Judy Garland was 47 years old at the time of her death

American actress and singer Judy Garland on August 19, 1955 in New York.Credit :

CBS Photo Archive/Getty

Judy Garland’s death cut her yellow brick road to happiness short.

Born Frances Ethel Gumm, Garland’s success came early at the age of 15. But though the legendary actress brought joy to millions with her iconic performance as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, she struggled with depression, food and drug addiction for much of her life.

According to Garland’s daughter Liza Minnelli, her mother’s despair played a role in her death on June 22, 1969.

“When she died, I almost knew why,” she told TIME in February 1972. “She let her guard down. She didn’t die from an overdose. I think she just got tired.”

Explained the Cabaret star, “She lived like a taut wire. I don’t think she ever looked for real happiness, because she always thought happiness would mean the end.”

Three months prior to her death, Garland reportedly told reporters that she had found just that with her fifth marriage to husband Mickey Deans. “This is it. For the first time in my life, I am really happy,” she said, per Vanity Fair. “Finally, finally, I am loved.”

To commemorate the 56th anniversary of her passing, here’s everything to know about Judy Garland’s death.

How did Judy Garland die?

Judy Garland returns here to New York City to do a show at the famed Palace Theater.Bettmann/ Getty

London-based coroner Dr. Gavin Thurston attributed Garland’s cause of death to “incautious self-overdosage” of sleeping pills, according to The Guardian.

“This is quite clearly an accidental circumstance to a person who was accustomed to taking barbiturates over a very long time,” Thurston reportedly said in the aftermath of her death.

When did Judy Garland die?

Judy Garland and Mickey Deans in New York.Bettmann/ Getty

Garland died on June 22, 1969, less than two weeks after her 47th birthday.

Her death also happened three months after the stage performer wed Deans in London on March 15, 1969 — Garland’s fifth marriage.

Where did Judy Garland die?

American actress Judy Garland on December 31, 1968 in the UK.C. Maher/Daily Express/Getty

Garland died in the bathroom of her Chelsea, London, home on Cadogan Lane.

According to a report by The Associated Press published in the Pensacola News Journal, Deans discovered his wife unconscious after climbing through the window of the locked room.

How old was Judy Garland when she died?

Judy Garland on CBS’s ‘On Broadway Tonight’ on February 5, 1965 in New York.CBS via Getty

Garland was 47 years old at the time of her death.

What were Judy Garland’s last words?

Judy Garland en route to London to attend the premiere of her film, ‘I Could Go on Singing’ in 1963.Paul Schumach/Getty

While Garland’s last words are unknown, Deans gave some insight into how the performer spent her final hours.

According to the musician, the couple watched a TV movie about the royal family before they went to bed.

“Judy curled her feet up to me to keep warm as she always did,” he told the AP, per The Pensacola Journal.

What was the public reaction to Judy Garland’s death?

Judy Garland’s coffin as it is taken to hearse at Campbell Funeral Home.Mel Finkelstein/NY Daily News Archive via Getty

The public was devastated by the loss of Garland. Minnelli recalled the reaction of strangers around her to the news of her mother’s death while speaking to TIME in 1972.

“Elevator men were falling around me weeping,” she said. “I was the only one standing up. I got so mad at everybody. I remember yelling at someone: ‘You cried for her when she sang ‘Over the Rainbow’ and ‘The Man That Got Away.’ Now at last she’s at peace. Smile, for God’s sake!’ ”

Garland’s fans turned out in droves for her funeral. According to The New York Times, about 20,000 people turned up to the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Home in Manhattan, N.Y., to view the actress in her glass-covered coffin.

The outlet also reported that several hundred public mourners bearing flowers later broke through the barricades following her funeral service.

Where is Judy Garland buried?

Judy Garland’s grave in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery on June 16th, 2018 in Los Angeles, California.Bill Tompkins/Getty

Following Garland’s funeral, her coffin was taken to Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, N.Y. and placed in a crypt while awaiting her more permanent mausoleum, per The New York Times.

In June 2017, Liza, Lorna and Joseph decided to bring their mother’s remains “home to Hollywood,” according to publicist Victoria Varela.

The Chicago Tribune reported that the late actress was relaid to rest in a mausoleum known as the Judy Garland Pavilion at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery following a private memorial service on what would have been her 95th birthday.

The publication reported that the pavilion was also intended to be the final resting place of Garland’s children and other family members. Other celebrities buried in the cemetery include Jayne Mansfield, Cecil B. DeMille and Chris Cornell.

What legacy did Judy Garland leave behind?

Judy Garland in a scene from the 1936 Twentieth Century Fox production “Pigskin Parade.”.Bettmann/ Getty

Garland’s impact on the entertainment industry was immeasurable.

According to The New York Times, she filmed an incredible 35 pictures over the course of her life, hosted her own television series with The Judy Garland Show and gave countless live performances, even once setting a New York vaudeville record with a 19-week run that included 184 shows.

Garland is best remembered for her unforgettable role as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, which was named the most influential movie of all-time by researchers at the University of Turin in a 2018 study and broke box office records in 2019 when it returned to theaters, grossing $1.21 million in a single day according to Forbes.

Her Oscar-nominated role as Esther Hoffman A Star Is Born paved the way for Lady Gaga’s Ally, and her beloved recording of “Over the Rainbow became “part  of [her] life,” as she reportedly once wrote of the song per The New York Times. “It is so symbolic of all my dreams and wishes that I’m sure that’s why people sometimes get tears in their eyes when they hear it,” Garland shared.

Margaret Hamilton as the Wicked Witch of the West, Judy Garland as Dorothy, and Billie Burke as Glinda the Good Witch in ‘The Wizard of Oz’ (1939).y Mgm/Kobal/Shutterstock

The television host’s body of work, which was immortalized in the 2019 biopic Judy, earned her two Grammys, a Lifetime Achievement Award, a Tony award,  a Juvenile Oscar for the Wizard of Oz, plus three Emmy nominations.

Outside of show business, Garland’s reach was only greater in terms of the strong ties she had to her family. She shared daughter Minnelli with ex-husband and Meet Me In St. Louis director Vincente Minnelli (to whom she was wed from 1945 to 1951), and children Lorna and Joseph with ex-husband Sid Luft (1952 – 1965).

Liza, who cried for “about eight days” following her mother’s death, spoke of her closeness to Garland to Vogue Arabia. “My fondest memory of my mama was the conversations we had,” she recalled. “As I became a teenager, I became her best friend and confidante. We would laugh and talk for hours. Sometimes in person, sometimes on the phone, depending where we were.”

Minnelli became the youngest person to win a Leading Actress in a Musical Tony at the age of 19 for her role in Flora the Red Menace and an EGOT winner in 1990. She told Variety in 2020 that she still leans on Garland for support. “When I call on her, she’s there, and I call on her a lot,” she said.