Judy Garland: Radio Actor

In addition to her legendary career as a movie star, Judy Garland also spent a lot of time acting on the radio in the 40s and 50s. This part of her career often gets overlooked for a couple reasons. First, the size of her accomplishments on film (with classics like THE WIZARD OF OZ, MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS, and A STAR IS BORN) and onstage (she was one of the most popular performers of her era, culminating in her iconic 1961 live album JUDY AT CARNEGIE HALL) simply dwarfs everything else she ever did. The other reason is because of the disappearance of the medium itself. Dramatic radio, a massively popular medium in the 30s and 40s, went into quick decline with the rise of television in the 50s. Everyone knows that the invention of TV hurt the movie business, but it laid waste to radio—particularly dramatic radio.

I’ve compiled the following annotated list of Judy’s dramatic performances on radio. Please note, this list does not include the hundreds of appearances she made on shows where she appeared as herself to do an interview or sing a song or two. This is a list of her work as a radio actor.

 

1940

10-28: Strike Up the Band - Lux Radio Theatre. With Mickey Rooney. An adaptation of their film of the same name. Judy did more work for Lux Radio Theatre than any other show, and happily most of these have survived.

1941

1-26: Love’s New Sweet Song – Silver Theater CBS. This full episode might be lost, though a brief clip of Judy singing has survived. According to author Scott Schechter, Judy cowrote the story for this show and cowrote the song she sings.

10-12: Eternally Yours -Part I – Silver Theater CBS. This one might also be lost. I can’t find much information about it. The program usually specialized in original dramatic works, but occasionally did movie adaptations, and I wonder if this wasn’t a production of the 1939 Loretta Young movie. Part one of two.

10-19: Eternally Yours -Part II – Silver Theater CBS. Part two of two.

11-9: Babes in Arms - Screen Guild Theater. With Mickey Rooney. An adaptation of their 1939 film.

11-17: Merton of the Movies - Lux Radio Theatre. With Mickey Rooney. An adaptation of the play of the same name. I think this might be the only time Judy and Mickey acted in a radio show that was not an adaptation of one of their films. 

1942

10-12: Morning Glory - Lux Radio Theatre. With John Payne.

12-28: A Star is Born - Lux Radio Theatre. With Walter Pidgeon. This is an adaptation of the 1937 David O. Selznik drama. It was Judy’s first attempt at the character of Esther Blodgett and inspired her to eventually tackle the role on film (as a musical) later on. 

1943

3-22: For Me and My Gal – Screen Guild Players, CBS. With Gene Kelly and Dick Powell. An adaptation of Judy and Gene’s 1942 film.

12-12: Ringside Table – Silver Theater, CBS. With Alan Ladd. This one also appears to be lost.

1946

1-28: The Clock - Lux Radio Theatre. With John Hodiak. An adaptation of Judy’s 1945 film.

9-14: Holiday – Hollywood Star Time. Not sure if this one has survived. An adaptation of the 1938 Katharine Hepburn film.  

11-21: Drive In – Suspense. This one is readily available and is a real treat. Judy does radio noir! Suspense was just about the best show of its kind and Judy’s episode—where she plays a carhop who makes the mistake of accepting a lift home from the wrong man—is a real nailbiter. It’ll make you wish she did more of this kind of thing.

12-2: Meet Me In St. Louis - Lux Radio Theatre. With Margaret O’Brien. An adaptation of Judy and Margaret’s 1944 film.

1950

11-5: Alice Adams – The Theater Guild on the Air, NBC. With Thomas Mitchell. An adaptation of the 1935 Katharine Hepburn film.  

12-25: The Wizard of Oz - Lux Radio Theatre. Do I even have to say? An adaptation of Judy’s 1939 film.

1951

2-15: Cinderella – The Hallmark Playhouse. Judy as the title character.

1953

2-16: Lady in the Dark - Lux Radio Theatre. With John Lund. An adaptation of the 1944 film. Pretty dated and sexist, but if you’ve seen BABYGIRL you’ll see some funny parallels with this story. This was, I believe, Judy's last dramatic role on radio. 

This is list is only complete in the sense that it has all the performances I know of, but, of course, I'd always love to discover more. Let me know of any I missed!