Lorna Luft: Dorothy role was always for Judy Garland

Lorna Luft set the record straight during a live Q&A at the Palazzo Theatre at the Venetian Resort Las Vegas, saying the role of Dorothy "was always, always for my mom. Okay? They never had anybody else in mind." Luft, the daughter of Judy Garland and Sidney Luft and half sister of Liza Minnelli, rejected the longtime rumor that Shirley Temple had been the top choice.

She explained that Loew’s Theatres pressed for a bigger child star because the rising cost of the 1939 film made them want "someone who had starred in many, many movies as a child." Luft said the studio went to L.B. Mayer to ask that Shirley Temple be considered; Mayer replied, "Not on your life." Mayer later sent Roger Edens to 20th Century Fox, and Edens’ verdict was: "She’s got killer dimples, but she can’t sing this movie." Luft said, as a result, "my mom became Dorothy forever." She recalled meeting Temple years later, and Temple telling her, "I just want you to know something.

United States, Las Vegas

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