Everyone knows the ruby slippers, but fewer people really know the men who walked beside her when the cameras stopped rolling. Judy Garland. The name alone carries so much weight. You hear it and think of that powerhouse voice, the tragic eyes, and, yeah, the messy personal life that the tabloids couldn't get enough of.
When people ask who was Judy Garland married to, they usually expect one or two names. Maybe Vincente Minnelli because of Liza. But honestly? There were five. Five husbands in a life that only lasted 47 years. It was a lot.
Her search for love was basically a full-time job, and it was complicated by a studio system that treated her like a product and a mother who, frankly, didn't always have her back. It's a heavy story. Let's get into who these guys actually were.
The First Try: David Rose (1941–1944)
Judy was only 19 when she married David Rose. He was a British-born composer, 31 years old, and already pretty established. Imagine being the biggest star at MGM and trying to have a "normal" elopement. It didn't go well.
Louis B. Mayer, the head of MGM, was livid. He called her "that baby" and wanted the world to see her as a perpetual child, not a wife. He and Judy's mother, Ethel, fought the union hard. But Judy was stubborn. She and David ran off to Las Vegas in July 1941 to make it official.
The marriage was doomed early on. David was a homebody who loved model trains—seriously, he had a scaled-down railroad on their property. Judy? She wanted to go out, dance, and be seen. She was a social butterfly. The real breaking point came when Judy got pregnant. Under pressure from the studio and her own mother, she was coerced into an abortion. It’s one of those dark Hollywood stories that makes your stomach turn. They were divorced by 1944.
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The Director: Vincente Minnelli (1945–1951)
If you’re a fan of Meet Me in St. Louis, you’ve seen the work of husband number two. Vincente Minnelli directed her in that film, and he’s often credited with "finding" the adult Judy. He changed her makeup, her hair, and her lighting. He made her look like a sophisticated woman instead of the girl next door.
They married in June 1945, just a week after her divorce from Rose was final. Talk about a quick turnaround.
In 1946, they had a daughter: Liza Minnelli. You might’ve heard of her.
Despite the professional success, the marriage was a wreck behind the scenes. Judy’s mental health was spiraling. She was struggling with postpartum depression and the pills the studio had been feeding her for years. Rumors also swirled for decades that Vincente was secretly gay or bisexual, leading to a lot of friction. They split in 1951, right around the time MGM finally fired her.
The Longest Run: Sidney Luft (1952–1965)
Sidney "Sid" Luft is probably the most significant husband in the lineup. They were married for 13 years. He wasn't just her husband; he was her manager. He’s the guy who orchestrated her massive comeback, including the 1954 version of A Star Is Born.
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They had two kids together, Lorna and Joey Luft.
Sid was a tough guy, a former test pilot and producer. He tried to manage her career and her addictions, which was an impossible task. Their relationship was a rollercoaster of huge successes and total bankruptcies. Judy later accused him of being abusive and a heavy drinker, while he claimed he was just trying to keep her alive. By the time they divorced in 1965, they had been living "virtually separate lives" for years.
The Vegas Mistake: Mark Herron (1965–1967)
Things started moving very fast toward the end. Judy married Mark Herron, an actor and tour promoter, in November 1965. They’d actually had a "ceremony" in 1964, but she was still legally married to Sid Luft at the time. Awkward.
This one lasted all of five months before they separated.
It was a disaster. When they finally divorced in 1967, Judy testified that he had beaten her. Herron’s defense? He claimed he only hit her in "self-defense." It was a messy, sad chapter in a life that was already running out of time. Interestingly, Herron later had a long-term relationship with fellow actor Henry Brandon that lasted until Brandon’s death.
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The Final Three Months: Mickey Deans (1969)
Then there was Mickey Deans. He was 12 years younger than her, a musician and entrepreneur who had also worked as a "doctor"—well, he once posed as one to deliver a package of stimulant pills to her hotel room in 1966. That’s how they met.
They married in London on March 15, 1969.
Judy seemed happy, or at least she tried to be. She told reporters she finally felt loved. But her family wasn't buying it. Her daughter Lorna later called him the "most unsuitable person" to take care of her mother. Just three months after the wedding, on June 22, 1969, Mickey found Judy dead in their bathroom from an accidental overdose.
She was buried in the same grey silk gown she wore to marry him.
What This Tells Us About Judy
Looking back at who was Judy Garland married to gives you a window into her desperation for a "normal" life she was never allowed to have. She was searching for a protector, a manager, and a lover all at once. Usually, she ended up with men who either tried to control her or couldn't handle the whirlwind of her fame and trauma.
If you want to understand Judy Garland beyond the headlines, here are the best ways to explore her legacy:
- Watch the performances he influenced: See Meet Me in St. Louis to see how Vincente Minnelli transformed her, or A Star Is Born to see the comeback Sid Luft helped build.
- Read the family perspective: Lorna Luft’s memoir Me and My Shadows gives a raw look at what it was like inside those final marriages.
- Listen to the Carnegie Hall recordings: This was the peak of the "Luft era" and is arguably the greatest live album in popular music history.
Judy's marriages weren't just about romance; they were about survival. Every time she walked down the aisle, she was hoping for a new beginning. While none of them gave her the "happily ever after" she sang about, they were the backdrop to one of the most incredible careers in Hollywood history.