Show name	Today
genre	NewsTalk
creator	Sylvester L. Weaver, Jr.
Presenter	Weekday editionMatt Lauer (1997–present)Ann Curry (2011–present)Natalie Morales (2011–present)Al Roker (1996–present)Savannah Guthrie (2011–present)Hoda Kotb (2007–present)Kathie Lee Gifford (2008–present)Other:Willard Scott (1980–present)Weekend ''Today'' Lester Holt (2003–present) Saturdays: Amy Robach (2007–present)Jenna Wolfe (2007–present)Bill Karins (2009–present)Janice Huff (1995–present)
narrated	Dick Dudley (former)Fred Facey (1984–2006)Les Marshak (current)
theme music composer	John Williams
country	United States
num episodes	17,694 (as of May 14, 2011)
executive producer	Jim Bell
location	NBC StudiosNew York, New York
runtime	240 minutes (4 hours)
network	NBC
picture format	480i (16:9 SDTV),1080i (HDTV)
first aired	January 14, 1952
last aired	present
status	Returning series
related	Early Today
website	http://www.todayshow.com
directed by	Joe Michaels
slogan	Your day is Today }}

''Today'' (also referred to as ''The Today Show'') is an American morning news and talk show airing every morning on NBC. Debuting on January 14, 1952, it was the first of its genre on American television and in the world. The show is also the fourth-longest running American television series. Originally a two-hour program on weekdays, it expanded to Sundays (currently one hour) in 1987 and Saturdays (two hours) in 1992. The weekday broadcast expanded to three hours in 2000, and a fourth hour launched in 2007.

''Today'''s dominance was virtually unchallenged by the other networks until the late 1980s, when it was overtaken by ABC's ''Good Morning America''. ''Today'' retook the Nielsen ratings lead the week of December 11, 1995, and has held onto that position every week since.

In 2002, ''Today'' was ranked #17 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.

Current cast

The first two hours of the show are anchored by Matt Lauer and Ann Curry, with broadcast meteorologist Al Roker, news anchor Natalie Morales, and Chief Legal Analyst Savannah Guthrie. Roker, Morales and Guthrie also serve as co-hosts of the third hour, while Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford co-host the fourth hour. Lauer and Curry typically appear with Roker, Morales and Guthrie at the very beginning of the third hour, occasionally staying on if breaking news warrants it. Weekend editions are anchored by Lester Holt, Amy Robach (Saturdays) and Jenna Wolfe (Sundays), all three of whom frequently contribute to the weekday show.

Guthrie and Morales substitute for Curry, while Guthrie, Holt, MSNBC host Willie Geist and ''Meet the Press'' anchor David Gregory cover for Lauer. CNBC anchor Carl Quintanilla and Saturday co-host Robach occasionally host, mainly during holidays.

Guthrie is also the main fill-in for Morales at the news desk, while Geist, Kotb, MSNBC host Tamron Hall, Quintanilla, Robach and Wolfe have also appeared as news anchor. Various NBC News correspondents appear at the news desk at weekends.

Regular correspondents include Chief White House correspondent and NBC Political Director Chuck Todd, Mike Leonard, Capitol Hill correspondent Kelly O'Donnell, Bob Dotson, Jamie Gangel, and Peter Alexander. Dr. Nancy Snyderman is the network's chief medical correspondent. Jean Chatzky, editor-at-large for Money Magazine, provides weekly financial segments. Sarah Haines is the online correspondent. CNBC correspondents, including Burnett, Amanda Drury, Melissa Francis and Melissa Lee, regularly report from the New York Stock Exchange, while MSNBC and Weather Channel correspondents are frequent contributors. Jenna Bush Hager is a special correspondent for the program.

History

The show's first broadcast aired on January 14, 1952. It was the brainchild of Sylvester L. Weaver, Jr., who was then vice-president of NBC. Weaver was president of the company from 1953 to 1955, during which time ''Today's'' late-night companion ''The Tonight Show'' premiered. In pre-production, the show's proposed title was ''The Rise and Shine Revue''.

''Today'' was the first show of its genre when it signed on with original host Dave Garroway. The show blended national news headlines, interviews with newsmakers, lifestyle features, other light news and gimmicks (including the presence of the chimpanzee J. Fred Muggs as the show's mascot during the early years), and local station news updates. It has spawned several other shows of a similar type, including ABC's ''Good Morning America'', and CBS' ''The Early Show''. In other countries the format was copied – most notably in the United Kingdom with the BBC's ''Breakfast'' and ITV's ''Good Morning Britain''. In Canada with ''Canada AM'' on CTV and in Australia with the Sunrise (TV program) on the Seven Network.

When ''Today'' started, it was seen live only in the Eastern and Central time zones, broadcasting three hours per morning but seen for only two hours in each time zone. Since 1958, ''Today'' is tape-delayed for the different time zones. Partly to accommodate host Dave Garroway's declining health, the program ceased live broadcasts in the summer of 1958, opting instead to broadcast an edition taped the prior afternoon. The experiment, which drew criticism from many sides, ended when John Chancellor replaced Garroway in July 1961. For many years ''Today'' was a two-hour program, from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. in all time zones except for Alaska, Hawaii and U.S. Virgin Islands, until NBC expanded it to three hours on October 2, 2000. A fourth hour was added on September 10, 2007. In some markets (such as Boston, Massachusetts, on WHDH-TV), the third and fourth hours of ''Today'' are aired on further tape delay.

During the first three hours, local affiliates are offered a five-minute window at :25 and :55 to insert a local newsbreak, although the show provides additional segments for those affiliates who do not do so.

When breaking news stories warrant, ''Today'' will broadcast a live West Coast edition. The live updates typically do not last longer than the 7:00 a.m. (PT) hour and once completed, will return to the taped East Coast feed. When the anchors welcome the viewers to the show, they will note the current time as being "Pacific Time" and continue to note it as such until the tape delay is started. In some instances, when NBC Special Reports occur during the ''Today'' timeslot, the show's anchors will assume hosting responsibilities.

For the most part, ''Today'' is aired live in the Eastern Time Zone in most markets while taped delayed in the remaining time zones.

Studio

The ''Today'' program first originated from the RCA Exhibition Hall on 49th Street in a space now occupied by the Christie's auction house, just down the block from the current studio. The first set placed a functional newsroom in the studio, which Garroway called "the nerve center of the world." The barrier between backstage and on-stage was virtually nonexistent. Garroway and the on-air staff often walked through the newsroom set. Glimpses of camera crew and technicians were a frequent occurrence, as were off-screen voices conversing with Garroway. Gradually, machines and personnel were placed behind the scenes to assemble the news and weather reports, and the newsroom was gone by 1955. In 1958, the show moved across the street to Studio 3K in the RCA Building, where it remained through the early 1960s.

On July 9, 1962, the show returned to a streetside studio in the space then occupied by the Florida Showcase. On September 13, 1965, ''Today'' moved back to the RCA Building. The network's news programming went to all-color broadcasts at that time, and NBC could not justify allocating four (then-expensive) color cameras to the Florida Showcase studio.

For the next twenty years, the show occupied a series of studios on the third, sixth, and eighth floors of NBC's headquarters; most notably Studio 3K in the 1970s, Studio 8G (adjacent to Studio 8H, home to ''Saturday Night Live'') in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and finally Studio 3B from 1983 to 1994. ''Today'' moved to the current streetside studio on June 13, 1994, providing a link to the show's 1950s origins.

Since the premiere of the 1990s set, the morning shows of each of the major broadcast and cable-news networks has moved streetside—including two of ''Today's'' Rockefeller Center neighbors, Fox News' ''Fox & Friends'' (at Avenue of the Americas) and CNN's ''American Morning''. (In summer 2005, CNN reversed the trend, abandoning its street-level studio and moving upstairs in the Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle.) ABC's ''Good Morning America'' broadcasts from Times Square Studios. In 2006, Studio 1A underwent a major renovation to prepare for 1080i high-definition broadcasting. After the departure of Katie Couric and while a new set was readied (summer of 2006), the program was broadcast from a temporary outdoor studio in Rockefeller Plaza, the same set NBC used at the Olympic Games since 2004 (Athens (2004), in Torino, Italy, (2006), and would be re-used for Beijing (2008). However, it would not be used during in Vancouver (2010), as their studio was the atrium at Grouse Mountain.) During the week of August 28, 2006, the show was moved to a temporary location outside of Studio 1A because MTV was converting the Outdoor Studio into their Red Carpet booth for the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards. A mock set was set up in ''Dateline'''s studio, also used during inclement weather. Also, they used a temporary outdoor set at 30 Rock,and MSNBC's ''Countdown with Keith Olbermann'' (which joined at Studio 1A in 30 Rock on October 22, 2007).

On September 13, 2006, ''Today'' moved into its brand new set. The new studio is divided into five different parts on the lower level. It includes the interview area, the couch area, the news desk, the performance/interview/extra space area, and home base, which is where the anchors start the show. A gigantic Panasonic 103-inch plasma monitor is often used for graphic display backgrounds. A kitchen set is located upstairs from the main studio. The blue background that is seen in the opening of the show in home base moves up and down to allow a view of the outside from the home base. New graphics were introduced, which underwent only minor changes until they were updated on September 8, 2009, with the introduction of the new ''Your day is Today'' slogan.

Current on-air staff

Anchors

''Today'' anchors started out as "Communicators." Creator Pat Weaver envisioned a person whose responsibilities would go beyond the bounds of traditional sit-down news anchors. The Communicator would interview, report, moderate dialogue and generally tie the show together into a coherent whole. Garroway and his successors have all followed that model, with little variation. Today, the hosts are expected to do much the same, and on any given day will talk with correspondents, newsmakers and lifestyle experts; introduce and close each half-hour; conduct special segments (such as cooking or fashion) and go on-assignment to host the program from different locations. Although the "Communicator" nomenclature has since dropped out of favor, the job remains largely the same. The principal anchors/hosts of the show include:

Matt Lauer, anchor (1997–present)

Ann Curry, anchor (2011–present)

Natalie Morales, news anchor (2011–present), third-hour anchor (2006–present)

Al Roker, weather anchor (1996–present), third-hour anchor (2006–present)

Savannah Guthrie, third-hour anchor (2011–present)

Hoda Kotb, fourth-hour anchor (2007–present)

Kathie Lee Gifford, fourth-hour anchor (2008–present)

Willard Scott, other (1980–present)

Former on-air staff

Anchors

Dave Garroway (1952–1961)

John Chancellor (1961–1962)

Hugh Downs (1962–1971)

Barbara Walters (1966–1976)

Frank McGee (1971–1974)

Jim Hartz (1974–1976)

Tom Brokaw (1976–1982)

Jane Pauley (1976–1989)

Bryant Gumbel (1982–1997)

Deborah Norville (1990–1991)

Katie Couric (1991–2006)

Meredith Vieira (2006–2011)

News anchors

From the show's inception, the idea of providing the latest news has been critical to the function of the program. In that vein, there has always been at least one person on set whose job it is to prepare and deliver newscasts. In 1952, that person was called ''Today'''s "news editor" or (informally) "news chief." In modern parlance, the term "newsreader" or "news anchor" is preferred. Under the two-hour format, four newscasts would be delivered, once every half-hour. Now there are only three newscasts, delivered at the top of each of the first three hours. Some anchors, including Jim Fleming, Lew Wood, Floyd Kalber and John Palmer, were seasoned journalists before joining the program. Others, including Ann Curry, have used the position to increase their journalistic acumen, at times leaving the newsdesk behind to venture into the field. News anchors have included the following:

Jim Fleming, news anchor (1952–1953)

Merrill Mueller, news anchor (1953)

Frank Blair, news anchor (1953–1975)

Lew Wood, news anchor (1975–1976)

Floyd Kalber, news anchor (1976–1979)

Tony Guida, news anchor (1979)

None (1979–1981; Brokaw and Pauley read headlines during this period.)

Chris Wallace, news anchor (1982)

John Palmer, news anchor (1982–1989)

Deborah Norville, news anchor (1989)

Steven Frazier, news anchor (1990)

Faith Daniels, news anchor (1990–1992)

Margaret Larson, news anchor (1992–1994)

Matt Lauer, news anchor (1994–1997)

Ann Curry, news anchor (1997–2011)

Weather anchors

For the program's first 25 years, weather reports were delivered by the host or newsreader. Dave Garroway would draw the day's weather fronts and areas of precipitation on a big chalkboard map of the United States, based on information gathered earlier in the morning from the U.S. Weather Bureau in Washington, D.C. Subsequent hosts John Chancellor and Hugh Downs dropped the chalkboard weather map concept and instead read a prepared weather summary over a still image of a weather map. When the show went to all-color broadcasts in 1965, weather maps were prepared and projected on a screen behind Frank Blair, who would deliver the forecast immediately after his news summaries. Following Blair's retirement in 1975, Lew Wood took over the newsreader and weather reporting duties. When Floyd Kalber became news anchor in 1976, Wood continued to do the weather (in addition to doing other news, sports, and commercials) until 1978. The weather is reported every half-hour during the program's first three hours, though since Al Roker took over as weather reporter, this is not always the case as an interview by Al at the beginning of the show may air in place of the national weather forecast at least once during the show at certain times during the week, leaving only the local weather inserts by NBC stations.

With the purchase of The Weather Channel by NBC in association with two private equity groups in 2008 and the July 2009 launch of pre-''Today'' program ''Wake Up with Al'' on that network, the forecast segment is now often augmented with reports and observations by Weather Channel staff at the site of a weather event or from the Weather Channel's suburban Atlanta headquarters.

Until the hiring of Bob Ryan in 1978, however, no one on the show had practical experience or academic credentials in meteorology.

''Today'' weather reporters have included:

Bob Ryan, weather anchor (1978–1980)

Willard Scott, weather anchor (1980–1996)

Al Roker, weather anchor (1996–present)

NBC affiliate stations are given a 30 second window to insert a local forecast into the program following the national weather report; Roker's outcue for the local break is ''"That's what's going on around the country, here’s what’s happening in your neck of the woods."'' (A national summary of temperatures from Roker is shown if no local forecast is inserted in the area, international viewers and to those watching outside Studio 1A in Rockefeller Plaza.)

The semi-retired Scott, who gained fame through his antics that included costumes and props, still occasionally appears as Roker's fill-in, and to continue his tradition of wishing "happy birthday" to centenarians. Scott's traditional local cue is ''"Here's what's happening in your world, even as we speak."''

Regular panelists

The job of "panelist" has no set definition. Panelist duties can range from conducting interviews to reporting on a number of topics in-studio and in the field. Regular panelists on the program include the following:

Jack Lescoulie (1952–1965)

Edwin Newman (1952–1984)

Barbara Walters (1966–1974 as ''de facto'' co-anchor; officially titled "co-host" in 1974)

Judith Crist (1964–1973)

Joe Garagiola (1967–1973, 1990–1992)

Gene Shalit (1973–2010)

Jane Pauley (2010-present)

''Today'' Girls

From 1952 to 1964, a notable member of the cast was a woman, often an entertainer, the ''Today'' Girl. Usually, she would discuss fashion and lifestyle, report the weather, cover lighter-fare stories or engage in verbal jousting with Garroway. Estelle Parsons was the first to hold the job, though her title at the time was "Women's Editor". Upon her departure in 1955, the ''Today'' Girl name was adopted. The last to hold the position, Barbara Walters, discussed the job in her autobiography ''Audition: A Memoir''. She wrote that the era was before the Women's Movement, and it was believed that nobody would take a woman seriously reporting "hard news"; Walters described the position as a "tea pourer". In 1966, Walters was promoted to co-host alongside Hugh Downs, and the ''Today'' Girl position was eliminated. Those who held the position were:

Estelle Parsons (official title: "Women's Editor") (1952–1955)

Lee Meriwether (1955–1956)

Helen O'Connell (1956–1958)

Betsy Palmer (1958)

Florence Henderson (1959–1960; co-hosted ''Later Today'' in 1999–2000)

Beryl Pfizer (1960–1961)

Robbin Bain (1961)

Louise King (1962)

Pat Fontaine (1963–1964)

Maureen O'Sullivan (1964)

Barbara Walters (1964–1966)

Controversies and transitions

Gumbel-"Memogate"

In 1989, Gumbel wrote a memo to ''Today Show'' executive producer Marty Ryan which was critical of other ''Today'' personalities. This memo was leaked to the press. In the memo, Gumbel commented that Willard Scott "holds the show hostage to his assortment of whims, wishes, birthdays and bad taste...This guy is killing us and no one's even trying to rein him in". He commented that Gene Shalit's movie reviews "are often late and his interviews aren't very good."

There was enough negative backlash in regard to Gumbel's comments toward Scott that Gumbel was shown making up with Scott on ''Today''.

Exit Jane Pauley, enter Deborah Norville

By 1989, Deborah Norville replaced John Palmer at the ''Today'' newsdesk and he assumed her previous role on ''Sunrise''. She also began substituting for Tom Brokaw on ''NBC Nightly News''. Shortly after Norville's appointment as ''Today'''s news anchor, the decision was made to feature Norville as an unofficial third host. Whereas Palmer had read the news from a desk separate from where Gumbel and Pauley sat, Norville was seated alongside the program's hosts at the opening and closing of every show. Before long, gossip columns and media observers predicted that NBC would remove Jane Pauley from the program and replace her with Norville in an effort to improve the program's recently declining viewership by young women, the demographic most coveted by morning shows. During this period ''Saturday Night Live'' featured a skit titled "All About Deborah Norville" (a takeoff on the classic film ''All About Eve''), which depicted Norville as ruthlessly scheming to take Pauley's place as ''Today'' co-host.

By late 1989, it was announced that 13-year veteran Pauley would leave ''Today'' at the end of the year. NBC, as expected, announced that Norville would become co-host. An emotional Norville hugged Pauley on the air after the announcement was made, and many at NBC hoped the negative press generated by Norville's increased presence on the program would end. It did not. Prior to the announcement of Pauley's departure, much of the criticism had focused on Norville's youth and beauty, with many branding her "the other woman" and a "home wrecker," in a reference to what some felt seemed like her intent on "breaking up" the television marriage of Gumbel and Pauley.

Negative press only heightened after the announcement of Pauley's resignation, and Norville was put under a gag order by NBC brass which prevented her from defending herself from the widespread and erroneous reports that she somehow orchestrated her rise on ''Today''. In January 1990, the new anchor team of Bryant Gumbel and Deborah Norville, minus Jane Pauley, debuted with disastrous results. Ratings for the program began to plummet. Critics felt that Gumbel and Norville lacked chemistry and many loyal viewers began turning to rival ABC's ''Good Morning America'' (''GMA'').

By the end of 1990, ''Today'', the longtime dominant program, was officially the second place morning show behind ''GMA,'' and most of the blame was pinned on Norville. By the outbreak of the Persian Gulf War in 1991, Norville saw her role as co-host continually minimized. ''Today'' aired special editions of the program called ''America at War'', with Gumbel anchoring most of the show alone. It was not uncommon for Norville not to even make an appearance until the two hour show's second half hour. In addition, she was directed not to initiate conversation on the show and only speak when asked a question by Gumbel. Norville left the show for maternity leave in February 1991. It was announced that Katie Couric would substitute co-host during Norville's absence. Ratings for the program rose immediately following Norville's departure and Couric's arrival.

Midway though her maternity leave, Norville was interviewed by ''People''. In the story, she avoided conversation about her recent trouble on ''Today'', and instead focused on her newborn baby boy. She was photographed breastfeeding her son, a seemingly innocuous event, but NBC management was said to be greatly displeased by this, believing the photo to be in poor taste. By April 1991, in light of improved ratings on ''Today'' and NBC's displeasure at the ''People'' photograph, it was announced that Norville would not return to ''Today'' and that Katie Couric had been named the program's co-host. Norville, it was disclosed, would continue to be paid in accordance with her contract, although she would no longer appear on any NBC News programs.

Rumored Couric-Lauer feud

Beginning in 2003 there were rumors that Katie Couric and Matt Lauer were in the midst of a feud. Reports say that this was due to Katie Couric's prominence, that she was generally perceived as handling the news program, and that she was the only person who could guarantee high ratings for a morning news program.

Couric leaves, Vieira enters

On Wednesday April 5, 2006, Katie Couric announced on her fifteenth anniversary as co-host of ''Today'' that she would leave ''Today'' and NBC News at the end of May to become the new anchor and managing editor of the ''CBS Evening News''. Katie Couric's final broadcast was aired on May 31, 2006. The day's show was dedicated to Couric's fifteen years as one of the show's co-hosts, and celebrated her move to the anchor chair at CBS, where she also became a correspondent for the network's Sunday night program ''60 Minutes''. Couric said during the show, "It's been a pleasure hosting this program, and thank you for fifteen great years." A special video presentation was broadcast, recapping her best moments and news stories on Today during her fifteen years.

The day after Couric's announcement, Meredith Vieira, then a host of ABC's ''The View'' announced on that show that she would take over as Lauer's co-anchor in September. Lauer and Vieira began co-hosting together on September 13, 2006.

On June 1, 2006 (the day after Couric's departure), NBC News announced that for the summer of 2006 ''Today'' would move to a temporary outdoor studio as Studio 1A was going through renovations to prepare for high-definition. On that same day, NBC News launched a new advertisement promoting Vieira's arrival. For the summer of 2006, Couric's anchor seat was filled with various hosts, consisting of Curry, Morales and Campbell Brown (all of whom were considered candidates to replace Couric), until Vieira took over that fall.

Lauer's contract has been secured for the future years. He has signed through 2012 and has received a sizable salary increase.

In March 2010, Vieira signed a contract that would keep her with the program until at least September 2011, though reports state that she will not renew her contract when it expires at that time. Vieira announced on May 9, 2011 that she would depart as co-host in the following month, but would remain at NBC News in an as-yet undetermined role.

Vieira exits, Curry takes over

After announcing her resignation, Vieira departed the program on June 8th, 2011. Former news anchor Ann Curry replaced her, appearing alongside Matt Lauer as co-host. Correspondent Natalie Morales replaced Curry as news anchor, with Al Roker remaining as the weather anchor. Savannah Guthrie joins Morales and Roker as co-host of the third, 9am hour.

Expansion

''Early Today'' and ''Later Today''

The first brand extension was created in 1982. ''Early Today'' was conceived as a lead-in for ''Today''. It even had the same anchors, Bryant Gumbel and Jane Pauley. The program was conceived so local stations could carry the full hour or one of the two half-hours. After a year NBC replaced it with ''NBC News at Sunrise'', anchored by Connie Chung.

In 1999, NBC cancelled ''Sunrise'' and created two brand extensions for ''Today''. One was ''Early Today'' (not to be confused with the earlier incarnation); the program originally was produced by CNBC and focused on business and financial news before switching to general news under the same production staff as ''MSNBC First Look''; it continues to air on many NBC affiliates. Also in the of fall 1999, ''Later Today'', a talk show that was intended to air immediately following the then two-hour ''Today'', was launched with hosts Jodi Applegate, Florence Henderson and Asha Blake. Sagging ratings for that show caused its cancellation in August 2000; it was replaced two months later by the current third hour of ''Today''.

Fourth hour

On September 10, 2007, NBC expanded the show length to four hours, as announced on January 17, 2007 at its press tour sessions. The fourth hour was originally hosted by Curry, Morales, and Hoda Kotb; Kathie Lee Gifford replaced Curry and Morales on April 7, 2008. Without news segments or input from the earlier hosts, the fourth hour operates virtually as a standalone talk show, with an opening "host chat" segment reminiscent of the one popularized by Gifford and Regis Philbin on ''Live with Regis and Kathie Lee'', as well as features focusing on entertainment, fashion and other topics intended to draw in female viewers.

NBC had aired the daytime soap opera ''Passions'' from 1999 to 2007 but dropped it to make room on its schedule for the extended version of ''Today''. The fourth hour of ''Today'' competes with ABC's ''The View'' and CBS's ''The Price Is Right'' in most markets in the Central and Pacific time zones, but most Eastern time stations air it live one hour before those programs. Not all NBC affiliates carry the new hour, including Hearst-owned affiliates KCRA-TV, Sacramento, California; KSBW in Salinas, California; WBAL-TV, Baltimore, Maryland; and WYFF, Greenville, South Carolina.

Today in Two Minutes

On May 3, 2010, the show launched a new online-only feature called "Today in Two Minutes," anchored by ''Today'' News Anchor Natalie Morales. The video provides brief updates on the day's weather, news headlines and other stories, while giving a look ahead to segments appearing later in the morning on the television broadcast. It appears on the program's website each weekday morning. While it shares a name with a news segment on ''Today'' during Dave Garroway's tenure, the current "Today in Two Minutes" otherwise bears little resemblance to its 1952 forebear.

Music

''Today Show'' host Dave Garroway selected Les Brown's ''Sentimental Journey'' as the program's very first theme, used during the entire Garroway era from 1952 to 1961. In 1962, when Hugh Downs became host, Django Reinhardt's "Melodie au Crepuscule" was chosen as the new theme; it was replaced in 1963 by ''Misty'', an instrumental ballad composed by Erroll Garner and performed by Bobby Hackett and John B. Seng.

''Misty'' served as ''Today’s'' theme until 1971, when NBC News correspondent Frank McGee joined the show. Composer Ray Ellis penned an entirely new instrumental theme entitled "This is Today", a jazzy, up-tempo piece that served as the program's main theme until 1978. Because ''This is Today'' closely resembled the theme ''Day by Day'' from the musical ''Godspell'', Ellis was successfully sued for copyright infringement and ''This is Today'' was revised. The second version of ''This is Today'' incorporated the familiar NBC chime signature (G-E-C) in a bright, appropriately sunny arrangement that was used until 1981, at the close of the Tom Brokaw-Jane Pauley era. The G-E-C signature was also used throughout the program to introduce and conclude segments, usually in combination with the familiar ''Today Show'' sunburst.

By 1982, ''Today'' had a new anchor, Bryant Gumbel, and a new version of Ellis' ''This is Today'' theme, a looser, more relaxed arrangement that continued to feature the NBC chimes in its melody. A shorter arrangement of ''This is Today'' was used for the show open (featuring a rotating globe and ''Today'' sunburst) from 1983 to 1985. The main theme was used until 1985, and due to its popularity with viewers was resurrected as the show's secondary theme in January 1993. The 1982 theme now serves as the program's official "anniversary" music, used to open and close retrospective segments as ''Today'' approaches its 60th anniversary.

1985 saw the end of the synthesizer era at NBC as composer John Williams wrote a series of themes for all NBC News programs, with a cut entitled ''The Mission'' serving as the principal theme for ''NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw''. Williams also composed two themes for ''Today'': an opening fanfare for the program that was derived from the opening of ''The Mission''; and a two-minute closing theme for the show entitled ''Scherzo for Today'', a dramatic arrangement that made heavy use of strings and flutes. In the late 1980s, ''Scherzo'' was played in its entirety multiple times daily during the weather scrolls that ran during local commercial breaks; however, most NBC affiliates preempted these segments with advertising. The new ''Today'' themes—used in tandem with the show's new opening sequence featuring the Statue of Liberty and a new living room studio set—gave the program a distinctly modern look and sound beginning in September 1985. A series of Williams-penned bumpers featuring the ''Mission'' signature were also used to open and close segments.

''Scherzo for Today'' was used as the program's closing theme until 1990, and the ''Mission'' bumpers were used until 1993. (One of them could be heard as a station break lead-in on NBC's ''Meet The Press'' until 2004.) Meanwhile, Williams' opening fanfare has opened the program ever since its 1985 introduction, with two brief interruptions; new opening themes were briefly introduced and quickly discarded in the summer of 1994 (to mark the debut of Studio 1A) and in 2004. The fanfare was iconically accompanied by Fred Facey announcing "From NBC News, this is ''Today''... with (anchor) and (anchor)." Although Facey died in April 2003, His introduction of the Couric/Lauer team was used for the duration of Couric's era (except for special editions requiring special introductions). ''Weekend Today'' announcer Les Marshak became the new voice of the weekday program on September 13, 2006.

Currently, a lighter theme employing the NBC chimes is used to open the show's 7:30 through 9:30 half-hour segments, and also used as a closing theme.

''Weekend Today''

The Sunday edition of ''Today'' debuted on September 20, 1987. Five years later on August 1, 1992, the Saturday edition debuted expanding the ''Today'' schedule to seven days a week. The Sunday broadcast airs for one hour (originally 90 minutes, until the expansion of ''Meet the Press'' to a full hour in 1992), and the Saturday broadcast airs for two hours.

The weekend broadcasts continue the ''Today'' tradition of covering breaking news, interviewing newsmakers, reporting on a variety of popular-culture and human-interest stories, covering health and finance issues and presenting the latest weather reports. NBC feeds the Saturday edition from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. and the Sunday edition from 8:00 a.m to 9:00 a.m. (both Eastern Time), although many of the network's affiliates air local newscasts in those time slots and carry the network broadcast later in the morning. NBC's New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles owned and operated stations air ''Weekend Today'' simultaneously (but not live) at 9:00 a.m ET, 8:00 a.m. CT and 6:00 am PT.

Weekend editions are tailored to the priorities and interests of weekend viewers—offering special series such as "''Saturday Today'' on the Plaza", featuring live performances by the biggest names in music and Broadway outside the studio throughout the summer.

Current on-air staff

Anchors

Lester Holt, weekend anchor (2003–present)

Amy Robach, Saturday weekend anchor (2007–present)

Jenna Wolfe, Sunday weekend anchor (2007–present)

Bill Karins, Saturday weekend weather anchor (2009–present)

Janice Huff, Sunday weekend weather anchor (1995–present)

Former on-air staff

Anchors

''Sunday Today'' anchors included:

Boyd Matson, weekend anchor (1987–1988)

Maria Shriver, weekend anchor (1987–1990)

Garrick Utley, news anchor (1987–1988) weekend anchor (1988–1992)

Al Roker, weekend anchor (1989–1992)

Katie Couric, weekend anchor (1990–1991)

Mary Alice Williams, weekend anchor (1991–1992)

''Weekend Today'' anchors included:

Scott Simon, weekend anchor (1992–1993)

Jackie Nespral, weekend anchor (1992–1995)

Mike Schneider, weekend anchor (1993–1995)

Giselle Fernandez, weekend anchor (1995–1996)

Jack Ford, weekend anchor (1995–1999)

Carol Martin, weekend anchor (1996)

Jodi Applegate, weekend anchor (1996–1999)

Soledad O'Brien, weekend anchor (1999–2003)

David Bloom, weekend anchor (1999–2003)

Campbell Brown, weekend anchor (2003–2007)

Special editions

Ratings

Week of April 25, 2011/ Day of April 29, 2011 (Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton)

''Today'': 6,424,000/ 9,628,000 viewers

''Good Morning America'': 5,735,000/ 8,650,000 viewers

''The Early Show'': 2,650,000/ unknown viewers

This week was Today's best week since August 11, 2008, which was week of the Beijing Olympics. Also, April 29, was the best single day rating since November 8, 2000, which was the day after the 2000 presidential election.

Week of April 11, 2011

''Today'': 5,662,000 viewers

''Good Morning America'': 4,812,000 viewers

''The Early Show'': 2,659,000 viewers

This week was Today's 800th week at the number one spot. At ABC, Good Morning America compared to last year has closed the gap by 35%, the smallest gap since 2006-2007. However NBC is calling this week the widest margin in six weeks.

Week of January 4, 2009: ''Today'' (8am) averaged 5,998,000 millon viewers, ''Today II'' (9:00am) averaged 4,447,000 total viewers and a 1.4 rating in the A25-54 demo. It was the hour's best ratings since the week of August 11, 2008. ''Today III'' (10:00am) averaged 2,412,000 total viewers and a .8 rating in the demo. It was the most total viewers for the program since the week of December 31, 2007.

Week of October 12, 2008

''Today'': 4,910,000 viewers

''Good Morning America'': 4,250,000 viewers

''The Early Show'': 2,660,000 viewers

Only the first two hours of ''Today'' are counted above. For the sake of Nielsen ratings (but not on-air), NBC refers to the third and fourth hours as ''Today II'' and ''Today III'', respectively. For the week above, ''Today II'' drew 2.9 million viewers and ''Today III''' delivered 1.7 million.

Week of June 30, 2008

''Today'': 4,900,000 viewers

''Good Morning America'': 3,800,000 viewers

''The Early Show'': 2,400,000 viewers

Week of September 11, 2006

''Today:'' 6,320,000 viewers

''Good Morning America'': 4,730,000

''The Early Show'': 2,800,000

International broadcasts

NBC News programming is shown daily on the 24 hour news network Orbit News in Europe and the Middle East. This includes a live broadcast of ''Today''.

In Australia, ''NBC Today'' (titled as such locally to avoid confusion with the local Nine Network program of the same name) airs from 4am Tuesday to Saturday on the Seven Network. Sunday's edition is broadcast at 5:00am on Mondays, following ''Meet The Press''. The program is condensed into a 90 minute broadcast (except for Saturday mornings where the full 2-hour edition is shown), with no local news inserted. However, a news ticker appears at the bottom of the screen, containing National headlines, as well as upcoming information for the Sunrise breakfast show. A national weather map of Australia is inserted during cut-aways to local affiliates for weather. ''Today'' is pre-empted by paid programming on regional Seven affiliates Prime7 and GWN7. The top three U.S. breakfast programs air simultaneously on Australian television with the ''CBS Early Show'' airing on Network Ten and ''Good Morning America'' on the Nine Network.

''Today'' is also shown in the Philippines on Talk TV with the weekday editions which airs at 7.00 pm local time on Mondays to Fridays. Weekend Today airs Saturdays at 7:00pm and Sundays at 8:00 pm local time.

In the United Kingdom and across Europe, ''Today'' originally aired on Sky News between 1989 and 1993, and from 1993 and 1998 on NBC Europe. The show was initially aired live in the afternoons until 1995, when it was delayed until the next morning.

In Australia, ''NBC Today'' is shown on 7mate at 9am as a two-hour condensed edition.

See also

"Where in the World is Matt Lauer?"

Today with Kathie Lee and Hoda

References

External links

''“Today”'' official site

''“The Today Show viewers home page and forum”'' The Today Show viewers home page and forum

''Today'' at the Internet Movie Database

''Weekend Today'' official site

“Today” Music History page

''“Today”'' show book with quotes from show staff & backstage personnel on parenting

Category:1952 television series debuts Category:1950s American television series Category:1960s American television series Category:1970s American television series Category:1980s American television series Category:1990s American television series Category:2000s American television series Category:2010s American television series Category:American news television series Category:Black-and-white television programs Category:English-language television series Category:NBC network shows Category:NBC News

da:Today (NBC-program) de:Today (NBC) fa:امروز (برنامه کانال ان‌بی‌سی) fr:Today (NBC) id:Today (program berita NBC) ja:トゥデイ (テレビ番組) pl:Today (program telewizyjny NBC) pt:Today (programa de TV) sh:The Today Show fi:Today (NBC) sv:The Today Show zh:今天 (NBC)

name	Gideon Levy
birth date	1953
birth place	Tel Aviv, Israel
education	M.A. Political Science, Tel Aviv University
occupation	Journalist
nationality	Israeli
url	}}

Gideon Levy (; born 1953) is an Israeli journalist. Levy writes opinion pieces and a weekly column for the newspaper ''Haaretz'' that often focus on the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories. A notable journalist on the Israeli left, Levy has been characterized variously as a "propagandist for the Hamas" to a "heroic journalist".

Biography

Levy was born in 1953 in Tel Aviv, the son of immigrants from Germany. Levy’s father was a German Jewish lawyer from the Sudetenland. Fleeing from the Nazis in 1939, Levy senior parted from his parents at a railway station in Prague and never saw them again. For six months he lived on a refugee boat that was turned away from many ports until finally reaching Mandate Palestine. Levy attended Public School Alef. Levy and his younger brother Rafi would often sing together, notably songs composed by Haim Hefer. During the Six-Day War, the street adjacent to his home was hit by Arab artillery. Levy describes his political views as a teenager as typically mainstream. "I was a full member of the nationalistic religious orgy. We all were under the feeling that the whole project [of Israel] is in an existentialistic danger. We all felt that another holocaust is around the corner."

Levy resides in the Ramat Aviv neighborhood of Tel Aviv (on the lands of Sheikh Munis) , and is a divorced father of two.

Journalism and media career

In 1974, Levy was drafted into the Israeli Defense Forces where he served as a reporter for Israel Army Radio. From 1978 to 1982 he worked as an aide to Shimon Peres, then leader of the Israeli Labor Party. In 1982, he began to write for the Israeli daily ''Haaretz''. In 1983–1987, he was an assistant to the editor-in-chief. Despite his coverage of the Israeli-Arab conflict, he speaks no Arabic. He has written a column called "Twilight Zone" about the hardships of the Palestinians since 1988. In 2004, Levy published a compilation of articles entitled ''Twilight Zone – Life and Death under the Israeli Occupation''. With Haim Yavin, he co-edited ''Whispering Embers'', a documentary series on Russian Jewry after the fall of communism. He hosted ''A Personal meeting with Gideon Levy'', a weekly talk show that was broadcast on Israeli cable TV on channel 3, and has appeared periodically on other television talk shows.

Levy has said that his views on Israel's policies toward the Palestinians developed only after joining ''Haaretz''. "When I first started covering the West Bank for Haaretz, I was young and brainwashed," he said in an interview. "I would see settlers cutting down olive trees and soldiers mistreating Palestinian women at the checkpoints, and I would think, 'These are exceptions, not part of government policy.' It took me a long time to see that these were not exceptions — they were the substance of government policy."

In an interview, he said he doubts that any other newspaper in Israel apart from Haaretz would give him the journalistic freedom to publish the kind of pieces he writes.

Views and opinions

Levy defines himself as a "patriotic Israeli." At the same time he criticizes what he sees as Israeli society's "moral blindness" to the effects of its acts of war and occupation. He has referred to the construction of settlements on private Palestinian land as "the most criminal enterprise in [Israel's] history". He opposed the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, and the view that civilian casualties were inevitable. In 2007, he said that the plight of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, then under Israeli blockade, made him ashamed to be an Israeli."My modest mission is to prevent a situation in which many Israelis will be able to say 'We didn't know'," said Levy in an interview.

Levy supports unilateral withdrawal from occupied Palestinian territories without concessions. "Israel is not being asked 'to give' anything to the Palestinians; it is only being asked to return - to return their stolen land and restore their trampled self-respect, along with their fundamental human rights and humanity."

Levy wrote that the Gaza War was a failed campaign and its objectives were not achieved. "The conclusion is that Israel is a violent and dangerous country, devoid of all restraints and blatantly ignoring the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council, while not giving a hoot about international law," he wrote in an editorial.

In 2010, Levy described Hamas as a fundamentalist organization and holds it responsible for the Qassam rockets fired at Israeli cities: "Hamas is to be blamed for launching the Qassams. This is unbearable. No sovereign state would have tolerated it. Israel had the right to react." He is against boycotting Israel: "I am an Israeli who does not boycott Israel so I cannot call on others to do so."

Praise and criticism

Levy's writing has aroused controversy. He has been praised by Johann Hari of ''The Independent'' as "the heroic Israeli journalist", and his columns are cited often in ''The New York Times'' and other newspapers. The French newspaper ''Le Monde'' praised him as a 'thorn in Israel's flank' and ''Der Spiegel'' characterized him as "[Israel's] most radical commentator".^-[a]

His opponents criticize him for being anti-Israeli, and for supporting Palestinian radicalism. "Is it wrong to ask of reporters in a country that is in the midst of a difficult war to show a little more empathy for their people and their country?" asked Amnon Dankner of the ''Maariv'' newspaper. Ben Dror Yemini, the editor of the opinion page of ''Maariv'', called Levy one of the "propagandists for the Hamas". Itamar Marcus, the director of Palestinian Media Watch, writes in the website of ''Arutz Sheva'', a publication supporting the Israeli settlers in the West Bank, "[One of] the current Israeli heroes [of the Hamas], from whom the Palestinians garner support for their ways, [is] Gideon Levy ..." ''Arutz Sheva'' also lambasted Levy's article about the Jerusalem bulldozer attack in Jerusalem in 2008, which was translated into Arabic on a Hamas website. In 2006, Gideon Ezra, Israel's former deputy Minister of Internal Security, suggested that the General Security Services should monitor Levy as a borderline security risk.

Israeli novelist Irit Linur set off a wave of subscription cancellations to ''Haaretz'' in 2002, when she wrote an open letter to the paper cancelling her own subscription. "It is a person's right to be a radical leftist, and publish a newspaper in accordance with his world view... However ''Haaretz'' has reached the point where its anti-Zionism has become stupid and evil," she wrote. She also accused Levy of amateurism because he does not speak Arabic.

Other public figures also cancelled their subscriptions, including Roni Daniel, the military and security correspondent for Israeli Channel 2. ''Haaretz's'' publisher, Amos Schocken, expressed puzzlement at Linur's letter, describing his newspaper as "exceedingly Zionist" and defending Levy's reports as "a description of the effects of the Israeli occupation in the territories". Levy himself joked that there is a thick file of anti-Levy cancellations in the Haaretz newsroom.

Awards

In 2008, the Anna Lindh foundation, which describes its goal as "bring[ing] people together from across the Mediterranean to improve mutual respect between cultures," awarded Levy the Anna Lindh journalism prize for an article he wrote about Palestinian children killed by Israeli forces. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel awarded him the Emil Grunzweig Human Rights Award in 1996 for promoting human rights, and he has won numerous other awards for his writing.

Published works

Books

''Twilight Zone - Life and Death under the Israeli Occupation. 1988-2003''. Tel Aviv: Babylon Printing, 2004

''The Punishment of Gaza'', Verso Books, 2010, ISBN 9781844676019

Articles

"Ship of Fools" in: "Due Process" in:

References

External links

PBS">Interview with Levy on PBS (2003)

Selection of articles by Levy

Gideon Levy's Official Lecturer Page

An open letter to Gideon Levy By A.B. Yehoshua, Haaretz 16/01/2009

An open response to A.B. Yehoshua By Gideon Levy

"Interview with Haaretz journalist Gideon Levy", Am Johal, ''Worldpress.org'', September 19, 2010

Category:Israeli Jews Category:Israeli journalists Category:1955 births Category:Living people Category:People of Haaretz

cs:Gideon Levy fr:Gideon Levy he:גדעון לוי pt:Gideon Levy ru:Леви, Гидеон

name	Kelly Clarkson
background	solo_singer
birth name	Kelly Brianne Clarkson
background	solo_singer
birth date	April 24, 1982
birth place	Fort Worth, Texas
origin	Burleson, Texas, United States
genre	Pop rock, pop
occupation	Singer-songwriter, record producer, actress
instrument	Vocals
years active	2002–present
label	RCA Records
associated acts	Reba McEntire
website	www.Kellyclarkson.com }}

Kelly Brianne Clarkson (born April 24, 1982) is an American pop rock singer-songwriter and actress. Clarkson came into prominence after winning the inaugural season of the television series ''American Idol'' in 2002 and would later become the runner-up in the television special ''World Idol'' in 2003.

In 2003, Clarkson released her debut album, ''Thankful'' which was a commercial success and established herself in the pop music industry. The release of its first single, "A Moment Like This" (2002), broke The Beatles' record for the biggest leap to number one, from 52, in the history of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 Chart. After parting ways with her management, Clarkson developed a more rock-oriented music with the release of her critically acclaimed sophomore album, ''Breakaway'' (2004), which had sold more than 12 million copies worldwide and which garnered Clarkson more worldwide success as a pop rock artist. The album's single, "Because of You" (2005), became the best-selling single by an ''Idol'' contestant worldwide. In 2007, Clarkson took full creative control for her third with a more rock inspired, ''My December'', which was met with controversy and mild success. Clarkson later returned to a more pop-oriented sound with ''All I Ever Wanted'' (2009), which became a commercial and critical success. The album's lead single, "My Life Would Suck Without You" (2009), currently holds the record for biggest leap to number 1 on ''Billboard'' Hot 100 Chart, and earning her first number 1 single in the United Kingdom. Clarkson is set to release her fifth studio album, ''Stronger'', on October 25, 2011.

In a career spanning almost a decade, Clarkson has sold over 23 million albums and 36 million singles around the world, gaining her the recognition as the most successful ''Idol'' contestant worldwide, according to ''Billboard'' and Nielsen SoundScan. Clarkson's work also gained her numerous accolades, including two Grammy Awards, three MTV Video Music Awards, and a Women's World Award. ''Billboard'' also ranked Clarkson the #14 artist of the 2000-10 decade, as well as being also ranked on the top 200 album sellers of the Nielsen SoundScan era at number 187.

Early life

Clarkson was born in Fort Worth, Texas, and grew up in the small town of Burleson, a suburb of Fort Worth. She is the third and youngest child of Jeanne Rose, a first grade English teacher of Greek descent, and Stephen Michael Clarkson, a former engineer of Irish and Welsh extraction.

Clarkson's siblings include her older brother and sister, Jason and Alyssa. When Clarkson was six years old, her parents divorced after seventeen years of marriage. The family settled in Burleson, where Clarkson's mother married her second husband, Jimmy Taylor.

Clarkson's family struggled financially, and after her parents divorced, music became her refuge. Clarkson attended Pauline G Hughes Middle School and Burleson High School. She wanted to become a marine biologist but changed her mind after seeing the movie ''Jaws''. In seventh grade, a teacher (Mrs. Cynthia Glenn) overheard her singing in a hallway and asked her to audition for the school choir; Clarkson told the teacher that she had never received professional vocal training.

In high school, Clarkson performed in musicals such as ''Annie Get Your Gun'', ''Seven Brides for Seven Brothers'' and ''Brigadoon''. She sang at her high school talent show, after which an audience member shared some inspiring words with her: "God has given you this gift. You've got to sing. You're destined to sing." Clarkson continued singing and soon started classical training, hoping that music would be her ticket to a college scholarship.

Upon high school graduation, Clarkson was offered full scholarships to The University of Texas at Austin, University of North Texas, and Berklee, but decided against college because she had "already written so much music and wanted to try it on her own," and she figured "you're never too old to go to college."

Music career

2002–03: ''American Idol'' and ''World Idol''

Clarkson won the first season of ''American Idol'' on September 4, 2002, earning 58% of the vote to 42% for runner-up Justin Guarini. Choking back tears, Clarkson performed the ballad "A Moment Like This", the song written for the winner of ''American Idol'', which would subsequently appear on her debut album, ''Thankful''. When released as a single in October 2002, it set a record on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart when it rose from number 52 to number one. This achievement was largely due to the impact from ''Idol'' as the CD single managed to sell 236,000 copies in its first week of sales in the U.S.; it spent five weeks at number one in Canada.

''American Idol'' season 1 performances and results

{|class="wikitable" |- !Week # !Theme !Song choice !Original artist !Order # !Result |- |Audition |Dallas |"Express Yourself" "At Last" |MadonnaEtta James |rowspan="4"|N/A |rowspan="5"|Advanced |- |Top 121 |Hollywood round 1 |"Respect" |Otis Redding |- |Top 65 |Hollywood round 2 |"I Say a Little Prayer" |Dionne Warwick |- |Top 45 |Hollywood round 3 |"Save The Best For Last" |Vanessa L. Williams |- |Top 30 |Semifinal/Group 2 |"Respect" |Otis Redding |9 |- |Top 10 |Motown |"You're All I Need to Get By" ||Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell |8 |rowspan="7"|Safe |- |Top 8 |1960s |"(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" |Aretha Franklin |rowspan="2"|5 |- |Top 7 |1970s |"Don't Play That Song (You Lied)" |Ben E. King |- |Top 6 |Big Band |"Stuff Like That There" |Betty Hutton |6 |- |Top 5 |Burt Bacharach Love Songs |"Walk On By" |Dionne Warwick |1 |- |Top 4 |1980s1990s |"It's Raining Men""I Surrender" |The Weather GirlsCeline Dion |37 |- |Top 3 |Judges' ChoiceIdol's Choice |"Without You""Think Twice" |BadfingerCeline Dion |36 |- |Top 2 |Finale |"A Moment Like This""Respect""Before Your Love" |Kelly ClarksonOtis ReddingKelly Clarkson |246 |Winner |}

''World Idol'' performance and results

9

Song choice !! Germany !! Australia !! Pan-Arabia !! Canada !! Netherlands !! South Africa !! Poland !! USA !! Belgium !! UK !! Norway !! Total !! Result
"(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman"	9	|	5	9	9	8	8	12	9	9	10	97	Runner-up

In December 2003, a competition titled ''World Idol'' was held at the ''Pop Idol'' stage in London, gathering the winners of the first seasons of ''Idol series'' around the world. Clarkson was contractually obligated to participate, and placed second behind ''Norwegian Idol'' Kurt Nilsen. She performed Aretha Franklin's "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman". She left immediately after the competition, later explaining to fans that she was not feeling well.

2003–04: ''Thankful''

Shortly following the completion of the first season of ''American Idol'', Clarkson was accused of working with a record company. ''American Idol'''s rules stated that a contestant was not allowed to compete on the program if they had been linked to a record company. However, she was cleared of all allegations, as she only had a contract in order to conduct demonstration work.

Following the release of "A Moment Like This", Clarkson's full-length debut album ''Thankful'' was released in North America by RCA Records on April 15, 2003. It debuted at number one on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200. In October that year she performed in Australia at the 2003 NRL grand final. "A Moment Like This" was certified double platinum by the RIAA for sales of two million copies on December 8, 2003 and platinum by the CRIA for sales of 100,000 copies on February 10, 2004. ''Thankful'' peaked at number forty-one on the UK albums chart and at number 33 on the Australian albums chart.

Reviews for the album were generally favorable. However, several critics noted that her early achievement was established due to her performances on ''American Idol''. ''Allmusic'' critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine praised the album for its vocal ability: "throughout this record, [Clarkson] makes it seem effortless and charming. She can croon, she can belt out a song, she can be sexy and sassy while still being graceful and as wholesome as the girl next door". Rachel Kipp of ''JS Online'' criticized Clarkson for not having the same personality on ''Thankful'' that she had on ''American Idol'', and wrote: "on ''American Idol'', Clarkson showcased a great voice and an endearing, 'aw-shucks' personality. That personality is missing on ''Thankful'', and there lies the album's greatest fault". Kipp blamed the producers behind the album for not allowing Clarkson to be herself. Clarkson covered Danielle Brisebois' "Just Missed the Train" on the album.

"Miss Independent" was released as the second single from ''Thankful''. It reached the top ten of the U.S. and Canadian singles charts, and earned Clarkson a 2004 Grammy Award nomination for "Best Female Pop Vocal Performance". When the single was released in the United Kingdom and Australia, it reached the top ten of the charts. "Low", the third single from ''Thankful'', reached number two in Canada, but it was unable to make the top 40 of the U.S. chart. The final single, "The Trouble with Love Is", was not released in Canada, and it failed to chart in the U.S..

2004–06: ''Breakaway''

Distancing herself from her ''American Idol'' image, Clarkson parted ways with 19 Management and took more creative control with her second studio album ''Breakaway'', to develop a more rock-oriented image. Clarkson co-wrote six of the songs with songwriters such as former Evanescence band members Ben Moody, David Hodges and producer Max Martin; the title track was co-written by punk-pop singer Avril Lavigne.

''Breakaway'' was released by RCA Records on November 30, 2004. The album debuted within the U.S. top five and Canadian top ten, but sales were initially low in comparison to ''Thankful''. The singles from ''Breakaway'' were very successful, and the album become only the fourth album in history to stay in the ''Billboard'' 200 top 20 for a consecutive year, as well as being certified six times platinum in the U.S. in late 2007 and five times platinum in Canada in May, 2006.. With worldwide sales of over 12 million copies, Breakaway is the most successful album by an Idol.

''Breakaway'' received different responses from critics; ''Rolling Stone'' commented that "on Kelly Clarkson's second album, ... she embraces her rock side rather than the pop pageantry that put her on top of the ''American Idol'' heap". ''TeenInk'' noted the strength of her vocals on ''Breakaway'', and praised the change from pop music to contemporary rock: "[Clarkson] retains the incredible power and beauty of her voice while switching to rock". ''Stylus'' magazine also enjoyed Clarkson's foray into rock music, however, she was called out because of her ''American Idol'' image, which reviewer Charles Merwin believed she had yet to lose. He praised the non-singles and wrote that they "maintain a quality high". ''Allmusic'' called the album "a nice, low-key relief". "Breakaway" served as the original song for ''The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement'' (2004) and achieved considerable success across the world; it became Clarkson's third top-ten single in the U.S. and fourth top-ten single in Canada. It reached number ten in Australia, and number 22 in the UK. The second single, "Since U Been Gone", which was produced by Max Martin, became the most successful release from the album. It reached number two in the U.S. and the top five across the world. It also earned Clarkson her first Grammy Award for "Best Female Pop Vocal Performance"; she won a second award for "Best Pop Vocal Album".

The third and fourth single releases, "Behind These Hazel Eyes" and "Because of You", also followed with chart success. The video for "Because of You" won the 2006 MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video, her second consecutive win in that category (following "Since U Been Gone"). Clarkson was the most-played artist of 2006 on American radio, despite releasing only one single in the entire year, "Walk Away" (the fifth single from ''Breakaway''). She was also the most radio-broadcasted artist of 2006 in Australia and "Because of You" was the third most broadcast song of the same year, despite being released in 2005.

In 2005, Clarkson made a performance during the 2005 NBA All-Star Weekend as part of the festivities leading up to the All-Star Game. Later that year, she performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Game 2 of the NBA Finals between the San Antonio Spurs and Detroit Pistons She also performed that spring as part of the 2005 NCAA Final Four festivities in St. Louis, Missouri.

Clarkson performed during the festivities of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy. In mid 2006, Clarkson lent Ford Motor Co. a song titled "Go", written by Clarkson and Rhett Lawrence ("Miss Independent"). The song was used in the company's advertising campaign in 2006, "Bold Moves" and the song, along with its music video, was made available free at Ford's ''AddictedtoKelly.com'' website (now defunct).

2006–08: ''My December''

During her tour in Europe in 2006, Clarkson began writing songs for her third album, ''My December''. The first single from ''My December'' was "Never Again", which peaked on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at number eight. Clarkson released "Sober" as the second single. She returned to ''American Idol'' for the season 6 finale, performing "Never Again" and "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" with Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry during a Beatles medley.

Clarkson parted with her management, The Firm, in June 2007, amid low radio airplay for "Never Again" and low ticket sales for her then-upcoming tour. Clarkson would then sign with Starstruck Entertainment, run by Narvel Blackstock — the husband of Reba McEntire – on July 2, 2007. The same month, Live Nation announced that the tour—her first nationwide arena tour—had been canceled due to underwhelming ticket sales, to be rescheduled after the release of the ''My December'' album at smaller, more intimate concert environments. Clarkson reinstated plans to tour the U.S. during 2007, with a much smaller tour than the one she canceled in June. She began her My December Tour in October 2007 in venues significantly smaller than those previously booked. The August 2007 issue of ''Blender'' included a feature on Clarkson and her new album, as well as her music label woes.

''My December'' was released in the U.S. on June 26, 2007. The album debuted at number two in the U.S. with 291,000 albums sold, a slightly higher debut than Clarkson's previous album, ''Breakaway'', which debuted at number three. In Canada, the album was awarded a platinum certification for shipments of more than 100,000 copies. ''My December'' was certified platinum in December 2007 by the RIAA. It has sold more than three million copies worldwide.

In April 2007, Clarkson appeared on the ''Idol Gives Back'' charity show aimed at raising money for tackling poverty, hunger and AIDS in Africa, as well as the Hurricane Katrina appeal. Clarkson noted that she was in a dispute with her record label bosses and executives as to which song to perform for the event. Clarkson refused to perform her new single "Never Again" viewing it as simple self-promotion through a charitable event. She is quoted as saying,

She opted to perform Patty Griffin's "Up to the Mountain". After the performance, the audience who watched Clarkson perform live gave her a standing ovation. ''American Idol'' judge Simon Cowell described her as "incredible", saying, "When you let her [Clarkson] come back on the show it makes everybody else look like an amateur." On July 7, 2007, Clarkson performed on the American leg of Live Earth. Clarkson was the celebrity coach for ''Canadian Idol'' during its Top 5 week of the fifth season, aired on the CTV network on August 20, and she performed on the results show the next night. Clarkson also performed at the 2007 NFL opening kickoff where she sang the national anthem and songs from ''My December''. Clarkson also performed in the halftime show for the Dallas Cowboys and New York Jets game on Thanksgiving Day.

In addition to her roles as spokeswoman for the acne treatment Proactiv as well as Vitaminwater, Clarkson partnered with NASCAR for the 2007 season. She appeared in televised advertising spots, performed at pre-race concerts, promoted NASCAR Day, and appeared at the Champions' Banquet in December. In April 2008, Clarkson participated in a Papal Youth Rally at the campus of St. Joseph's Seminary, Dunwoodie in Yonkers, New York performing a mini-concert for those in attendance. This was the Papal Visit of Pope Benedict XVI. She performed Schubert's "Ave Maria" for the Pope later in the day following the Pope's speech. Clarkson, raised a Baptist, was said to be honored by the invitation and appreciative of the rosary given to her and her band by the Pope, who were invited over by the Pope immediately following the performance for the rosary honor.

2008–10: ''All I Ever Wanted''

Clarkson's fourth album, ''All I Ever Wanted'', was released on March 10, 2009. During recording of the album, Clarkson worked closely with producer-songwriters Ryan Tedder, Dr. Luke, Max Martin, and Howard Benson, among others. In its first week of sales, it sold 255,000 copies in the U.S., debuting at number one on the ''Billboard'' 200; it stayed at number one for two weeks. ''All I Ever Wanted'' received a Grammy Award nomination for "Best Pop Vocal Album". Clarkson was placed eighth on ''Billboard'' Magazine's Top Female Artists of 2009 and ninth on ''Billboard'' Magazine's Top Hot Artists of 2000s. She was ranked second on ''Billboard'' Magazine's Best of 2000s: Pop Song Artist, behind Pink.

The first single from ''All I Ever Wanted'', "My Life Would Suck Without You", entered the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at number 97 and rose to number one the following week; this broke the record for the largest leap to the top spot, formerly held by Britney Spears' "Womanizer".This was the second time Clarkson broke this record. Moreover, "My Life Would Suck Without You" was Clarkson's first number one in the United Kingdom and it made her the first ''American Idol'' winner to achieve a number one single in the UK. The album's second single, "I Do Not Hook Up", peaked at number 20 in the U.S. "I Do Not Hook Up" didn’t fair very well overseas and the believed reason for this is due to a lack of radio support because a previous version had been recorded by Katy Perry. The third single, "Already Gone", reached number 13 in the USA but didn’t achieve international success as it only reached number 66 in the UK.

"Already Gone" sparked another conflict between Clarkson and her label. There was a widely reported scandal with the album's third single, "Already Gone" which Clarkson wrote with OneRepublic's Ryan Tedder. Many critics had noticed that the backing track and style of the song sounded similar to Beyonce's "Halo". Clarkson, after becoming aware of the comparisons did not want to release the song out of respect for Beyonce, and wanted to release her self penned song, "Cry" which had extremely positive reviews, notably from the BBC. However, her record company refused, releasing "Already Gone" against Clarkson's desires. In response to the whole fiasco, Clarkson penned a song called "Wash Rinse Repeat" in which she states her view on the lack of creativity record lables give their artists, and it is widely believed the song is an attack on Ryan Tedder.

The fourth single was "All I Ever Wanted". Clarkson performed as one of many guests for the return of VH1 Divas in September 2009.

Clarkson was announced as one of the VH1 Save the Music Foundation ambassadors for 2009–2010. She began her 32-date ''All I Ever Wanted'' tour in October, following a string of summer concerts around the United States. Clarkson toured all over the world with the album, reaching territories such as Europe, South Africa, Oceania and Asia.The fall tour shows were performed in arena/theater type venues, with the summer tour being performed in outdoor amphitheatres. Her Indonesia show was initially sponsored by tobacco company Djarum, but after complaints from some fans and anti-tobacco groups, the promoter removed the sponsor. The tour ended in May 2010 in China.

2010–present: ''Stronger''

In November 2009, Clarkson gave an interview to MTV.com saying that she was currently writing songs for her fifth studio album while on tour, and hoped for a late 2010 release. She collaborated with ''All I Ever Wanted'' producers Howard Benson and Claude Kelly, ''My December'' producer Jason Halbert. as well as Rodney Jerkins and Toby Gad.

Clarkson later completed recording her album on February 28, 2011 and stated that it "was influenced by Prince, Tina Turner, Sheryl Crow, Radiohead and there's a little bit of a country vibe/influence on a couple of songs." On March 15, 2011 She announced that the album has been pushed back to September 2011. Rodney Jerkins told ''The Hollywood Reporter'' that it was a "smart decision", while Claude Kelly, said to MTV News that the move could work in her favor. ''Associated Content'' also reported that the delay was caused by the company restructuring at Sony Music with the former Universal Music Group chairman Doug Morris entering as its new CEO.

On June 6, 2011 RCA released Clarkson's album into pre-order format through her official online store.

On August 17, 2011 Clarkson also revealed the title of the album to be ''Stronger''; the album is set to release on October 25, 2011.. The cover of the single was released on her facebook page that same day.

The first single "Mr. Know It All" premiered via live webcast on Kelly's official website on August 30, 2011; the song will be available on iTunes on September 5, 2011.

Collaborations

Clarkson performed "What Hurts the Most" with Rascal Flatts at the ACM Awards in 2006 and returned again to sing a duet with Reba McEntire in 2007. This was her second performance on a country music award show, even though she is in the pop/rock genre. Along with her performance with Rascal Flatts, Clarkson also performed "Cigarettes", with the country duo The Wreckers during one of their shows in Texas.

Building on her country music status, Clarkson and Reba McEntire, who first met after Clarkson won the first season of ''American Idol'', recorded an hour-long ''CMT Crossroads'' special at Nashville's famed Ryman Auditorium on February 22, 2007. It aired on CMT and Palladia (then known as MHD) on June 24, 2007. Previously, Clarkson was a performer on CMT's ''Giants: Reba McEntire''. where she sang McEntire's hit song "Why Haven't I Heard From You", introduced Dolly Parton, and later also sang McEntire's hit "Does He Love You" with Martina McBride. Clarkson also appeared on an episode of McEntire's sitcom ''Reba'', that aired on January 14, 2007.

At the Academy of Country Music Awards on May 16, 2007, Clarkson and McEntire sang a duet of Clarkson's own 2005 single, "Because of You", which also became the lead single from McEntire's album of all-star duets. The music video for this version of the song later debuted on June 20, 2007. This collaboration with McEntire earned Clarkson a CMA Award nomination for "Musical Event of the Year" in 2007 and a Grammy Award nomination for "Best Country Collaboration With Vocal" in 2008. Additionally, the song was featured on ''Now That's What I Call Country'', which was released in August 2008.

Clarkson was a surprise guest at the 2007 CMA Music Festival in Nashville on June 7, 2007, where she performed "Does He Love You" and "Because of You" with Reba McEntire during the internationally-renowned annual event. The performance of "Because of You" was taped and aired as part of the "CMA Music Festival: Country's Night To Rock" television special that aired on ABC on July 23, 2007.

On January 17, 2008, Clarkson embarked on the 2 Worlds, 2 Voices Tour 2008, a co-headlining tour with Reba McEntire. Reba and Clarkson have since stayed in touch and Clarkson is now managed by McEntire's husband Narvel Blackstock.

On May 18, 2008, Clarkson performed on stage at the Academy of Country Music Awards All-Star Jam with Reba McEntire and Ronnie Dunn of Brooks and Dunn. The All-Star jam is the final event of the week taking place immediately after the awards show. Clarkson was not announced ahead of time for an appearance.

On August 23, 2010, it was announced that Clarkson had recorded a duet called "Don't You Wanna Stay" with country star Jason Aldean for Aldean's upcoming album, ''My Kinda Party''. They performed the song at the 2010 CMA Awards on November 10, 2010 and again on April 14, 2011 during the elimination show of ''American Idol'' season ten. On the week ending February 27, 2011, the song moved to number one on ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs, making Clarkson the third ''American Idol'' contestant to score a number one hit on the chart. The feat was first accomplished by Josh Gracin and followed by Carrie Underwood.. As of July 21, 2011, Don't You Wanna Stay has sold nearly 1.5 million digital singles, becoming the most downloaded country music collaboration of all time .

Film career

Soon after the first season of ''American Idol'' ended, Clarkson starred with ''Idol'' runner-up Justin Guarini in the movie ''From Justin to Kelly'' (2003). The film was poorly received by critics and grossed only $5 million at the North American box office, less than half its reported budget. Clarkson has mentioned in interviews that she is shocked when people send her scripts after ''From Justin to Kelly'', often citing contractual obligation as her sole reason for involvement in the film. Clarkson was quoted telling ''People'', "I knew when I read the script it was going to be real, real bad, but when I won, I signed that piece of paper and I could not get out of it." The script was written by Kim Fuller, Simon Fuller's sister.

She played Brenda Lee in the television drama ''American Dreams'' and appeared in the sitcom ''Reba''. She also participated in sketch comedy on ''MADtv'' (2002) and ''Saturday Night Live'' (2005).

Filmography (acting roles only)

Source: IMDb {|class="wikitable" |- style="text-align:center;" ! style="background:#b0c4de;" | Year ! style="background:#b0c4de;" | Title ! style="background:#b0c4de;" | Role ! style="background:#b0c4de;" | Episode |- |rowspan=4|2002 ||''Sabrina the Teenage Witch'' ||rowspan=2| as an extra (uncredited) || "The Whole Ball of Wax" |- |''That '80s Show'' || "Valentine's Day" (S1, Ep2) |- |''Issues 101'' ||Crystal (as an extra) || Theatrical film |- |''MADtv'' ||Herself / Skits || Season 8, Ep 1 |- |rowspan=2|2003 ||''From Justin to Kelly'' ||Kelly Taylor|| Theatrical film |- |rowspan=2| ''American Dreams'' ||rowspan=2| Brenda Lee || "And Promises To Keep" |- |rowspan=2|2004 || "Tidings of Comfort and Joy" |- |''King of the Hill'' ||Herself / Dawn|| "Stressed For Success" |- | rowspan=2|2005 || ''Saturday Night Live'' ||Herself / Skits / Musical Guest|| Host – Jason Bateman |- |''Damage Control'' ||Herself||Season 1, Ep. 1 |- |2007 ||''Reba'' ||Kelly|| "As We Forgive Those" |- |2009 || ''Saturday Night Live'' ||Herself / Musical Guest|| Host – Tracy Morgan |}

Musicianship and artistry

Clarkson's vocal talents and abilities have been met with praise from critics and celebrities alike. On an interview with ''Good Morning America'', Simon Cowell was asked of the then six ''American Idol'' winners, who he thought had the best voice. Cowell immediately answered that Clarkson did "by a mile", noting that she was "up there" with other great singers such as Celine Dion.

Reflecting back on Clarkson's performance during the ''Idol Gives Back'' special, Jeff Beck described Clarkson as having a "soul voice" that "demands attention".

After attending a rehearsal for ''American Idol'''s season six finale (in which Clarkson was scheduled to perform), ''Blender'' described Clarkson's voice as follows:

{{Bquote|"The Texas native has one of the great voices in pop music, a powerful and versatile instrument that's steeped in the rhythm and blues and country music she grew up with in the South. If Mariah Carey's five-octave voice is the equivalent of an expensively bred poodle, then Clarkson's is a bloodhound: friendly, earthy, but fierce just the same." |30px|30px|}}

Arion Berger of ''Rolling Stone'' has said of Clarkson that "her high notes are sweet and pillowy, her growl is bone-shaking and sexy, and her midrange is amazingly confident for a pop posy whose career is tied for eternity to the whims of her ''American Idol'' overlords."

Dr. Luke, a songwriter and producer of some of Clarkson's hits stated that "She has powerful lungs. She's like the Lance Armstrong of vocal cords."

Esquire magazine named her the best voice in the history of pop music.

Discography

''Thankful'' (2003)

''Breakaway'' (2004)

''My December'' (2007)

''All I Ever Wanted'' (2009)

''Stronger'' (2011)

Tours

Awards

See also

List of artists who reached number one in the United States

List of artists who reached number one on the UK Singles Chart

List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Adult Contemporary chart

List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. dance airplay chart

List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Adult Top 40 chart

List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. country chart

List of best-charting music artists in the U.S.

List of Idol series winners

References

Further reading

Jenkins, Debi. ''A profile of Kelly Clarkson—From Burleson, Texas to American Idol'' (2003). ''Local Celebrity''. Retrieved February 11, 2006.

"Hooman interviews Kelly". KLLC Radio Alice 97.3. May 25, 2005. Retrieved February 11, 2006. ("[Clarkson's] parents were together for seventeen years, and then all of a sudden, something went wrong".) Phares, Heather. [ "Kelly—Biography"]. ''Allmusic''. Retrieved February 11, 2006.

Lamb, Bill. "Kelly Clarkson—Profile". About.com. Retrieved February 11, 2006.

Phares, Heather. "Kelly Clarkson—Biography". Yahoo LAUNCHcast. Retrieved February 11, 2006.

International charting information. ''Top40-Charts.com''. Retrieved February 12, 2006.

''Kelly Gets Cocky''. ''Idol'' winner fires Simon Fuller. PopSugar.com. ''Blog Archives''. Retrieved February 25, 2006.

. ''E! Online''. [''Some films defy criticism''.] Retrieved May 4, 2006.

Croatto, Pete. ''From Justin to Kelly''. [''Watching From Justin to Kelly, one question looms over the entire production: Why was this movie made?''] Retrieved May 4, 2006.

External links

KellyClarkson.com — Official Site

Category:1982 births Category:Actors from Texas Category:American female singers Category:American film actors Category:American Idol winners Category:American people of Greek descent Category:American people of Irish descent Category:American people of Welsh descent Category:American Christians Category:Baptists from the United States Category:American pop singers Category:American pop singer-songwriters Category:American record producers Category:American singer-songwriters Category:English-language singers Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Living people Category:Musicians from Texas Category:People from Fort Worth, Texas Category:RCA Records artists

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Name	Judy Garland'''
Birth name	Frances Ethel Gumm
Birth date	June 10, 1922
Birth place	Grand Rapids, Minnesota, U.S.
Death date	June 22, 1969
Death place	Chelsea, London, England, UK
Cause death	Drug Overdose
Occupation	Actress, singer
Years active
Spouse
Children	}}

Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922 – June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto vocal range, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage. Respected for her versatility, she received a Juvenile Academy Award, won a Golden Globe Award, as well as Grammy Awards and a Special Tony Award. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in ''A Star is Born'' and for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the 1961 film, ''Judgment at Nuremberg''.

At 39 years of age, she was the youngest recipient of the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement in the motion picture industry.

After appearing in vaudeville with her two older sisters, Garland was signed to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as a teenager. There she made more than two dozen films, including nine with Mickey Rooney and the 1939 film with which she would be most identified, ''The Wizard of Oz''. After 15 years, she was released from the studio but gained renewed success through record-breaking concert appearances, including a return to acting beginning with critically acclaimed performances.

Despite her professional triumphs, Garland battled personal problems throughout her life. Insecure about her appearance, her feelings were compounded by film executives who told her she was unattractive and manipulated her on-screen physical appearance. She was plagued by financial instability, often owing hundreds of thousands of dollars in back taxes. She married five times, with her first four marriages ending in divorce. She died of an accidental drug overdose at the age of 47, leaving children Liza Minnelli, Lorna Luft, and Joey Luft.

In 1997, Garland was posthumously awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Several of her recordings have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 1999, the American Film Institute placed her among the ten greatest female stars in the history of American cinema.

Early life

Born Frances Ethel Gumm in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, Garland was the youngest child of Francis Avent "Frank" Gumm (March 20, 1886 – November 17, 1935) and Ethel Marion Milne (November 17, 1893 – January 5, 1953). Her parents were vaudevillians who settled in Grand Rapids to run a movie theatre that featured vaudeville acts.

Garland's ancestry on both sides of her family can be traced back to the early colonial days of the United States. Her father was descended from the Marable family of Virginia, her grandfather a Milne from Aberdeen (as she told an audience on May 29, 1951 in Edinburgh), and her mother from Patrick Fitzpatrick, who emigrated to America in the 1770s from Smithtown, County Meath, Ireland.

Named after both her parents and baptized at a local Episcopal church, "Baby" (as she was called by her parents and sisters) shared her family's flair for song and dance. Her first appearance came at the age of two-and-a-half when she joined her two older sisters, Mary Jane "Suzy/Suzanne" Gumm (1915–64) and Dorothy Virginia "Jimmie" Gumm (1917–77), on the stage of her father's movie theater during a Christmas show and sang a chorus of "Jingle Bells". Accompanied by their mother on piano, The Gumm Sisters performed at there for the next few years. Following rumors that Frank Gumm had made sexual advances toward male ushers there, the family relocated to Lancaster, California, in June 1926. Frank purchased and operated another theater in Lancaster, and Ethel, acting as their manager, began working to get her daughters into motion pictures. Garland graduated from Antelope Valley High School shortly after.

Early career

The Gumm Sisters

In 1928, The Gumm Sisters enrolled in a dance school run by Ethel Meglin, proprietress of the Meglin Kiddies dance troupe. They appeared with the troupe at its annual Christmas show. It was through the Meglin Kiddies that they made their film debut, in a 1929 short subject called ''The Big Revue''. This was followed by appearances in two Vitaphone shorts the following year, ''A Holiday in Storyland'' (featuring Garland's first on-screen solo) and ''The Wedding of Jack and Jill''. They next appeared together in ''Bubbles''. Their final on-screen appearance came in 1935, in another short entitled ''La Fiesta de Santa Barbara''.

In 1934, the trio, who by then had been touring the vaudeville circuit as "The Gumm Sisters" for many years, performed in Chicago at the Oriental Theater with George Jessel. He encouraged the group to choose a more appealing name after "Gumm" was met with laughter from the audience. "The Garland Sisters" was chosen, and Frances changed her name to "Judy" soon after, inspired by a popular Hoagy Carmichael song.

Several stories persist regarding the origin of the name "Garland". One is that it was originated by Jessel after Carole Lombard's character Lily Garland in the film ''Twentieth Century'' which was then playing at the Oriental; another is that the girls chose the surname after drama critic Robert Garland. Garland's daughter Lorna Luft stated that her mother selected the name when Jessel announced that the trio "looked prettier than a garland of flowers". Another variation surfaced when he was a guest on Garland's television show in 1963. He claimed that he had sent actress Judith Anderson a telegram containing the word "garland," and it stuck in his mind.

At any rate, by late 1934 the "Gumm Sisters" had changed their name to the "Garland Sisters." They were broken up in August 1935, however, Suzanne Garland flew to Reno, Nevada, and married musician Lee Kahn, a member of the Jimmy Davis orchestra playing at Cal-Neva Lodge, Lake Tahoe.

Signed at MGM

In 1935, Garland was signed to a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, supposedly without a screen test, though she had made a test for the studio several months earlier. It did not know what to do with her, as at age 13 she was older than the traditional child star but too young for adult roles. Her physical appearance created a dilemma for MGM. At only , her "cute" or "girl next door" looks did not exemplify the more glamorous persona required of leading ladies of the time. She was self-conscious and anxious about her appearance. "Judy went to school at Metro with Ava Gardner, Lana Turner, Elizabeth Taylor, real beauties," said Charles Walters, who directed her in a number of films. "Judy was the big money-maker at the time, a big success, but she was the ugly duckling ...I think it had a very damaging effect on her emotionally for a long time. I think it lasted forever, really." Her insecurity was exacerbated by the attitude of studio chief Louis B. Mayer, who referred to her as his "little hunchback". During her early years at the studio, she was photographed and dressed in plain garments or frilly juvenile gowns and costumes to match the "girl-next-door" image that was created for her. She was made to wear removable caps on her teeth and rubberized disks to reshape her nose. She performed at various studio functions and was eventually cast opposite Deanna Durbin in the musical short ''Every Sunday''. The film contrasted her alto vocal range and swing style with Durbin's operatic soprano and served as an extended screen test for the pair, as studio executives were questioning the wisdom of having two girl singers on the roster. Mayer finally decided to keep both actresses, but by that time Durbin's option had lapsed and she was signed by Universal Studios.

On November 16, 1935, in the midst of preparing for a radio performance on the ''Shell Chateau Hour,'' Garland learned that her father, who had been hospitalized with meningitis, had taken a turn for the worse. Frank Gumm died the following morning, on November 17, leaving her devastated. Her song for the ''Shell Chateau Hour'' was her first professional rendition of "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart", a song which would become a standard in many of her concerts.

Garland next came to the attention of studio executives by singing a special arrangement of "You Made Me Love You" to Clark Gable at a birthday party held by the studio for the actor; her rendition was so well regarded that she performed the song in the all-star extravaganza ''Broadway Melody of 1938'' (1937), in which she sang it to a photograph of him.

MGM hit on a winning formula when it paired Garland with Mickey Rooney in a string of "backyard musicals". The duo first appeared together in the 1937 B movie ''Thoroughbreds Don't Cry''. They became a sensation, and teamed up again in ''Love Finds Andy Hardy''. She would eventually star with him in nine films.

To keep up with the frantic pace of making one film after another, Garland, Rooney, and other young performers were constantly given amphetamines, as well as barbiturates to take before going to bed. For Garland, this regular dose of drugs led to addiction and a lifelong struggle, and contributed to her eventual demise. She later resented the hectic schedule and felt that her youth had been stolen from her by MGM. Despite successful film and recording careers, several awards, critical praise, and her ability to fill concert halls worldwide, she was plagued throughout her life with self-doubt and required constant reassurance that she was talented and attractive.

''The Wizard of Oz''

In 1938, at age 16, Garland was cast as Dorothy Gale in ''The Wizard of Oz'' (1939), a film based on the children's book by L. Frank Baum. In this film, she sang the song for which she would forever be identified, "Over the Rainbow". Although producers Arthur Freed and Mervyn LeRoy had wanted her from the start, studio chief Mayer tried first to borrow Shirley Temple from 20th Century Fox. Her services were denied and Garland was cast. She was initially outfitted in a blonde wig for the part, but Freed and LeRoy decided against it shortly into filming. Her breasts were bound with tape and she was made to wear a special corset to flatten out her curves and make her appear younger; her blue gingham dress was also chosen for its blurring effect on her figure.

Shooting commenced on October 13, 1938, and was completed on March 16, 1939, with a final cost of more than US$2 million. From the conclusion of filming, MGM kept Garland busy with promotional tours and the shooting of ''Babes in Arms''. She and Mickey Rooney were sent on a cross-country promotional tour, culminating in the August 17 New York City premiere at the Capitol Theater, which included a five-show-a-day appearance schedule for the two stars.

On November 17, 1939, Garland's mother, Ethel, married William P. Gillmore in Yuma, Arizona. It was the fourth anniversary of her first husband's death.

''The Wizard of Oz'' was a tremendous critical success, though its high budget and promotions costs of an estimated $4 million coupled with the lower revenue generated by children's tickets meant that the film did not make a profit until it was rereleased in the 1940s. At the 1940 Academy Awards ceremony, Garland received an Academy Juvenile Award for her performances in 1939, including ''The Wizard of Oz'' and ''Babes in Arms''. Following this recognition, she became one of MGM's most bankable stars.

Stardom as an adult

In 1940, she starred in three films: ''Andy Hardy Meets Debutante'', ''Strike Up the Band'', and ''Little Nellie Kelly''. In the latter, she played her first adult role, a dual role of both mother and daughter. ''Little Nellie Kelly'' was purchased from George M. Cohan as a vehicle for her to display both her audience appeal and her physical appearance. The role was a challenge for her, requiring the use of an accent, her first adult kiss, and the only death scene of her career. The success of these three films, and a further three films in 1941, secured her position at MGM as a major property. During this time Garland experienced her first serious adult romances. The first was with the band leader Artie Shaw. She was deeply devoted to him and was devastated in early 1940 when he eloped with Lana Turner. Another failed relationship (and her first failed marriage) included an abortion her mother and husband persuaded her to have in order to continue working. She was noticeably thinner in her next film, ''For Me and My Gal'', alongside Gene Kelly in his first screen appearance. She was top billed over the credits for the first time, and effectively made the transition from teenage star to adult actress.

At the age of 21, she was given the "glamour treatment" in ''Presenting Lily Mars'', in which she was dressed in "grown-up" gowns. Her lightened hair was also pulled up in a stylish fashion. However, no matter how glamorous or beautiful she appeared on screen or in photographs, she was never confident in her appearance and never escaped the "girl next door" image that had been created for her.

One of Garland's most successful films for MGM was ''Meet Me in St. Louis'' (1944), in which she introduced three standards: "The Trolley Song", "The Boy Next Door", and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas". Vincente Minnelli was assigned to direct this movie, and he requested that makeup artist Dorothy Ponedel be assigned to her for the picture. Ponedel refined her appearance in several ways, including extending and reshaping her eyebrows, changing her hairline, modifying her lip line, and removing her nose discs. She appreciated the results so much that Ponedel was written into her contract for all her remaining pictures at MGM.

''The Clock'' (1945) was her first straight dramatic film, opposite Robert Walker. Though the film was critically praised and earned a profit, most movie fans expected her to sing. It would be many years before she acted again in a non-singing dramatic role.

Garland's other famous films of the 1940s include ''The Harvey Girls'' (1946), in which she introduced the Academy Award-winning song "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe", and ''The Pirate'' (1948).'''

Leaving MGM

During filming for ''The Pirate'' in April 1947, Garland suffered a nervous breakdown and was placed in a private sanitarium. She was able to complete filming, but in July she undertook her first suicide attempt, making minor cuts to her wrist with a broken glass. During this period, she spent two weeks in treatment at the Austen Riggs Center, a psychiatric hospital in Stockbridge, Massachusetts Following her work on ''The Pirate'', she completed three more films for MGM: ''Easter Parade'' (in which she danced with Fred Astaire), ''In the Good Old Summertime'', and her final film with MGM, ''Summer Stock''.

Because of her mental condition, Garland was unable to complete a series of films. During the filming of ''The Barkleys of Broadway'', she was taking prescription sleeping medication along with illicitly obtained pills containing morphine. These, in combination with migraine headaches, led her to miss several shooting days in a row. After being advised by her doctor that she would only be able to work in four-to-five-day increments with extended rest periods between, MGM executive Arthur Freed made the decision to suspend her on July 18, 1948. She was replaced by Ginger Rogers.

Garland was cast in the film adaptation of ''Annie Get Your Gun'' in the title role of Annie Oakley. She was nervous at the prospect of taking on a role strongly identified with Ethel Merman, anxious about appearing in an unglamorous part after breaking from juvenile parts for several years, and disturbed by her treatment at the hands of director Busby Berkeley. She began arriving late to the set, and sometimes failed to appear. She was suspended from the picture on May 10, 1949, and was replaced by Betty Hutton.

Garland was next cast in the film ''Royal Wedding'' with Fred Astaire after June Allyson became pregnant in 1950. She again failed to report to the set on multiple occasions, and the studio suspended her contract on June 17, 1950. She was replaced by Jane Powell. Reputable biographies following her death stated that after this latest dismissal, she slightly grazed her neck with a broken water glass, requiring only a Band-Aid, but at the time, the public was informed that a despondent Garland had slashed her throat. "All I could see ahead was more confusion," Garland later said of this suicide attempt. "I wanted to black out the future as well as the past. I wanted to hurt myself and everyone who had hurt me."

Later career

Renewed stardom on the stage

In October 1951, Garland opened in a vaudeville-style, two-a-day engagement at Broadway's newly refurbished Palace Theatre. Her 19-week engagement exceeded all previous records for the theater, and was described as "one of the greatest personal triumphs in show business history". Garland was honored for her contribution to the revival of vaudeville with a Special Tony Award.

Garland's personal and professional achievements during this time were marred by the actions of her mother, Ethel. In May 1952, at the height of her comeback, Ethel was featured in a ''Los Angeles Mirror'' story in which she revealed that while Garland was making a small fortune at the Palace, Ethel was working a desk job at Douglas Aircraft Company for $61 a week. They had been estranged for years, with Garland characterizing her mother as "no good for anything except to create chaos and fear" and accusing her of mismanaging and misappropriating her salary from the earliest days of her career. Garland's sister Virginia denied this, stating "Mama never took a dime from Judy." On January 5, 1953, Ethel was found dead in the Douglas Aircraft parking lot.

''A Star Is Born''

In 1954, Garland filmed a musical remake of the 1937 film ''A Star is Born'' for Warner Bros. She and her third husband, Sid Luft, through their production company, Transcona Enterprises, produced the film while Warner Bros. supplied the funds, production facilities, and crew. Directed by George Cukor and costarring James Mason, it was a large undertaking to which she initially fully dedicated herself. As shooting progressed, however, she began making the same pleas of illness which she had so often made during her final films at MGM. Production delays led to cost overruns and angry confrontations with Warner Bros. head Jack Warner. Principal photography wrapped on March 17, 1954. At Luft's suggestion, the "Born in a Trunk" medley was filmed as a showcase for her and inserted over director Cukor's objections, who feared the additional length would lead to cuts in other areas. It was completed on July 29.

Upon its September 29 world premiere, the film was met with tremendous critical and popular acclaim. Before release it was edited at the instruction of Jack Warner; theater operators, concerned that they were losing money because they were only able to run the film for three or four shows per day instead of five or six, pressured the studio to make additional reductions. About 30 minutes of footage was cut, sparking outrage among critics and filmgoers. ''A Star is Born'' ended up losing money, and the secure financial position Garland had expected from the profits did not materialize. Transcona made no more films with Warner.

Garland was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress and, in the run-up to the 27th Academy Awards, was generally expected to be the winner. She could not attend the ceremony because she had just given birth to her son, Joseph Luft, so a television crew was in her hospital room with cameras and wires to televise her anticipated acceptance speech. The Oscar was won, however, by Grace Kelly for ''The Country Girl'' (1954). The camera crew was packing up before Kelly could even reach the stage. Garland even made jokes about the incident on her television series, saying "...and nobody said good-bye." Groucho Marx sent her a telegram after the awards ceremony, declaring her loss "the biggest robbery since Brinks". To this day, it is still considered to be one of the biggest upsets in the history of the Academy Awards and generally felt that she should have rightly won the Oscar and her performance far exceeded Kelly's. ''TIME'' magazine labeled her performance as "just about the greatest one-woman show in modern movie history". Garland won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Musical for the role.

Garland's films after ''A Star Is Born'' included ''Judgment at Nuremberg'' (1961) (for which she was Oscar-and Golden Globe-nominated for Best Supporting Actress), the animated feature ''Gay Purr-ee'' (1962), and ''A Child Is Waiting'' (1963) with Burt Lancaster. Her final film, ''I Could Go On Singing'' (1963), costarring Dirk Bogarde, mirrored her own life with its story of a world famous singing star. Her last screen performance of a song was the prophetic ''I Could Go on Singing'' at the end of the film.

Television, concerts, and Carnegie Hall

Beginning in 1955, Garland appeared in a number of television specials. The first, the 1955 debut episode of ''Ford Star Jubilee'', was the first full-scale color broadcast ever on CBS and was a ratings triumph, scoring a 34.8 Nielsen rating. She signed a three-year, $300,000 contract with the network. Only one additional special, a live concert edition of ''General Electric Theater'', was broadcast in 1956 before the relationship between the Lufts and CBS broke down in a dispute over the planned format of upcoming specials. In 1956, Garland performed four weeks at the New Frontier Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip for a salary of $55,000 per week, making her the highest-paid entertainer to work in Las Vegas. Despite a brief bout of laryngitis, her performances there were so successful that her run was extended an extra week. Later that year she returned to the Palace Theatre, site of her two-a-day triumph. She opened in September, once again to rave reviews and popular acclaim.

In November 1959 Garland was hospitalized, diagnosed with acute hepatitis. Over the next few weeks several quarts of fluid were drained from her body until, still weak, she was released from the hospital in January 1960. She was told by doctors that she likely had five years or less to live, and that even if she did survive she would be a semi-invalid and would never sing again. She initially felt "greatly relieved" at the diagnosis. "The pressure was off me for the first time in my life." However, she successfully recovered over the next several months and, in August of that year, returned to the stage of the Palladium. She felt so warmly embraced by the British that she announced her intention to move permanently to England.

Her concert appearance at Carnegie Hall on April 23, 1961, was a considerable highlight, called by many "the greatest night in show business history". The two-record ''Judy at Carnegie Hall'' was certified gold, charting for 95 weeks on ''Billboard'', including 13 weeks at number one. The album won four Grammy Awards including Album of the Year and Best Female Vocal of the Year. The album has never been out of print.

In 1961, Garland and CBS settled their contract disputes with the help of her new agent, Freddie Fields, and negotiated a new round of specials. The first, entitled ''The Judy Garland Show'', aired in 1962 and featured guests Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. Following this success, CBS made a $24 million offer to her for a weekly television series of her own, also to be called ''The Judy Garland Show'', which was deemed at the time in the press to be "the biggest talent deal in TV history". Although she had said as early as 1955 that she would never do a weekly television series, in the early 1960s she was in a financially precarious situation. Garland was several hundred thousand dollars in debt to the Internal Revenue Service, having failed to pay taxes in 1951 and 1952, and the financial failure of ''A Star is Born'' meant that she received nothing from that investment. A successful run on television was intended to secure her financial future.

Following a third special, ''Judy Garland and Her Guests Phil Silvers and Robert Goulet'', Garland's weekly series debuted September 29, 1963. ''The Judy Garland Show'' was critically praised, but for a variety of reasons (including being placed in the time slot opposite ''Bonanza'' on NBC) the show lasted only one season and was cancelled in 1964 after 26 episodes. Despite its short run, the series was nominated for four Emmy Awards. The demise of the series was personally and financially devastating for Garland, who never fully recovered from its failure.

Final years

With the demise of her television series, Garland returned to the stage. Most notably, she performed at the London Palladium with her then 18-year-old daughter Liza Minnelli in November 1964. The concert, which was also filmed for British television network ITV, was one of her final appearances at the venue. She made guest appearances on ''The Ed Sullivan Show'', ''The Tonight Show'', ''The Hollywood Palace'', and ''The Merv Griffin Show'', guest-hosting an episode of the last one.

A 1964 tour of Australia was largely disastrous. Garland's first concert in Sydney, held in the Sydney Stadium because no concert hall could accommodate the crowds who wanted to see her, went well and received positive reviews. Her second performance, in Melbourne, started an hour late. The crowd of 7,000, angered by her tardiness and believing her to be drunk, booed and heckled her, and she fled the stage after just 45 minutes. She later characterized the Melbourne crowd as "brutish". A second concert in Sydney was uneventful but the Melbourne appearance garnered her significant bad press. Some of that bad press was deflected by the announcement of a near fatal episode of pleurisy.

In February 1967, Garland had been cast as Helen Lawson in ''Valley of the Dolls'' for 20th Century Fox. The character of Neely O'Hara in the book by Jacqueline Susann was rumored to have been based on her. The role of O'Hara in the film was played by Patty Duke. During the filming, she missed rehearsals and was fired in April. She was replaced by Susan Hayward. Her prerecording of the song "I'll Plant My Own Tree" survived, along with her wardrobe tests.

Returning to the stage, Garland made her last appearances at New York's Palace Theatre in July, a 16-show tour, performing with her children Lorna and Joey Luft. She wore a sequined pantsuit on stage for this tour, which was part of the original wardrobe for her character in ''Valley of the Dolls.''

Marriages

David Rose

Garland began a relationship with musician David Rose, and, on her 18th birthday, he gave her an engagement ring. The studio intervened because he was still married at the time to the actress and singer Martha Raye. They agreed to wait a year to allow for his divorce from her to become final, and were wed on July 27, 1941. Garland, who had aborted her pregnancy by him in 1942, agreed to a trial separation in January 1943, and they divorced in 1944.

Vincente Minnelli

During the filming of ''Meet Me in St. Louis'', after some initial conflict between them, Garland and Vincente Minnelli entered a relationship together. They were married June 15, 1945, and on March 12, 1946, daughter Liza was born. In 1951, they divorced.

Sid Luft

She engaged Sid Luft as her manager the same year. He arranged a four-month concert tour of the United Kingdom, where she played to sold-out audiences throughout England, Scotland, and Ireland. It included her first appearances at the renowned London Palladium, for a four-week stand in April. Although some in the British press chided her before her opening for being "too plump", she received rave reviews and the ovation was described by the Palladium manager as the loudest he had ever heard.

Garland and Luft were married on June 8, 1952, in Hollister, California, and she gave birth to their first child, Lorna, on November 21 and her third one, Joey, on March 29 1955

Garland sued Luft for divorce in 1963, claiming "cruelty" as the grounds. She also asserted that he had repeatedly struck her while he was drinking and that he had attempted to take their children from her by force. She had filed for divorce more than once previously, including as early as 1956.

Mark Herron

Garland's fourth marriage was to tour promoter Mark Herron. They announced that their marriage had taken place aboard a freighter off the coast of Hong Kong; however, she was not legally divorced from Luft at the time the ceremony was performed. It became final on May 19, 1965, but she and Herron did not legally marry until November 14, 1965 and then separated six months later.

Mickey Deans

By early 1969, Garland's health had deteriorated. She performed in London at the Talk of the Town nightclub for a five-week run and made her last concert appearance in Copenhagen during March 1969. She married her fifth and final husband, Mickey Deans, at Chelsea Register Office, London, on March 15, 1969, her divorce from Herron having been finalized on February 11.

Death

On June 22 1969, Garland was found dead by Deans in the bathroom of their rented house in Chelsea, London. At the subsequent inquest, coroner Gavin Thursdon stated that the cause of death was "an incautious self-overdosage" of barbiturates; her blood contained the equivalent of ten Seconal capsules. Thursdon stressed that the overdose had been unintentional and that there was no evidence to suggest she had committed suicide. Her autopsy showed that there was no inflammation of her stomach lining and no drug residue in there, which indicated that the drug had been ingested over a long period of time, rather than in one dose. Her death certificate stated that her death had been "accidental." Even so, a British specialist who had attended her said she had been living on borrowed time due to cirrhosis of the liver. She had turned 47 just 12 days prior to her death. Her ''Wizard of Oz'' costar Ray Bolger commented at her funeral, "She just plain wore out." An estimated 20,000 people lined up for hours at the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel to view her body. James Mason gave a eulogy at the funeral, which was an Episcopalian service led by the Rev. Peter A. Delaney of Marylebone Church, London, who had officiated at her marriage to Deans. She was interred in a crypt in the community mausoleum at Ferncliff Cemetery, in Hartsdale, New York.

Legacy

Garland's legacy as a performer and a personality has endured long after her death. The American Film Institute named her eighth among the Greatest Female Stars of All Time. She has been the subject of over two dozen biographies since her death, including the well-received ''Me and My Shadows: A Family Memoir'' by her daughter, Lorna Luft, whose memoir was later adapted into the multiple award-winning television miniseries, ''Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows'', which won Emmy Awards for the two actresses portraying her (Tammy Blanchard and Judy Davis). English actress Tracie Bennett portrayed Garland to critical acclaim in a dramatization of her eventual decline and months preceding her death in a play titled ''End of the Rainbow'' at London's Trafalgar Studios. Both the play and Bennett received Laurence Olivier Award nominations.

Garland was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997. Several of her recordings have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. These include "Over the Rainbow", which was ranked as the number one movie song of all time in the American Film Institute's "100 Years...100 Songs" list. Four more Garland songs are featured on the list: "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" (#76), "Get Happy" (#61), "The Trolley Song" (#26), and "The Man That Got Away" (#11). She has twice been honored on U.S. postage stamps, in 1989 (as Dorothy) and again in 2006 (as Vicki Lester from ''A Star Is Born''). She is mentioned in the 1998 horror film ''I Still Know What You Did Last Summer'' when the hotel clerk is explaining the history of the hotel in the Bahamas where the film takes place.

Gay icon

Garland always had a large base of fans in the gay community and has become a gay icon. Reasons often given for her standing, especially among gay men, are admiration of her ability as a performer, the way her personal struggles mirrored those of gay men in America during the height of her fame and her value as a camp figure. When asked about how she felt about being a gay icon, she responded, "I couldn't care less. I sing to people."

Some have also suggested a connection between the date of Garland's death and funeral on June 27, 1969 and the Stonewall riots, the flashpoint of the modern Gay Liberation movement, which started in the early hours of June 28.

Filmography and performances

Film and TV portrayals

Garland has been portrayed in film by:

Andrea McArdle in ''Rainbow'' (1978)

Tammy Blanchard (young Judy) and Judy Davis (older Judy) in ''Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows'' (2001)

Elizabeth Karsell in ''James Dean'' (2001)

Anne Hathaway is set to play Garland in a biopic titled ''Get Happy: The Life of Judy Garland'' which is in production and is set to be released in either 2012 or 2013.

Garland has also been impersonated in several TV shows as well.

Discography

Awards

See also

List of Judy Garland biographies

Notes

References

Bianco, David. ''Gay Essentials: Facts For Your Gay Brain''. Alyson Publications. Los Angeles, 1999. ISBN 1-55583-508-2.

Clarke, Gerald (2001). ''Get Happy: The Life of Judy Garland''. New York, Random House. ISBN 0-375-50378-1.

DiOrio, Jr., Al. ''Little Girl Lost: The Life and Hard Times of Judy Garland''. Manor Books. New York, 1973.

Duberman, Martin (1993). ''Stonewall''. Penguin Books. ISBN 0-525-93602-5.

Edwards, Anne. ''Judy Garland''. Simon & Schuster. New York, 1975. ISBN 0-671-80228-3 (paperback edition).

Finch, Christopher. ''Rainbow: The Stormy Life of Judy Garland''. Ballantine Books. 1975. ISBN 0-345-25173-3 (paperback edition).

Frank, Gerold. ''Judy''. Harper & Row. New York, 1975. ISBN 0-06-011337-5.

Juneau, James. ''Judy Garland: A Pyramid Illustrated History of the Movies''. Pyramid Publications. 1974, New York. ISBN 0-515-03482-7.

Luft, Lorna. ''Me and My Shadows: A Family Memoir''. Simon & Schuster. New York, 1999. ISBN 0-283-06320-3.

Sanders, Coyne Steven. ''Rainbow's End: The Judy Garland Show''. Zebra Books. 1990 ISBN 0-8217-3708-2 (paperback edition).

Seaman, Barbara. ''Lovely Me: The Life of Jacqueline Susann''. Seven Stories Press. 1996, New York. ISBN 0-9658770-6-X (1996 edition).

Shipman, David. ''Judy Garland: The Secret Life of an American Legend''. Hyperion. New York, 1992. ISBN 0-7868-8026-0 (paperback edition).

Steiger, Brad (1969). ''Judy Garland''. New York, Ace Books.

Wayne, Jane Ellen (2003). ''The Golden Girls of MGM''. New York, Carroll & Graf Publishers. ISBN 0-7867-1303-8.

External links

Judy Garland at TV Guide

The Judy Room Celebrating the life and career of Judy Garland

The Judy Garland Birthplace and Museum in Grand Rapids, MN

The Judy Garland Club official international fan club

American Masters special">''Judy Garland: By Myself'' – American Masters special

Judy Garland's Film "The Wizard of Oz" Film site on Judy and Oz

Judy Garland at The Biography Channel

Category:1922 births Category:1969 deaths Category:People from Grand Rapids, Minnesota Category:Academy Juvenile Award winners Category:Accidental deaths in England Category:Actors from Minnesota Category:University High School (Los Angeles, California) alumni Category:American people of English descent Category:American child actors Category:American child singers Category:American contraltos Category:American female singers Category:American film actors Category:American voice actors Category:American musicians of English descent Category:American people of Irish descent Category:American people of Scottish descent Category:American radio personalities Category:Best Musical or Comedy Actress Golden Globe (film) winners Category:Burials at Ferncliff Cemetery Category:Capitol Records artists Category:Decca Records artists Category:Drug-related deaths in England Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners Category:Tony Award winners Category:Traditional pop music singers Category:Vaudeville performers Category:American expatriates in the United Kingdom Category:Real people associated with Oz

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name	Laurie Walker Dhue
birth date	February 10, 1969
birth place	North Carolina
education	B.S. Political Science, UNC-Chapel Hill
occupation	Television journalist
gender	Female
spouse	Thomas Colquitt (divorced)
relatives	Father Bob Dhue, fmr president of World Championship Wrestling
ethnicity	Caucasian (Dutch)
religion	Protestant
url	}}

Laurie Walker Dhue (born February 10, 1969 in North Carolina) is a former Fox News Channel anchor from 2000–2008, reporting for the television show ''Geraldo at Large'', which airs Saturday and Sunday nights, and the host of ''Fox Report'' ''Weekend''. Dhue is the only person to have hosted shows on all three cable news networks.

Early life

Although born in North Carolina, she grew up in Atlanta, Georgia. Her mother is Hutton Dhue, and her father, Bob Dhue, was a former vice president of wrestling operations for World Championship Wrestling. Laurie Dhue graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science with a concentration in dramatic arts.

Career

Before joining the Fox News Channel in 2000, she worked for MSNBC as host of its "Special Edition." She started at MSNBC in April 1999 as the anchor of "Newsfront." She worked at CNN from 1990-1999 where she served as anchor for weekend programs, such as "CNN Saturday," "CNN Sunday," "World View," and "The World Today." She also interned as a weekend morning anchor for WSB-TV in Atlanta and did the occasional weekend edition of Today for NBC.

She hosted the highly-rated "Fox Report" weekend edition and appeared weekly on the number-one cable program, "The O'Reilly Factor." She also reported for "Geraldo at Large," "On the Record with Greta Van Susteren," and “The Fox Report with Shepard Smith." Dhue also served as the voice of the official Fox News Radio launch in 2004 and anchored evening news updates for several years. Most recently, Laurie has made appearances once again on Fox News Geraldo at Large: First as a guest discussing her victory over alcoholism and then once again as a reporter and round-table panelist.

Currently she performs public speaking at conventions, conferences, corporate events and special events.

Since March 29, 2011, she currently co-anchors the WPIX-TV Morning News in New York City.

On March 30, 2011, she was the guest host of ''The Joy Behar Show'' on CNN's sister network, HLN.

Alcoholism

In February 2011, Dhue publicly admitted to a 15-year battle with alcoholism. In 2007, she sought treatment for her condition and has since maintained her sobriety.

References

External links

Laurie Dhue bio

All About Laurie Dhue

Video from NBC Today on her history of Alcoholism

Category:American television news anchors Category:American television reporters and correspondents Category:People from Atlanta, Georgia Category:University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni Category:1969 births Category:Living people

it:Laurie Dhue