“This is quite clearly an accidental circumstance to a person who was accustomed to taking barbiturates over a very long time. She took more barbiturates than she could tolerate.”
The third daughter of vaudevillians Frank and Ethel Gumm, the woman who would become an icon was born Frances Ethel Gumm on June 10, 1922
As Garland's star rose with roles like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, so too did the studio's scrutiny of her figure
Along with anxiety about her size and persistent stage fright, Garland's personal life offered limited respite