Behind the glitter: The dark childhood of a Hollywood icon

Long before Judy Garland became the iconic Dorothy, she was a frightened little girl trying to survive a world that offered little safety and even less tenderness. Her childhood unfolded in constant instability. Her parents’ marriage collapsed publicly and painfully. Her mother, driven by fierce ambition, placed career above comfort and treated Judy less like a child and more like an investment. At the same time, the studio system that would later profit so enormously from her talent already viewed her as a commodity. In that environment, Judy’s sense of self was shaped by fear, pressure, and the belief that her worth existed only when she performed.

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