable entertainer, and of
her times.
Get Happy is now available at
local public libraries.
Gerry Lore retired to Rehoboth
Beach in 1996following a career
with Hoffmann-LaRoche Inc. He
is a graduate of Purdue Universi-
ty and Harvard Graduate School
of Business and is an avid base-
ball fan.
Your Place For Beef And Seafood
ALL YOU CAN EAT
Snowcrab Legs, Crabs, Shrimp
Both locations
Daily Dinner Specials
Long Neck Location
offers:
Rehoboth Location
offers:
Live Band Every
Nascar Sundays
Happy Hour 1-7
Free Buffet & Prize Give-A-Ways
Long Neck location
Happy Hour. Sunday-Friday 3-7 with FREE BUFFET
REHOBOTH 302-227-6700 • LONG NECK 302-945-8900