Judy Garland faced extreme exploitation at MGM

Historical accounts detail the severe personal toll taken on Judy Garland during her rise to stardom. Before signing with MGM at age 13, Garland was part of the vaudeville act ‘The Gumm Sisters,’ where her mother reportedly used amphetamines and sleeping pills to manage the family’s performance schedule.

During the filming of ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ studio executives at MGM allegedly subjected the 16-year-old actress to extreme measures to maintain a child-like appearance. To manage the high-budget production, Garland was reportedly forced into a starvation diet consisting of chicken soup and 80 cigarettes a day, while being required to wear tight corsets to hide her developing figure.

To sustain 16-hour workdays, the studio provided a cycle of stimulants and sedatives. Furthermore, the studio exerted significant control over her personal life, including refusing to grant maternity leave when she became pregnant in 1942.