What Happened To Judy Garland's Role In Royal Wedding?

May 2024 · 1 minute read

The vintage MGM musical "Royal Wedding" was first written for Vera-Ellen and Fred Astaire, according to The Judy Room, but production kicked off with June Allyson of "Two Girls and a Sailor" fame. When Allyson became pregnant just eight days into rehearsals, the studio instead brought in Judy Garland. This was immediately controversial both for the actress and the director, Charles Walters. Walters had a difficult shoot with Garland on their last film together, "Summer Stock," and Garland was promised an eight-month vacation by MGM. With her vacation cut short and Walters drawing the line at working with Garland again, producer Arthur Freed decided to replace the director with Stanley Donen.

Production trouble didn't stop there. Garland struggled in rehearsals even after a special song was written just for her. Behind the scenes, she was exhausted and stressed after a marathon run with MGM as a star for 14 years — appearing in 27 of the studio's films since she was a teenager. When she called out from rehearsals in June 1950, MGM fired her from "Royal Wedding." They released her from her contract just a few months later.

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