Judy Garland was 'molested by munchkins' on the set of Wizard of Oz
Judy Garland was molested repeatedly by the actors who played the Munchkins in ‘The Wizard of Oz’, he ex-husband claimed.
In a new, posthumously released memoir called ‘Judy and I: My Life with Judy Garland’, Sid Luft, who was married to the actress rom 1952 to 1956, described the abuse that she suffered while making the movie.
“They would make Judy’s life miserable on set by putting their hands under her dress… The men were 40 or more years old,” he wrote.
“They thought they could get away with anything because they were so small.”
Luft died in 2005.
Garland, who was 16 at the time the movie was made, did herself speak of the behaviour of the actors on set, but never mentioned abuse.
“They were little drunks… They got smashed every night, and they picked them up in butterfly nets,” she said in a 1967 interview.
However, some of the Munchkin actors have since denied any improper behaviour on the classic movie, released in 1939.
Margaret Pellegrini, who played one of the Munchkins, told The Independent in 2009: “There were a lot of them who liked to go out and have a few drinks, but nothing got out of hand.
“Everyone was having a good time and enjoying themselves. There was no rowdiness or anything like that, and those stories are very upsetting.”
Another, Jerry Maren, was quoted as saying: “How could you get drunk on $50 a week?
“There were a couple of kids from Germany who liked to drink beer. They drank beer morning, noon and night, and got in a little trouble. They wanted to meet the girls, but they were the only ones.”
Read more
Seven 2017 Oscar nomination stories worth celebrating
Cancelled Friday the 13th reboot would have been a supernatural origin story
The Batman: Seven directors who could replace Ben Affleck
