Judy Garland was a person.
Judy Garland ( born Frances Ethel Gumm ; June 10 , 1922 -- June 22 , 1969 ) was an American singer , actress , and vaudevillian . Garland began performing in vaudeville with her two older sisters and was signed to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as a teenager . She also had a long addiction with drugs and alcohol , which ultimately led to her death from a barbiturate overdose at the age of 47 .