In the Land of Oz

Cedar Street in Lancaster, California, holds a rainbow of memories for Ed White, 84, of Fallbrook. It was there that he lived and played and laughed with a special friend who lived across the street. His friend was named Frances Gumm, but the world would know her as Judy Garland.

Ed and Judy became friends in kindergarten and remained friends even when Judy left Lancaster after the eighth grade. They were both students at Cedar Elementary School, where Ed remembers acting in school productions with Judy. “I played an Indian and she played Betsy Ross in a fifth grade play,” Ed recalled.

Frank and Ethel Gumm were Judy’s parents. Frank died in 1935 of a middle ear condition and wasn’t able to see his daughter attain stardom. Judy was devastated by the loss. Ed said that Judy wasn’t always happy with her mother, who seemed to be pushing her too hard onto the show business track.

Ed remembers that Judy had a natural talent for singing and dancing even when she was very young. He recalls that she enjoyed performing but also enjoyed playing hopscotch. After school and on weekends, Judy would leave her hopscotch game long enough to run over to Ed’s house to sing and tap dance while Ed played the piano, which he learned to play at age six.

Frances (Judy) and her two sisters, Mary Jane and Virginia, performed onstage at their father’s Lancaster Theatre as the Gumm Sisters. Eventually they changed their name to the Garland Sisters. Then, Frances picked out her new name: Judy. Judy became the star of the show and eventually the other two sisters stopped performing. “Judy liked to perform, so any chance she got to perform, she would,” Ed recalled.

Ed remembers that even though Judy began as a performer at a young age, she was never conceited. “She was well liked in the neighborhood and was nice to all the children,” Ed noted. “She mixed well with everyone.”

After the eighth grade, Judy left for Hollywood. “All the neighborhood kids were really disappointed,” said Ed.

Ed remained in touch with Judy and he and his wife, Betty, attended many of Judy’s stage shows. “Her performances always brought the house down. She would come back for encores and kept coming back,” Betty recalled.

“Everyone would yell, ‘Bravo!’” Ed remembered.

The last time they saw her perform was at the Las Vegas Sahara’s Conga Room in October of 1967. Judy Garland performed at the dinner show and Ray Bolger, who played

the Scarecrow alongside Judy’s Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz,” followed with the midnight show.

“She gave a wonderful performance that night,” said Betty. It was a dinner show and the waiters removed the plates before Judy came onstage. “Judy didn’t like the rattling of forks or noise during her performance,” explained Betty. That night, Judy thrilled the audience with her haunting rendition of “Somewhere over the Rainbow.”

Liza Minelli, Judy’s daughter, recognized Ed in the audience that evening and, after the show, told Judy he was there. Judy then invited Ed and Betty for a visit in her dressing room. For over an hour, Ed, who still lived in Lancaster, filled her in on community news. “She asked about our friends and her house…she wanted to know if the home was still there and I told her, ‘Yes.’”

Ed White owns a Cairn terrier named Sparkle and has owned other Cairns over the years. Sparkle scoots across the floor looking a lot like Toto. Perhaps it is a connection to Judy for Ed, who still remembers his childhood friend with fondness. “We had a mock wedding when we were children,” he reminisced with a tear in his eye.