The idea of actress Shirley Temple being MGM's first choice to play Dorothy Gale in 1939's The Wizard of Oz over Judy Garland stands as one of the latter. In fact, so deeply entrenched was this ...

While Judy Garland was the ideal choice for the role of Dorothy Gale in 1939’s “The Wizard of Oz,” it was Temple who won the popular vote by fans of the original 1900 book.

Garland’s mother, Ethel Gumm, according to the biography Get Happy: The Life of Judy Garland by Gerald Clarke, was a combative and harsh stage mother.She plied her daughter with pills as young ...

After a spell in which Shirley Temple is suddenly the studio’s top choice for the pic, Garland is back in the lead role and, for the first time in her young life, popping pills to stay slim and ...

Louis B. Mayer, studio chief of MGM, which helped produce “The Wizard of Oz,” originally wanted Shirley Temple to be cast in the role of Dorothy, but it didn’t happen.

Shirley Temple would have been 94 this year. ... no longer lured in by her sparkling on-screen persona and executives considered her upstaged by stars like Rooney and Judy Garland.

Judy Garland should have been a wealthy woman at the end of her life. ... Originally, Shirley Temple was supposed to play Dorothy — so the studio tried to make Garland look as young as possible.

The idea of actress Shirley Temple being MGM's first choice to play Dorothy Gale in 1939's The Wizard of Oz over Judy Garland stands as one of the latter. In fact, so deeply entrenched was this ...

Louis B. Mayer, studio chief of MGM, which helped produce “The Wizard of Oz,” originally wanted Shirley Temple to be cast in the role of Dorothy, but it didn’t happen.