Judy (2019) starring Renée Zellweger was a disturbing little movie. Hollywood consuming another dear soul. Asking the question, “What could have been?” What if someone had been in Judy’s corner? We will never know. So many people share in the blame. Her mother. Her father. Herself. Ethel and Francis Gumm. Vaudevillians who knew they had something with Judy. One of the funniest stories is when they put 2 year old Judy into their Christmas act singing Jingle Bells and the tyke had to be drug kicking and screaming offstage! A similar addiction to the limelight was portrayed in a scene with Mickey Rooney. They had just finished a stage appearance and Mickey wanted to go get something to eat. Judy begged off to return for an encore. She couldn’t let go the light.

How much of her dysfunction did Hollywood cause? And how much had she brought with her? The dysfunction in her family had started before she was born. A homosexual father who had no business being in the marriage. A mother who saw a meal ticket. A sketchy upbringing in which her family was often homeless. How much this story is different from others during the Great Depression is beyond me. Its easy to blame her misfortunes on the ‘delicate little woman‘ syndrome, only Hollywood chewed up and spit out a ton of big strong men too (John Wayne, Elvis, Tab Hunter, Robert Mitchum, Marlon Brando).

There is something that causes performers to be addicts and addicts to be performers. Chicken and the egg. In Judy’s case the same man that made her also destroyed her. Louis Burt Mayer (Lazar Meir; July 12, 1884 – October 29, 1957). A Russian Jew of course and a sadistic son of a bitch. Giving uppers and downers to a 15 year old? Denying her food? Denying her childhood? He got his 20 years out of her he wanted. The fact he left a broken shell didn’t bother him. Permanently scarred from the abortion she got at his urging. Between that and the drugs she was doomed. And for what? Mayer was dead by ’57. Wikipedia is sure in love with the man.

The business manager who stole from her (celebrities and sports figures would be much better off just sticking their money in the bank and not trying to be fancy). The husbands, friends and family that enabled the addict. Addicts don’t exist without enablers. The weakness she inherited from her father. Its just criminal a woman who could give such joy to a nation should end up beat, broke and busted the final 10 years of her life. Wizard of Oz, Meet Me In St. Louis, Harvey Girls, Easter Parade, Ziegfield Girl, A Star Is Born and on and on. Hollywood has a monopoly and abuses it. How many lives were cut short? Or ruined? By the bright lights and greed.

An interesting thought that occurred to me was the different outcome of another child star, Shirley Temple. Not being an expert on either one, it would seem from the casual observation that Shirley went on to have a somewhat normal and productive life. Her father squandered her money so that at age 21 she received only a pittance instead of the fortune she had earned. A most interesting case study, the difference between the two.