Judy Garland’s Last Words: The Tragic Story Behind the Icon’s Untimely Death at 47

“I’m the queen of the comeback. I’m getting tired of coming back. I really am. I can’t even go to the powder room without making a comeback.”

In 1968, Judy Garland uttered these ominous words during an interview with Dick Cavett, just a year before her passing.

Judy Garland captivated audiences for decades with her exceptional singing and acting abilities. Her life was tragically cut short on June 22, 1969, when the 47-year-old star was discovered dead in her London home. The official cause of death was ruled as an accidental overdose of barbiturates, powerful sleeping pills to which she had been addicted for much of her life.

While millions adored Garland for her soulful performances, few were aware of the extent of her personal and financial struggles, particularly in her final months. A closer examination of the true story behind her untimely death reveals a cautionary tale about the dangers of child stardom and the remarkable resilience of a legendary entertainer.

From her early days as a child vaudeville performer to her reign as a leading lady in Hollywood, Judy Garland faced ongoing battles with addiction, depression, and insecurity, which provide essential context for the tragedy of her premature death.

A Childhood Lost to Stage Pressures and Pills

Garland’s fraught relationship with pills began at age 10 when her ambitious mother Ethel regularly gave her stimulants to boost her energy for performances with her older sisters. This pattern continued when MGM signed Garland as a teenager in the 1930s. 

Studio executives ruthlessly demanded she maintain a grueling schedule and youthful appearance. Their troubling practices included:

• Providing Garland with a steady supply of amphetamines to give her the energy to work long days.
• Putting her on extremely restrictive diets and encouraging her to smoke to suppress appetite.
• Giving her barbiturates to help her sleep and calm her nerves from the uppers.

This cycle of uppers and downers quickly led to a dangerous dependency that would haunt Garland for the rest of her life. The immense pressure to be a big box office draw from such a young age also took a severe psychological toll.

Breakdowns, Comebacks, and Increasing Debt

Despite her massive success in films like The Wizard of Oz and A Star Is Born, Garland’s inner turmoil repeatedly threatened to derail her career. She struggled with depression and insecurity about her weight and appearance, fueled by the unrealistic expectations MGM had placed on her as a young star. Some key events highlighting her continued challenges:  

• Multiple stays at hospitals for nervous breakdowns and suicide attempts in the 1940s and 50s.
• Repeatedly being fired by MGM for erratic behavior and absenteeism stemming from substance abuse.
• Mounting debts to the IRS and others that required her to keep performing long past her prime, eventually totaling $500,000 owed to the IRS.

Though she mounted several successful comebacks on stage and screen, the root issues of addiction and mental health troubles continued to plague Garland up until her untimely death. Sadly, the relentless pressure and poor treatment she experienced as a child performer cast a long shadow over her life and career.

The Tragic Final Months

In the last year of her life, Judy Garland’s personal and professional challenges sadly reached a breaking point. Crippling debt, worsening addictions, and a toxic marriage created a perfect storm that the troubled star could not weather.

Desperate Financial and Personal Straits

By late 1968, Garland found herself in an incredibly precarious position:  

• She owed hundreds of thousands in back taxes to the IRS.
• Significant debts remained from her television variety show that had been canceled in 1964.
• Most of her earnings were immediately seized for overdue payments.
• Her dependence on pills and alcohol accelerated as she tried to keep performing.

Despite interventions by loved ones who were terribly concerned, the singer continued to exert immense strain to make ends meet.

Disastrous London Performances

To earn money, Garland began a five-week run of performances at London’s Talk of the Town nightclub in January 1969. However, the shows quickly turned disastrous due to her erratic behavior and inability to perform. Disturbing incidents included:

• Garland arriving on stage 80 minutes late, slurring her words and forgetting lyrics. 
• Being pelted with bread rolls and cigarette packs by an angry crowd as she sang over a chorus of boos.
• Fleeing the stage in tears during one performance after the hostile heckling.
• Relying heavily on alcohol and pills to get through shows or failing to show up entirely.

While some fans remained supportive, the troubling spectacle of Garland’s self-destruction on stage made headlines. Critics called the concerts a “travesty” and evidence of a once-great star “in physical and mental decline.”

A Troubled Marriage Fueling Addiction  

Compounding Judy’s woes during her final months was her relationship with nightclub manager Mickey Deans, her fifth and last husband. Deans reportedly first met Garland when he delivered a package of stimulant pills to her hotel room.

Just four months after their wedding, Deans would discover his wife dead in their bathroom from what was ruled an accidental overdose of barbiturates.

Tragically, even in grief, Deans appeared more focused on profiting from Garland’s demise than honoring her memory. Lorna Luft recalled her disgust when Deans insisted their limo heading to Garland’s New York funeral stop to pick up a newspaper advertising his tell-all book deal about the star.

While Garland famously sought that elusive place “over the rainbow” in her signature song, a perfect storm of financial, medical, and relationship troubles devastated the beloved entertainer in her final months. The depths of her despair, isolation, and self-destructive behavior shocked fans and friends alike. 

Sadly, Garland’s tragic end serves as a haunting reminder of the genuine perils of fame and addiction.

What Were Judy Garland’s Last Words

We don’t know the last words spoken by the beloved Wizard of Oz starlet. Still, months before her death, when quested about the legitimacy of the ceremony of her marriage to Dean, she said, “Finally, finally, I am loved.”

These are possibly the last notable words before she was found dead by her husband, Mickey Deans, months later. 

Garland’s Death and Its Aftermath

On June 22, 1969, the world lost one of its most iconic entertainers under heartbreaking circumstances that are still difficult to comprehend five decades later. Garland’s tragic death at age 47 sent shockwaves through the entertainment industry and devastated millions of fans.

Judy Garland’s lifeless body was discovered by her fifth husband Mickey Deans around 11:30 am in the bathroom of their rented London house. Deans had to break down the locked door and found his wife seated on the toilet with her head slumped forward.  

The coroner ruled Garland’s cause of death to be “an incautious self-overdosage” of barbiturates, the sleeping pills she had become dangerously dependent on over the years. The overdose was ruled accidental, as she had likely built up a tremendous tolerance that made it hard to dose properly.

Garland’s blood showed she had consumed the equivalent of ten 1.5-grain Seconal capsules. The coroner noted that tolerance to barbiturates can be “very deceptive” and that, sadly, her death was “a consequence of the way she was living.” 

A Devastated Public Says Goodbye

News of Garland’s passing inspired an immediate outpouring of grief from her legions of fans. Some 20,000 people lined up outside the Frank Campbell Funeral Home in Manhattan to pay their respects at a public viewing.

Stars including Lauren Bacall, Mickey Rooney, Lionel Richie, and Garland’s close friend Kay Thompson attended the small private service. Liza Minnelli, Garland’s eldest child and a rising star herself, was supported by her father, Vincente Minnelli, and husband, Peter Allen.   

In a heartbreaking interview a few years later, Liza reflected on her mother’s demise: “She let her guard down. She didn’t die from an overdose. I think she just got tired. She lived like a taut wire. I don’t think she ever looked for real happiness because she always thought happiness would mean the end.”

Garland’s Eternal Rainbow: A Legacy Shining Through the Tragedy

Despite the immensely tragic circumstances of Judy Garland’s death, her unparalleled talent and indomitable spirit continue to inspire generations of fans, entertainers, and members of the LGBTQ+ community who view her as a special icon. 

Garland’s onscreen vulnerability and off-screen struggles resonate with anyone who has fought to love themselves and overcome their demons. Her extraordinary voice and undeniable charisma created moments of pure movie magic that still dazzle audiences today.

Liza Minnelli shares this sweet moment of her mother, not the actress, but the person, ”There’s nothing I can say to convince people that I had a happy childhood… But she ensured my happiness as a kid.”

For the woman who so convincingly showed us the power of dreaming in her immortal portrayal of Dorothy, it’s most fitting to remember Judy Garland as always chasing her personal rainbow. 

Her artistic gifts created an eternal glow that can never be diminished and always lights the way for others.