Judy Garland was “always” meant to sing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” despite a longtime rumor that Shirley Temple was considered the top choice to play Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz.”
Garland’s daughter, Lorna Luft, set the record straight during a live Q&A at the Palazzo Theatre the Venetian Resort Las Vegas on Monday night.
Luft, whose the daughter of Garland and Sidney Luft – and half sister of Liza Minnelli – confirmed the role “was always, always for my mom. Okay? They never had anybody else in mind.”
Garland wasn’t as big of a child star as Temple at the time, but the latter still has ties to the film.
Luft explained that due to the rising cost of the 1939 Hollywood classic, Loew’s Theatres wanted a bigger star, “someone who had starred in many, many movies as a child,” she said.
Child stars didn’t come any bigger than Temple at that time. “So, they went to L.B. Mayer, the head of MGM, and they said, ‘Please consider Shirley Temple.’ And he said, ‘Not on your life.’” Luft claimed.
Mayer, however, eventually gave in and “sent the great head of the music department, Roger Edens, over to 20th Century Fox,” Luft shared.
Edens audition her and the verdict was: “She’s got killer dimples, but she can’t sing this movie,” Luft said.
“So, my mom became Dorothy forever. Just to put that a little bit to sleep,” she added.
Luft also revealed she met her years later and she told her, “‘I just want you to know something. I could have never, ever done what your mom did in ‘The Wizard of Oz,’” she said. “And I thought that was really, really kind – and very gracious,” Luft concluded.
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