Rare footage of Judy Garland singing on the final show of her variety hour The Judy Garland Show has surfaced. Cut from the air because producers found it to be "too dark," Ms. Garland gives a resounding performance that leaves you feeling, indeed, a little blue.
Recorded in 1964, Ms. Garland delivered the chilling performance after learning that her show would be cancelled. Singing "By Myself," the video almost feels like a ghost, with Ms. Garland exposing her soul through her voice.
According to Little Things:
"Many believe that Judy's variety show was doomed from the start, and that she was set up to fail. That she went along with skits and jokes that mocked her weight issues and self-image. That CBS was secretly trying to sabotage the show's success, which ultimately led to its cancellation while the first season was still being taped. There never was a second season, which was devastating for her. Without enough funding for big-budget segments, Judy was forced to end the first season with 'concert-style' episodes - yet she ended up giving some of the greatest, most emotional performances of her entire career, just like the one you're about to see."
For Judy Garland, the stressful and nefarious culture behind Hollywood was the basis for her self-destructive behavior. Ingesting pills for weight and sleep, and abusing alcohol too, Ms. Garland set out to expose the sinister community at large.
Having been lured in at the young age of 13, her journey through Hollywood, specifically at MGM Studios, was a whirlwind that she was never able to truly escape. Her personal life, too, was hyperexposed, leaving the child star-cum-legend without any semblance of privacy.
Unfortunately it wouldn't be much longer after the recording of this performance that Ms. Garland would pass away in 1969.
Remember her fondly by watching the video below.
