'Wizard of Oz' Star Judy Garland 'Grew Dependent on Prescription Medications' as She Longed to Look Like Marilyn Monroe, Author Reveals

Judy Garland will always be remembered as the beautiful woman who played Dorothy in the 1939 classic The Wizard of Oz — though there were years of pain and suffering behind the screen that will never be forgotten.

David Fantle and Tom Johnson are reminding the world of the extreme hardships Garland faced in the world of Hollywood in their new book, C’mon, Get Happy: The Making of Summer Stock.

The book highlights Garland's final film for MGM, Summer Stock, in 1950, before she was let go from her contract early, and it also discusses the late actress' troubled life prior her dying of an accidental overdose at age 47 in 1969.

"We have talked to and interviewed enough people to know that it was a troubled production," Fantle told a news publication in an interview about the novel. "And it was also significant in that it was Judy Garland’s final film with … the only studio she knew for 15 years. … And this was the end of the proverbial road for Judy."

"She had a growing dependency on prescription medications," Fantle detailed of Garland. "So, she was going through a lot of personal emotional upheaval at that time. … She was signed at MGM at age 13 in 1935. I think that while some child stars can go to adulthood and make that transition, many can’t. Judy was successful, but she certainly had to struggle with her personal demons."

One of Garland's deepest internal struggles was a lack of self-love. The childhood star didn't see her own beauty and constantly longed to look like Marilyn Monroe and other symbols of perfection from her generation.

Fantle explained: "Something that [director] Charles Walters told us years and years ago, back in the '80s. We were asking that exact question, 'Why was Judy bedeviled by all these insecurities?' And he said, ‘You have to look no further than Marilyn Monroe.’ He said that Judy would’ve given everything, given every bit of her talent to be [Marilyn]. He said she wanted to be just like Marilyn. She wanted to be gorgeous like Marilyn. And she never considered herself pretty."

"She was 4-11, and she just wanted to be gorgeous," Johnson chimed in. "She would’ve sacrificed all of her talent for that in the same way that Marilyn would’ve sacrificed her beauty to be taken seriously as an actress. … She would have given anything to be like Lana Turner, who didn’t have as much talent as Judy. … But she had this bad self-image about how she looked. She just wanted to be beautiful and sought after in that way. And I think she always felt that all through her career, all through her life. … That was a huge demon that she never was able to put to rest."

"Judy was a trooper,"Johnson continued. "She had … addiction problems, had insecurities, had a workload that would kill anybody today … and yet she did it. … She faced it — all those demons and all those insecurities and all those deficits."

"You don’t see any of those demons. That’s what, to me, is just amazing about her performance in the film. … That’s a true professional right there," he concluded regarding Summer Stock.

Fantle and Johnson spoke to Fox News about their book.