# Re Judy Garland, is Simon Doonan Blind... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 15, 2012, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-judy-garland-is-simon-doonan-blind/609611 "2012-01-15T16:32:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-judy-garland-is-simon-doonan-blind/609611/1 "2012-01-15T16:32:52Z")
… or just making stuff up? In [this](http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/doonan/2012/01/was_marilyn_monroe_fat_her_secrets_revealed_.html) article on Slate, Simon Doonan makes the following comment about this [pic](http://freakshowbusiness.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/william-claxton-judy-garland-las-vegas-1955.jpg) of Judy Garland: > [@](#): > > [Garland] is caught backstage wrapped in a towel. Her face is a festival of anguish. One rigor mortis hand claws the air. The other clutches at a bottle of rubbing alcohol which has clearly just been torn from her grasp. Judy is having a preshow meltdown. Well, he’s right about her face anyway. Does anyone know of a reliable account of what is actually happening in this picture? Perhaps what Doonan states has some basis in truth, but the picture does not back up his assertions about her hands and whether or not she’s just been trying to dip into the rubbing alcohol. ---
**Author:** ![CatherineZeta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@CatherineZeta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CatherineZeta)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-judy-garland-is-simon-doonan-blind/609611/2 "2012-01-15T21:12:03Z")
To me it just looks like an unflattering photo in which she’s in the middle of saying something and making a hand gesture for emphasis. I’m aware of her multitude of problems, but sometimes a weird photo is just a weird photo. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-judy-garland-is-simon-doonan-blind/609611/3 "2012-01-16T15:38:28Z")
Unless Doonan was there when the picture was taken, or spoke to someone who was, his guess is as good as anybody’s, and anybody’s is as good as his. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-judy-garland-is-simon-doonan-blind/609611/4 "2012-01-16T15:50:25Z")
Judy: “Omigod, will this nail polish \*never \*dry?” Judy: “There is the \*biggest \*spider on the wall right behind you!” Judy: “And then the grasshopper said, 'you have a drink called ‘_Kevin?_’” ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-judy-garland-is-simon-doonan-blind/609611/5 "2012-01-16T17:42:55Z")
She looks like she’s telling a story about something awful and making appropriate face and gestures to me. The bottle in the background could be anything and she certainly doesn’t seem to be paying any attention to it. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-judy-garland-is-simon-doonan-blind/609611/6 "2012-01-16T17:54:13Z")
Judy: “Wait, Liza married _who?_” ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-judy-garland-is-simon-doonan-blind/609611/7 "2012-01-16T18:59:59Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > Judy: “Wait, Liza married _who?_” For the win!! I knew we could depend on you, **Eve**! ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-judy-garland-is-simon-doonan-blind/609611/8 "2012-01-16T19:17:40Z")
“…and gazongas out to _here!_” ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-judy-garland-is-simon-doonan-blind/609611/9 "2012-01-16T19:32:07Z")
Judy: “\*Ten \*goddam movies with that fucking Mickey Rooney, they made me do! Seemed like a _hundred!_” ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-judy-garland-is-simon-doonan-blind/609611/10 "2012-01-16T19:53:01Z")
Judy: “And the turkey was killed by _hand_, with a _knife!_” ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-judy-garland-is-simon-doonan-blind/609611/11 "2012-01-16T20:59:59Z")
Judy: Do you have _any_ idea how much it hurt to have my tits taped down every goddamned day??? How did they know they needed to be taped down? Because that pencil-dicked little Napoleon Louie B. Mayer used to “measure” them with his hands just like _this_ !!! ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-judy-garland-is-simon-doonan-blind/609611/12 "2012-01-16T21:24:19Z")
The pic actually looks like she was getting a massage - towel, bottle of alcohol. She didn’t have very attractive hands, though. StG ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-judy-garland-is-simon-doonan-blind/609611/13 "2012-01-17T00:44:50Z")
“I had his nuts RIGHT where I wanted them!” ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-judy-garland-is-simon-doonan-blind/609611/14 "2012-01-17T00:54:46Z")
"…so then I said ‘Oh, shit, we’re back in KANSAS?!’ " ---
**Author:** ![Bumbershoot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbershoot/32/3428_2.png) [@Bumbershoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbershoot)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-judy-garland-is-simon-doonan-blind/609611/15 "2012-01-17T00:57:11Z")
“Wanna see my Marlon Brando?” “Hey Stellaaaa!” ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-judy-garland-is-simon-doonan-blind/609611/16 "2012-01-17T01:59:47Z")
“I still have scars from where that fucking munchkin had grabbed me by the buttocks.” ---
**Author:** ![Susie\_Derkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@Susie\_Derkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susie_Derkins)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-judy-garland-is-simon-doonan-blind/609611/17 "2012-01-17T03:09:28Z")
“Give me that alcohol, I need it to wash down this invisible meatball sub.” ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-judy-garland-is-simon-doonan-blind/609611/18 "2012-01-17T14:33:52Z")
“And the lobster looked at me \*just like this \*when it went into the boiling water!” ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-judy-garland-is-simon-doonan-blind/609611/19 "2012-01-17T14:47:34Z")
“…and Bert Lahr’s were like two tennis balls stuffed in a sweat sock…a _dirty_ sweat sock!” ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-judy-garland-is-simon-doonan-blind/609611/20 "2012-01-17T15:03:34Z")
“The \*eyeballs \*on Jerry Colonna–I \*still \*have nightmares!” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-judy-garland-is-simon-doonan-blind/609611.md?page=2)