Judy Garland's Daughter Opens Up About Her Mother's Addiction

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Judy Garland's Daughter Opens Up About Her Mother's Addiction

Judy Garland is undoubtedly one of the best entertainers to ever grace our screens and stages. The Wizard of Oz star stole America's heart as she journeyed back to Kansas and her sweet voice sang Over the Rainbow.

But as far as reality went, life wasn't a bright and smooth yellow brick road for Judy. The actress had to navigate through bumps and curves for a good chunk of her life despite the happy appearance she put on for the public.

Earlier this year, the late entertainer's ex-husband Sid Luft spoke out about the troubling activities that went on behind the scenes of Wizard of Oz. Luft revealed that some of the munchkin actors molested the actress on set and got away with it.

A few months after Luft's interview, the couple's daughter, Lorna Luft, is opening up about another side of her mother the world wasn't used to seeing.

While the iconic actress was good at keeping mum about her personal life, she struggled with being in the spotlight and at some point in her career, she turned to drugs as a solace. This took an immense toll on her family and relationships.

In an interview with Australian TV show Studio 10, Lorna blamed the pressures of show business and Hollywood studio system for her mother's "disease of addiction."

"I do think my mother was a victim of the studio system," the singer said. "It also gave her the ability to channel her talent to all of us. It was a real double-edged sword."

Lorna also shared some intimate details about how her family dealt with the unforgettable Judy's addiction. Click on the next page to find out what she says.

Lorna confesses that although she viewed her mother's life as tragic, the highs and lows of her mother's addiction were "devastating." Growing up, she tried very hard to help her overcome it because it was a "family disease" that affected everyone close to the legendary actress.

The Girl For All Seasons singer heartbreakingly recalls switching her mother's prescription pills with sugar a trick her father taught her at a young age.

Unfortunately, over the course of time Lorna had to deal with her own substance abuse problems that escalated during the days of Studio 54.

"We were doing cocaine, we were doing all sorts of things," she said. "I'll never forget, somebody came up to me and said, 'Do you not think that maybe you're doing the same thing that your mom did?' I said, "'No no no, she had a problem. I only do it at night.'"

Thanks to her ticking biological clock, Lorna knew she had to straighten up if she wanted to start a family. Having experienced what it was like to grow up under a parent battling addiction, Lorna wanted to make sure her children would never go through what she did. She entered rehab for treatment after she grew "sick and tired of being sick and tired."

Lorna made her silver screen debut at the age of 11, but she's only now finally comfortable with carrying on her mother's legacy. Nowadays she's following in her mother and older sister Liza Minnelli's footsteps by pursuing a career in singing.

"If there was a tiny word in any song that had the word 'rainbow,' I didn't want anything to do with it. I'd run for the hills," she said. "It wasn't until I was near my 40s that I thought, I've really gotta stop running."

In fact, she sang Over the Rainbow for the first time last year, 47 years after her mother's death due to an accidental overdose.

Don't hesitate to share this story with a Judy Garland fan.

Blair isn't a bestselling author, but she has a knack for beautiful prose. When she isn't writing for Shared, she enjoys listening to podcasts.