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Judy and I: My Life with Judy Garland Audiobook
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Publisher Description
The third of Judy Garland’s five husbands, Sid Luft was the one man in her life who stuck around. He was chiefly responsible for the final act of Judy’s meteoric comeback after she was unceremoniously booted off the MGM lot: he produced her iconic, Oscar-nominated vehicle A Star Is Born and expertly shaped her concert career.
Previously unpublished, Sid Luft’s intimate autobiography tells his and Judy’s story in hard-boiled yet elegant prose. It begins on a fateful night in New York City when the not quite divorced Judy Garland and the not quite divorced Sid Luft meet at Billy Reed’s Little Club and fall for each other.
The romance lasted Judy’s lifetime, despite the separations, the reconciliations, and the divorce. Under Luft’s management, Judy came back bigger than ever, building a singing career that rivaled Sinatra’s. However, her drug dependencies and suicidal tendencies put a tremendous strain on the relationship.
Sid did not complete his memoir; it ended in 1960 after Judy hired David Begelman and Freddie Fields to manage her career. But Randy L. Schmidt, acclaimed editor of Judy Garland on Judy Garland and author of Little Girl Blue: The Life of Karen Carpenter, seamlessly pieced together the final section of the book from extensive interviews with Sid, most previously unpublished.
Despite everything, Sid never stopped loving Judy and never forgave himself for not being able to ultimately save her from the demons that drove her to an early death at age forty-seven in 1969. Sid served as chief conservator of the Garland legacy until his death at the age of eighty-nine in 2005. This is his testament to the love of his life.
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“More than forty years after Garland’s death comes this intimate memoir from her third husband. Based on notes Luft drafted before he died, the book chronicles the icon’s battle with addiction and depression, as well as her several suicide attempts, and includes surprising details such as a secret abortion during their courtship, her haunting bond with Marilyn Monroe, and how the teenage Garland was molested by Munchkins on the set of Oz.”
— People magazine
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“Luft writes with neither sensation nor sentiment. Much like himself, his writing is masculine and unflinching. Imagine Hemingway writing about the girl from Oz. It makes for a pretty fascinating book.”
— Bay Area Reporter -
“Judy and I is a gossip-lover’s delight, but it’s also heartfelt, tough, and sad.”
— Shelf Awareness -
“Garland fanatics will gobble up [Luft’s] detailed, insightful backstage accounts of Garland’s classic late productions and gossipy tidbits about their social circle.”
— Kirkus Reviews -
“More than the love of his life, Judy Garland was Sid Luft’s passion, and their tempestuous relationship was one of the great untold stories of the twentieth century. Garland left him, returned, and left him again, but Luft thought of Garland every day from when they met until the day he died, and it shows in this riveting page-turner of a memoir.”
— Lawrence Schulman, music producer, critic, and translator -
“Judy Garland fans and fans of Hollywood’s Golden Age will enjoy Luft’s honesty and insight from his very unique vantage point. A definite must-read.”
— Scott Brogan, founder and webmaster of TheJudyRoom.com
Awards
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A People Pick of the Week of Super-Revealing Celeb Memoirs to Read Right Now
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About Sid Luft
Sid Luft (1915–2005) was an amateur boxer, test pilot, Hollywood producer, and impresario. He was married to Judy Garland from 1952 to 1965.
About Joe Barrett
Joe Barrett, an actor and Audie Award and Earphones Award–winning narrator, has appeared both on and off Broadway as well as in hundreds of radio and television commercials.