Judy Garland A STAR IS BORN

Judy played Esther in the radio version of A Star Is Born, with Walter Pidgeon as Norman Maine. The show was broadcast on Lux Radio Theater on December 28, 1942.

Judy received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for her work in the film, but the award went to Grace Kelly for her work in The Country Girl. Judy received hundreds of conciliatory telegrams including one from Groucho Marx who said it was "the greatest robbery since Brink's".

Look magazine cited Judy as best actress of the year with its Look Annual Movie Awards, stating "The versatility and elegance that Judy Garland displays in A Star Is Born win her the Look Award for best actress of the year. In past films, Judy often revealed extraordinary talents as a variety artist and an actress potentially rich in both comedy and tragedy. These talents grow to full maturity in this "drama with music" and give her a place with the genuine artists who are wholly products of Hollywood training."
Critical Response

"Those who have blissful recollections of David O. Selznick's "A Star Is Born" as probably the most affecting movie ever made about Hollywood may get themselves set for a new experience that should put the former one in the shade...[George Cukor]...gets performances from Miss Garland and Mr. Mason that make the heart flutter and bleed."


- Bosley Crowther, The New York Times, October 12, 1954



"[Judy Garland]...gives what is just about the greatest one-woman show in modern movie history...she has never sung better...Her big, dark voice sobs, sighs, sulks and socks them out like a cross between Tara's harp and the late Bessie Smith...Everybody's little sister, it would seem, has grown out of her braids and into a tiara."

- Time, October 25, 1954



"A Star Is Born is best classified as a thrilling personal triumph for Judy Garland. As an actress Miss Garland is more than adequate. As a mime and comedienne she is even better. But as a singer she can handle anything from torch songs and blues to ballads. In more ways than one, the picture is hers."


- Newsweek, November 1, 1954