A Legend Is Born: Gaga, Janet, Judy, and Babs

[PunkTheFunk 123,819]

Tomorrow, it will be officially T minus 5 months till we get to see Gaga on the big screen in A Star Is Born, and no matter how it turns out, I'll still be hyped af. 

To celebrate, I thought it would be interesting to take a deeper look at the leading ladies of the film's three previous incarnations -- Janet Gaynor, Judy Garland, and Barbra Streisand -- and perhaps find the common thread that connects Gaga with these three women.

(Clockwise: Judy Garland and Janet Gaynor, Barbra Streisand and Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand and Gaga)

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Janet Gaynor, 1937

Janet started out in Hollywood at the age of 18 in 1924, playing uncredited roles in silent films. Her rise to fame was meteoric: by 1926 she one of the "biggest box office draws" of the era. She went on to win the very first Oscar for Best Actress in 1929. Once sound films took over she was one of the few silent film actresses who transitioned successfully.

Her success continued into the early 1930s: in 1931 and 1932 she tied for number-one box office draw with another actress named Marie Dressler. 

Things took a turn when Twentieth Century Pictures merged with Fox Film Corporation (which she was signed to) in 1935, and her future as the studio's leading lady became uncertain. By the mid-30s her Witness era was in full swing and her box office appeal had waned, so much so that she had been bumped from number 1 down to number 24.

Frustrated, Janet left 20th Century Fox and was prepared to retire from acting, when producer David O. Selznick approached her with a new film called "A Star is Born" and convinced her to play the leading role. She accepted, and in October 1936, filming began.

ASIB proved to be her comeback. The film received positive reviews and seven Oscar nominations, of which it won one (for best writing). Janet's career was revitalized, but after starring in one more film after ASIB, she decided it was in fact time to retire. She later explained, "I had been working steadily for 17 long years, making movies was really all I knew of life. I just wanted to have time to know other things. Most of all I wanted to fall in love. I wanted to get married. I wanted a child. And I knew that in order to have these things one had to make time for them. So I simply stopped making movies. Then as if by a miracle, everything I really wanted happened."

Janet married three times, first in 1929 to a lawyer, but that only lasted a few years. Her second marriage was to an openly gay Hollywood costume designer named Adrian (fun fact: he designed the costumes for The Wizard of Oz, including the ruby slippers ). Janet was allegedly gay or bisexual herself, and was rumored to have been in a longtime relationship with Broadway star Mary Martin.

Adrian died in 1959 of a stroke, after which Janet married stage producer Paul Gregory in 1964. She spent the rest of her life doing the things she loved: spending time on the 3,000 acres of land she owned in Brazil, doing appearances on television and Broadway, and becoming an accomplished oil painter. She was involved in a car accident in 1982 and died two years later as a result of her injuries, aged 77.

(Janet Gaynor in 1980)

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Judy Garland, 1954

Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm) had an incredibly successful, but very turbulent, Hollywood career. She started performing in vaudeville with her sisters and later became a child star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) Studios in the mid-1930s, but her biggest break came in 1939 when she was cast in The Wizard of Oz. The film catapulted her career and she became one of the studio's "most bankable stars".

Over the next decade she would star in more hits like For Me and My Gal, Easter Parade and Meet Me In St Louis, but her fame also had a very ugly side. As Wikipedia puts it, "the pressures of stardom affected her physical and mental health from the time she was a teenager; her self-image was influenced and constantly criticized by film executives who believed her to be physically unattractive, and who manipulated her onscreen physical appearance" (i.e. putting removable caps on her teeth, changing her hairline, inserting rubber disks into her nose). 

As a child star she and other performers were prescribed "amphetamines to stay awake to keep up with the frantic pace of making one film after another, as well as barbiturates to take before going to bed so that they could sleep. This regular dose of drugs, she said, led to addiction and a lifelong struggle, and contributed to her eventual demise."

In 1947, at the age of 25, she suffered a nervous breakdown during the filming of The Pirate and tried to kill herself. She developed an addiction to prescription sleeping pills and alcohol and was suspended from MGM Studios. At one point, she underwent electroshock therapy to treat her depression. In 1950, at the age of 28, she attempted suicide again, and left MGM that year.

Soon after her suicide attempt her friend Bing Crosby invited her to sing on his radio show, "knowing she was depressed and running out of money", and asked his audience to give her love and support  Her career was reinvigorated after eight appearances on Bing Crosby's show: she embarked on a sold-out tour of Europe in 1951 and did a highly successful engagement at the Palace Theatre in New York. 

Like it was for Janet Gaynor, A Star Is Born was Judy Garland's comeback film. It was released in 1954 to great critical and popular success, and she was nominated for an Oscar (which was robbed from her by Grace Kelly ) and won a Golden Globe. Time Magazine called her performance "just about the greatest one-woman show in modern movie history."

She continued to experience some success after ASIB (from her multi-Grammy winning album Judy at Carnegie Hall in 1961 to critically acclaimed appearances in film and television), but she was nevertheless plagued by her demons. Her variety television series The Judy Garland Show, while nominated for four Emmys, was cancelled after only one season, and she was "personally and financially devastated." She sued one of her husbands for domestic abuse. Her 1964 tour of Australia was "disastrous", and she was heckled and booed after showing up on stage late and drunk. 

Judy's health deteriorated throughout the 1960s and her life came to a tragic end in 1969 when she overdosed on barbiturates at the age of 47.

(Judy with her fifth husband Mickey Deans, whom she married just months before she died).

When it comes to gay icons, Judy Garland is a patron saint. According to Wikipedia, "the reasons frequently given for her standing as an icon among gay men are admiration of her ability as a performer, the way her personal struggles seemed to mirror those of gay men in America during the height of her fame, and her value as a camp figure." Aside from that, many men she was close to in her life were gay. Her father, her second husband (director Vincente Minelli) and her daughter Liza Minelli's first husband, were all gay.

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Barbra Streisand, 1976

Unlike Janet and Judy before her, Barbra Streisand appears to have had a very successful and stable career between her debut and her starring in the second remake of ASIB. Which is great for her, but doesn't make for an interesting blurb to write  

She's proved to be a legend in both the worlds of singing and acting. Her debut album, released in 1963, won Album of the Year. Her stint on Broadway as Fanny Brice in Funny Girl, earned her a Tony nomination in 1964. Her debut performance in a film, as Fanny Brice in Funny Girl once again, earned her the Oscar for Best Actress in 1969. In 1970 she received a Special Tony award and was named "Star of the Decade". According to Wikipedia, "from 1969 to 1980, Streisand appeared in Top Ten Money Making Stars Poll, the annual motion picture exhibitors poll of Top 10 Box Office attractions a total of 10 times, often as the only woman on the list."

So, yeah. She was pretty darn successful 

She was a producer on her version of ASIB, along with her hairdresser/then-boyfriend Jon Peters (who is also producing Gaga's version). Elvis Presley was interested in playing the lead role, but declined after he was denied top billing and a higher salary. The leading male role eventually went to Kris Kristofferson.

The film departed from its two previous versions by depicting the music business rather than the film industry. It also departed from the previous version by being less critically acclaimed (only a 33% on Rotten Tomatoes ). But it smashed at the box office and was nominated for numerous awards, including Oscars, Grammys, and Golden Globes.

According to Wikipedia, "In the two previous versions, Gaynor and Garland were each depicted on screen as winning an Oscar, yet neither won for their film in real life (though Gaynor won an Oscar before, as did Streisand). In this film, Streisand is instead depicted as winning a Grammy, and in real life the film's song "Evergreen" won her both a Grammy (for Song of the Year) and an Oscar." The soundtrack album sold 15 million copies; "Evergreen" also became one of Streisand's biggest hits, and topped the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks.

As for her gay connection, Barbra Streisand is undoubtedly one of the most quintessential gay icons of all time. Also, her only son, Jason Gould, is openly gay.

______

Lady Gaga, 2018

It's been almost 81 years since the very first film: the ASIB torch has officially been passed on to another talented, legendary woman. After learning about each of the three ASIB leading ladies I see now that there is a bit of each of them in Gaga. Also, Janet, Judy, and Barbra all had gay family members, but I'm not sure what to do with that information.

Anyway, here's to you Gags, and a very successful Hollywood career.

#2019BestSongOscarIsOurs

[actsleazy 6,633]

12 minutes ago, PunkTheFunk said:

Also, Janet, Judy, and Barbra all had gay family members, but I'm not sure what to do with that information.

doesn't everyone though?

and if you dont, you ARE the gay family member 

[FGGrayson 9,670]

2 minutes ago, actsleazy said:

doesn't everyone though?

and if you dont, you ARE the gay family member 

her Fanily is her gay family

[Tom Nook 37,758]

We love legends 

[rumours 45,521]

Love this thread, @PunkTheFunk.

Very interesting read!

[prince 4,688]

Whilst we're here lets bask in this glory 

 

[Sneaky Oliver 21,411]

2 hours ago, PunkTheFunk said:

Her father, her second husband (director Vincente Minelli) and her daughter Liza Minelli's first husband, were all gay.

Wait wait wait I’m shook I didn’t know Liza is actually Judy’s daughter ???? I’m so confused rn I’m a flop  

[HausOfMiklaus 1,803]

Phenomenal post. Thank you!

[Ronk 14,501]

With the chronic pain Gaga endures, I certainly hope she can avoid the drug problems that messed up Judy Garland.   I think Gaga and Barbra Streisand have two of the greatest voices ever, and critics may focus on that when reviewing the film.

[Ashley 8,719]

I had no idea child actors were drugged back then  poor Judy.

[SCHEISSEMONTRE 2,783]

Legends only 

[PunkTheFunk 123,819]

1 hour ago, Sneaky Oliver said:

Wait wait wait I’m shook I didn’t know Liza is actually Judy’s daughter ???? I’m so confused rn I’m a flop  

The Council of Gays hereby announces that your Hunty License has been revoked