What Judy Garland would have really thought of Wicked, according to her daughter

Wicked became the highest-grossing film adaptation of a Broadway musical when it was released in 2024.

The film – which stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande – earned 10 Oscar nominations and received rave reviews from audiences worldwide, but there is one person’s opinion on the film we’d love to know.

Judy Garland is still widely remembered for her role of Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz, which inspired the 1995 Gregory Maguire novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, which the musical is based on.

While we’ll never know Judy’s reaction following her death in 1969, her daughter, Lorna Luft, has revealed what she thinks her late mom would have thought of the movie adaptation.

“She would’ve loved it,” the 72-year-old told People. 

When asked what songs she thinks Judy would have loved the most, she said: “I have no idea. But she would’ve loved it.”

Judy welcomed Lorna with her third husband, Hollywood bigwig Sidney Luft, in November 1952, and she quickly became part of the family business with her first TV appearance at age 11.

Lorna joined her mother and younger brother, Joey Luft, for a summer concert tour in 1967, performing many of Judy’s standards to sold-out crowds nationwide, before making her own Broadway debut in 1971 in Promises, Promises.

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Lorna has appeared in productions of several shows over the years on national tours and off-Broadway, including Grease, Snoopy! The Musical, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, Little Shop of Horrors, Guys and Dolls, Follies, Gypsy and White Christmas.

Growing up with Judy

In 2017, Lorna opened up about her childhood and admitted she grew up aware of her mother’s reliance on drugs and alcohol, which ultimately led to her death.

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“The highs were incredibly high, but the lows were devastating,” she told Studio 101. “I learned about the disease of addiction.”

Lorna confessed that she would often swap Judy’s prescription pills for sugar. “I was taught how to do that by my dad,” she said. “When you have a parent who’s teaching you how to take care of your other parent, that’s what you do.”

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Judy’s life was plagued by insecurity, depression, and drug abuse. She was married five times, but none of her husbands could help her overcome her inner demons, and she eventually passed away from a barbiturate overdose at the age of 47.

Her first marriage, to composer David Rose, lasted for three years, from 1941 until 1944, and in 1945 she tied the knot with director Vincente Minnelli. 

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The couple welcomed their daughter Liza Minnelli in March 1946 but parted ways in 1951. 

Judy married businessman Sidney Luft in June 1952, and they remained together for 13 years, by far her longest relationship. They welcomed Lorna in November 1952 and her brother Joey in March 1955. 

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The couple divorced in May 1965, and in November of that same year, she married Mark Herron in Las Vegas; they separated five months later, and Judy was granted a divorce in 1976. 

Her final marriage was to Mickey Deans. They dated on-and-off for three years before they wed in March 1969. The couple were married for just three months before Judy passed away on 22 June 1969.