Charlotte Stevenson was born on April 9, 1923 in Oberlin, Kansas to the late Tudor and Vena Spotts Stevenson. A devoted fan and member of the International Judy Garland Club, Stevenson created numerous scrapbooks documenting periods of Garland's life and career. Always willing to assist information seekers, Stevenson was directly acknowledged in both Gerald Clarke's biography, Get Happy: The Life of Judy Garland, and John Fricke's biography, Judy Garland: A Portrait in Art & Anecdote . Stevenson was listed in the disc credits for the Judy Garland compilation 25th Anniversary Retrospective, given special thanks by Capitol Records. Stevenson passed away October 27, 2010 in San Antonio, Texas at the age of 87.
Born Frances Ethel Gumm in 1922, Judy Garland was a famous American actress and singer. Known for her tremendous talent and troubled life, Garland found fame early and lived most of her 47 years in the spotlight. Her career was long and varied, finding success in vaudeville that later extended into film, recording, radio and television. Garland's personal life contrasted starkly with the cheerfulness and purity of her film roles. She is often viewed as an object lesson in Hollywood excess. Garland's legacy as a performer and a personality has endured. She received many posthumous awards and is still regarded as a performance icon.
Sources: Clarke, Gerald. Get Happy: The Life of Judy Garland, New York: Dell Publishing, 2000, "Acknowledgments."
Fricke, John. Judy Garland: A Portrait in Art & Anecdote, Singapore: Bulfinch Press, 2003.
From the guide to the Charlotte Stevenson collection of Judy Garland scrapbooks, 1936-1969, (The New York Public Library. Billy Rose Theatre Division.)
