The Greatest Actress You'll Never Understand

I am going to make a bold statement that, undoubtedly, most people will not agree with. But this is all about my random thoughts and this is one of them, so here we go:

Judy Garland was the greatest actress ever to grace the screen.

There-I said it. It's not because she made films of extreme consequence, because she didn't. It's not because her performances were the greatest things ever committed to film, because they weren't--but they were at the same time. However, not for the reasons you usually believe a great performance to be.

There is no doubt that Judy Garland led a tough life. Her addiction to drugs eventually had to get her through her days and the pain she felt had to be great.

This is where her ability for great performance kicks in. You'd never guess watching such MGM gems as For Me and My Gal, Easter Parade, and Meet Me In St. Louis (along with countless others) that there was anything but happiness going on behind those eyes and that smile plastered on her face. But this was the act. If you look close enough-the pain is there and it's evident and she is screaming for someone to help her. But all she got was MGM execs telling her she wasn't pretty or that she was fat-which drove her to more pills.

I truly believe the the Judy we see with dancing with Mickey Rooney and the Judy who dreamt of going "over the rainbow" and befriended a scarecrow, a tinman and a lion was truly happy. That's because this is Judy doing wat she loved to do, before she was famous and being hounded by the world and the people who essentially owned her.

Have you seen Judy's last three films? She dropped the mask in Judgement at Nuremberg, A Child is Waiting and I Could Go On Singing (especially in this film). Again, this is the real Judy and the performances in these films are absolutely gut-wrenching because you want to reach out and make Judy Garland happy again.

But between Oz and these three films was the finest performance of her career because you'd never guess she was unhappy. I only hope that she found the peace she never found in her life and knows that she still means something to a lot of people.