Who Were Judy Garland’s Husbands? All About the Star’s 5 Marriages — and Why Her Final 3-Month Romance Gave Her a ‘Rich Life’

As Judy Garland grew her fame, she also grew her family, marrying five times across three decades.

The Wizard of Oz star became famous at the age of 15 and spent the majority of her life in the public eye. Her time as Metro Goldwyn Meyers’ number-one starlet was filled with ups and downs, both in her career and in love.

Shortly after receiving critical acclaim for her role as Dorothy, Garland married songwriter David Rose in 1941. Three years later, the couple split and the actress tied the knot with director Vincente Minnelli in 1945. Garland and her second husband welcomed their daughter, Liza Minnelli, a year after their wedding.

Five years later, Garland and Vincente split and the star married producer Sidney Luft in 1952. The couple went on to have two children, Lorna Luft in 1952 and Joey Luft in 1955. Ten years later, Garland and Sidney divorced and the A Star Is Born actress married actor Mark Herron, whom she later divorced in 1969. That same year, before her death at age 47 in June, Garland tied the knot with musician Mickey Deans.

In her last interview, Garland told Radio Denmark that being with Deans brought her a lot of joy.

“I’m happily married to a man who is about to give me the protection and help I need, and I can just do a concert now and then when I feel like it,” she said.

Here is everything to know about Judy Garland’s five husbands.

David Rose

Garland’s first marriage was to British songwriter David Rose. They married in 1941 when Garland was 19 years old. At the time, Rose was 12 years older than the young actress and was best known for writing and composing “The Stripper,” “Holiday for Strings” and “Calypso Melody.” He also wrote music for television series, including the popular western Bonanza.

According to Architectural Digest, Garland met Rose at a radio broadcast. At the time, the actress was under the control of MGM studio head Louis B. Mayer, who was opposed to her starting a romantic relationship with Rose. He referred to Garland as “that baby,” whom he still wanted the public to see as a teenager in his movies, not a married woman. However, she went with her heart and married Rose anyway.

Mayer wasn’t the only one opposed to the couple’s courtship; Garland’s mother Ethel Gumm was not a fan of the union, either. Garland’s relationship with Rose ended when she realized she was not prepared to be a housewife at such a young age.

“When I found myself in that big house with him, it was frightening,” she said, per Architectural Digest. “I didn’t know anything about cooking or keeping house. I was very vague and quite impractical.”

Rose and Garland separated in 1943 and divorced the following year. He died in 1990 at age 80.

Vincente Minnelli

Garland met her second husband, Vincente Minnelli, on the set of her 1940 movie Strike Up the Band. They later reconnected on the film Meet Me in St. Louis four years after their first meeting.

The actress didn’t initially hit it off with Vincente, her director on the film, because he found it difficult to work with Garland, who was allegedly often tardy or absent due to her health.

Their relationship shifted in a more positive direction when they began to bond over their complicated childhoods, per Vanity Fair, and eventually developed into a romance. She faced backlash from Mayer again as Vincente was almost twice Garland’s age. Despite the complications, the couple tied the knot in 1945.

Vincente and Garland welcomed their daughter, singer Liza Minnelli, the following year. While they often appeared happy in public, the couple were struggling behind the scenes. The actress was reportedly dealing with substance abuse and postpartum depression following Liza’s birth.

Eventually, from Vincente’s perspective, Garland’s instability in the relationship led to its end. In the 2009 biography Vincente Minnelli: Hollywood’s Dark Dreamer, he was quoted saying, “If I’d loved Judy less, I could have been dispassionate enough to laugh her out of the moods … Sympathy that came too readily just didn’t seem to help.”

Garland and Vincente divorced in 1951. He died in 1986 at age 83.

Sidney Luft

Garland briefly met film producer Sidney Luft on a film set when she was 15 but the pair became more acquainted at a nightclub in New York City 13 years later in 1950, per The New Yorker.

As their relationship grew and the couple married in 1952, Luft also took over the role of Garland’s manager. While her film career began to struggle, he knew her singing talent could rejuvenate her fame. Luft was reportedly the force behind her iconic television performances and Carnegie Hall concerts.

“She was so incredibly talented that I knew she could land on her feet if she had some help,” Luft said in 2001. “So what if the movies didn’t want her? She could always sing.”

Although Garland’s film career was beginning to slow, Luft helped create one of her most successful movies, A Star is Born. She was nominated for Best Actress at the Oscars for the role.

Garland’s marriage to Luft was the longest of her life, lasting 13 years from 1952 to 1965. They had two children together, a daughter named Lorna in 1952 and a son named Joey in 1955, and the producer allegedly tried to reduce his wife’s drug use.

Luft went on to write a book, Judy and I, which was finished and published by Randy Schmidt 12 years after Luft’s death in 2005.

“I wasn’t thinking of Judy as a clinically ill person, or This is an addict,” he wrote of his relationship with Garland. “I was worried something awful had happened to the delightful, brilliant woman I loved.” 

Mark Herron

Garland’s next shot at love came with Mark Herron. He was an actor, known for films like Girl in Gold Boots and Eye of the Cat. They met in the ‘50s when he was producing her concerts in Canada.

Garland and Herron married in 1965 at a wedding chapel in Las Vegas but their relationship was short-lived. The couple separated five months after their wedding, and she was granted a divorce in 1969 following her allegations that he had struck her on multiple instances. Herron claimed self-defense, according to the Los Angeles Times.

He died in 1996 at age 66.

Mickey Deans

Garland’s final marriage was to Mickey Deans, who was only wed to the star for three months in 1969 before her death. Deans was a musician and disco operator in N.Y.C.

Lorna recalled in her 1998 book Me and My Shadows: A Family Memoir, that she had no idea who Deans was when she was invited to the wedding. She missed the nuptials, telling her mother, “I can’t make it, Mamma, but I promise I’ll come to your next one!”

Although some of her children may have been unaware of Deans, in Garland’s final interview before her death, she shared that her marriage to him was her happiest.

“I didn’t have a rich life until I met Mickey,” Garland told Radio Denmark. “And at night, when I’ve done a concert, I don’t have to be alone in a hotel room. Now I can go home with my husband and that’s much nicer.”

Three months after their marriage, Garland died of an accidental overdose at age 47. Deans died in 2003 at age 68.