Born On This Day- June 10th.. Francis Ethel Gumm

How can I come up with a gay connection to Judy Garland? Lets see… her father was gay, 2 of her husbands were gay, the man she hand picked as a husband for her daughter was gay, her gay fans remained her most steadfast fans through the drugs & the booze ups & downs, the fruit of her loins was Liza Minnelli & then there is that little film- The Wizard Of Oz.

42 years after her death, Judy Garland remains the very definition of gay icon. Her failed relationships, her self-doubt, & her battle with substance abuse are aspects of a life that most of us can identify with, while her live performances reflect a truth & freedom that are desired by anyone that has wasted time hiding their own emotions.

Gay culture can't escape Garland's influence. The Stonewall riots have been attributed to the anger & grief felt on Garland's funeral that day. The term- "Friend of Dorothy," is from our identification with Garland's most famous role.

Garland's 1961 concert at Carnegie Hall is a landmark in Show Biz. 2 years earlier, she had been advised to retire from performing after being diagnosed with hepatitis, but instead she took on a series of concerts in Europe & the USA that reestablished her reputation as the top entertainer of all time. The Carnegie Hall show is regarded as the greatest evening in show-business history. The live recording of that concert spent more than a year on the Billboard charts & won 7 Grammys, including Album of the Year.

Last year, my dear friend- WCK3 & I stayed up late into the night watching CDs of her TV show from the early 1960s. I was entranced by her presence & horrified by the histrionics. Sometimes when listening to her recordings, I am off put by the feeling that she sings every single song as if it were her last. Her over the top interpretations of the great standards push me away. But, then I hear her original version or her late in life version of Over The Rainbow & I end up crying. Judy Garland loved her fans & they loved her back. I love her for that.

On This Day In Gay History, 50 Years Ago: Judy At Carnegie Hall

Judy Garland was only 37 years old, but near death, addicted to booze & pills. Her acting & singing careers were considered long over. Defying doctors’ directives, Garland put all her eggs in one big show biz basket- a 1961 Carnegie Hall Concert. That performance became a moment in time for those who were there & a showbiz legend for everyone else. The evening is still considered the greatest night in show business history.

Garland had not worked in films since A Star Is Born in 1954. After a period of rest & nutrition, & a more moderate indulgence in alchahol & pharmacuticals,she had gradually been building a solid reoputaion for showing up, & giving well regarded performances in all sorts of venues in Europe & North America in 1960 & early 1961. But no one was anticipating the mania was on the evening she brought her act she to Carnegie Hall. Her audience would call her her back for encore after encore, even asking her to repeat a song after her book of arrangements sung through.

On Sunday, April 23rd, 1961, after a bombastic overture that built high emotion, Garland made her entrance 20 minutes late, looking exceptionally restored, & put together, to a very loud ovation from the audience. Her audience that night included theatre performers & show biz greats on their usual Sunday night off & the celebrities were as crazed in their veneration towards Garland as her gay audience.

Barry Manilow: “Name me one other artist, ever, whose concert is celebrated 50 years after the concert was done. When her voice was in tip-top shape, everything she did was filled with the truth. I think that’s the big difference between her & everybody else. Everybody else, oh yeah, they’re great singers—they do vocal acrobatics. But they don’t tell the truth. This woman always told the truth, and especially that night.”

Lorna Luft attending with sister Liza & brother Joey: “The one thing I remember, when you’re 8, adults are supposed to act like adults. They are not supposed to jump out of their chairs, screaming, yelling, running towards the stage. They’re supposed to be in control. There they were, all dressed up in the tuxedos, going nuts.”

The recording of this evening is the only Judy Garland recording on my collection. I don’t need another, she sings each song as if it were her last. The album is still stunning, vivid & vital. It was #1 on the Billboard charts for 13 weeks in 1961, & has never been out of print since.

Judy Garland At Carnegie Hall is the only Garland recording on my collection. I don’t need another, she sings each song as if it were her last. The album is still stunning, vivid & vital. It was #1 on the Billboard charts for 13 weeks in 1961, & has never been out of print since. Judy at Carnegie Hall is an essential album for those who wish to understand pop culture of the 20th century.

Whoopi Goldberg: “When she sings ‘Come Rain or Come Shine’, she combusts onstage at the end of it, that’s how I always wanted to be as an actor. That has always been one of my bars to reach, that state of grace that she goes into at the end of that song, when she sounds like she’s shaking like a branch that’s being blown, & she’s slightly off-key—just slightly. But it doesn’t matter, because she’s on fire.”

Garland's return to the top would be brief. In 1962, Garland was nominated for a best-supporting-actress Oscar for Stanley Kramer’s Judgment at Nuremberg; & a CBS TV special she did with Frank Sinatra & Dean Martin was a smash hit, leading the network to sign her to a $24 million variety series.

We know the sad story: she couldn’t stay away from the pills & her health deteriorated. In 1967, Garland married Mickey Deans, who supplied her with drugs. 3 months later, soon after her 47th birthday, her new husband found her dead of a barbiturate overdose in the bathroom of their London apartment. The viewing of her body at NYC’s Frank E. Campbell Funeral Home, was a stupendous spectacle, with tens of thousands mourners, just a few days before the Stonewall riots, a coincidence connecting the 2 events in many gay peoples’ minds & cemented Garland’s status as The Gay Icon. But Garland was a great artist & remains an icon to people of all persuasions, & the audience at her most celebrated concert was distinguished by diversity as well as devotion.

Born On This Day- December 4th... Unexpected Personal Muse Deanna Durbin

This is not a proof sheet for headshots, but the actual product. A Seattle commercial photographer loved to use me for shoots & projects, & this was his 1987 promotional calendar for his studio. What can I say... the camera loves me.

Yesterday, while waiting for the MAX train, a young woman that I serve on the Portland Downtown Retail Commission with, saw me & stopped to comment that she had watched Drugstore Cowboy on IFC the previous evening & was surprised & delighted by my work in the film. This morning at work & received the following email, just as I was reading who was born on December 4th & attempting to come up with ideas for a post:
Hi Stephen

After we spoke today, I remembered you were also one of the video dates from Singles. One of my favorite movies ever. Your bit was awesome, and I remembered it without even going on IMDB! Great part. Good work. I can't believe that movie is almost 20 years old, that era feels like yesterday. Your Fan, Lisa

She really should be just a footnote to me; I truly have a deep love of film history. although I never really cared  for or about her, Deanna Durbin ends up holding a place in my personality & the direction my life turned because of a little anecdote.


Durbin made her first film appearance in 1936 with Judy Garland in Every Sunday & subsequently signed a contract with Universal Studios, where she was paid $400,000 per film. Her success as the ideal teenage girl in films such as Three Smart Girls (1936) was credited with saving the studio from bankruptcy. In 1938 Durbin won a special Oscar for Best Juvenile Actor. She was Universal’s top star.

As she grew older, Durbin grew dissatisfied with the girl-next-door roles assigned to her, & attempted to portray a more mature & sophisticated style. But the film noirs Christmas Holiday (1944) & Lady on a Train (1945) were not as well received as her musical comedies & romances had been. While she was working 1936-1948, Durbin’s fan club was the largest in the world.



She was, like Judy Garland, a Hollywood creation & a world-wide phenomenon. Yet, Durbin withdrew from Hollywood & retired from acting & singing in 1949. She married film producer-director Charles Henri David in 1950, & the couple moved to a farmhouse outside of the village Neauphle-le-Chateau, outside of Paris. Since then she has withdrawn from public life & she continues to fiercely guard her privacy. Unlike Garbo, who famously strolled the streets of New York, Durbin truly does want to be alone.


In 1980, she sent a current photo of herself to Life Magazine, with a note explaining that she was upset at the stories of being overweight. Since her retirement, Durbin has granted only a single interview in 1983, to film historian David Shipman.
Unlike Garbo, who famously strolled the streets of New York, Durbin truly does want to be alone in order to lead a normal life.

Winston Churchill adored her movies, & Durbin was Anne Frank’s favorite Hollywood star.


So here is the anecdote. It was told to me a very successful film & stage producer who I briefly slept with for a few months in 1974. I won’t name him, but I will tell you that I got to hold the Tony Award that he won (one of several) for Wonderful Town while he did unspeakable things to my 20 year old body. Here we go:

Garland had suffered from extreme drug & alcohol abuse, & she had become overweight & very ill, After a long convalescence, weight loss, & vocal rest, she returned to the concert stage with a simple program of 'just Judy.' Her Concert at Carnegie Hall in NYC on the night of April 23, 1961, has been called "the greatest night in show business history". Garland's live concerts had become huge successes at the time & the double album of the event was a gigantic best seller, spending 73 weeks on the Billboard chart, including 13 weeks #1. It won 7 Grammys, including Album of the Year.It seems that when Judy Garland was enjoying her amazing comeback with her fabled concerts, she was trying to reach her childhood rival- Deanna Durbin who lived in a farmhouse with no telephone. Garland would not give up her attempt to reach the reclusive Durbin & was finally able to speak to her via a telephone at the local parish. Garland gushed to Durbin about her new found success & her happy circumstances. When there was finally a pause, Durbin said: “Oh Judy dear… are you still in that shitty business?”

Durbin’s retort has lived on as my mantra whenever I am asked why I retired from acting.