Fan paid for plot near Judy Garland — and now she’s gone
He won’t be “Over the Rainbow” about this!
A Judy Garland super fan traveled from California to New York just to buy a burial spot next to the screen legend — only to have his dreams dashed when her remains were shipped back to Hollywood.
The unidentified diehard purchased the space adjacent to Garland in the Ferncliff Mausoleum in Hartsdale — a piece of real estate that sells for up to $15,500 at the cemetery.
“It’s funny because there’s a man who specifically flew in from California because he is a big fan of hers,” a cemetery manager told The Post.
“He purchased a plot near her so when he dies he could be next to her. I don’t know what he is going to do now.”
The “Wizard of Oz” star had been interred in crypt No. 31 in Unit 9 since 1969, when she died of a barbiturate overdose.
But her remains were exhumed Thursday and sent to Los Angeles at the behest of her daughter Liza Minnelli.
Garland was moved to the West Coast because Ferncliff didn’t have enough room for the rest of her family — including children Liza, 70; Lorna Luft, 64; and Joey Luft, 61 — to be buried alongside her, People reported.
The actress will be re-interred at the star-studded Hollywood Forever Cemetery, where celebrities such as punk rockers Johnny and Dee Dee Ramone, filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille and The Beatles’ George Harrison are spending eternity.
“At this time, it’s a private family matter,” a Hollywood Forever spokeswoman said, declining to provide details on where exactly Garland’s new resting place would be.
Garland was in good company at Ferncliff — where Oscar-winning actress Joan Crawford, author James Baldwin and civil-rights activist Malcolm X are also interred.
The manager said it wasn’t clear whether Garland’s empty tomb would be filled.
“We haven’t decided what to do yet but we think because she’s been here so long, we will just leave it here and memorialize her,” the manager said.
On Friday, after news that the “Over the Rainbow” singer’s remains had been moved out of New York, fans left fresh flowers, photos and cards at her gravesite.
One of the actress’ “biggest fans,” Bobby Garmic, penned an adoring note.
“After all these years you are still the top,” he wrote. “One of my favorite things of my life was seeing you in person at the Palace Theater with Joe and Lorna in 1967.”
Ferncliff officials declined to comment.
Garland, a two-time Academy Award nominee whose 1961 Carnegie Hall concert ranks among the venue’s greatest performances, was found dead in her London home at age 47.
Judy Garland superfan spent $15K on the crypt next to hers, but his dreams of spending eternity with starlet are dashed now that her body has been moved
A superfan has had his dreams of spending eternity with Judy Garland dashed.
Earlier this month, the 'Wizard Of Oz' star's body was flown to Hollywood from New York, where her remains had rested since her death in 1969.
It's a blow to the die-hard fan who'd bought the crypt next to hers, which is now empty, in the Ferncliff Mausoleum in tony Westchester, New York.
And there's a knife-twist of irony to the cross-country re-interment saga.
The man who bought the adjacent crypt 'specifically flew in from California because he is a big fan of hers,' a Ferncliff cemetery manager told The New York Post.
Garland had been interred in crypt No. 31 in Unit 9 of the mausoleum, where nearby spaces go for up to $15,500.
Garland was found dead in her London home in 1969 at age 47, after a barbiturate overdose.
Her fifth husband, Mickey Deans, made the decision at the time to bury her on the East Coast, rather than Los Angeles.
'I didn't want her where tourist buses and that sort of thing go through,' he told The New York Times at Garland's 1969 visitation in Manhattan.
Now, Garland's daughter Liza Minnelli was reportedly behind the decision to move the Golden Era starlet's body to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, where there is more space for family to be buried nearby.
On the same block as Paramount Studios, the cemetery is one of the oldest in Lost Angeles.
There, Garland now rests among stars including filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille, Beatles guitarist George Harrison, and Ramones bassist Dee Dee Ramone.
If the Garland fan who bought the New York crypt moves forward with his plans to be buried there, it's unclear who his new neighbor in eternity will be, if anyone.
'We haven't decided what to do yet but we think because she's been here so long, we will just leave it here and memorialize her,' the cemetery manager said.
A Judy Garland super fan traveled from California to New York just to buy a burial spot next to the screen legend — only to have his dreams dashed when her remains were shipped back to Hollywood.
The unidentified diehard purchased the space adjacent to Garland in the Ferncliff Mausoleum in Hartsdale — a piece of real estate that sells for up to $15,500 at the cemetery.
“It’s funny because there’s a man who specifically flew in from California because he is a big fan of hers,” a cemetery manager told The Post.
“He purchased a plot near her so when he dies he could be next to her. I don’t know what he is going to do now.”
The “Wizard of Oz” star had been interred in crypt No. 31 in Unit 9 since 1969, when she died of a barbiturate overdose.
But her remains were exhumed Thursday and sent to Los Angeles at the behest of her daughter Liza Minnelli.
Garland was moved to the West Coast because Ferncliff didn’t have enough room for the rest of her family — including children Liza, 70; Lorna Luft, 64; and Joey Luft, 61 — to be buried alongside her, People reported.
The actress will be re-interred at the star-studded Hollywood Forever Cemetery, where celebrities such as punk rockers Johnny and Dee Dee Ramone, filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille and The Beatles’ George Harrison are spending eternity.
“At this time, it’s a private family matter,” a Hollywood Forever spokeswoman said, declining to provide details on where exactly Garland’s new resting place would be.
Garland was in good company at Ferncliff — where Oscar-winning actress Joan Crawford, author James Baldwin and civil-rights activist Malcolm X are also interred.
The manager said it wasn’t clear whether Garland’s empty tomb would be filled.
“We haven’t decided what to do yet but we think because she’s been here so long, we will just leave it here and memorialize her,” the manager said.
On Friday, after news that the “Over the Rainbow” singer’s remains had been moved out of New York, fans left fresh flowers, photos and cards at her gravesite.
One of the actress’ “biggest fans,” Bobby Garmic, penned an adoring note.
“After all these years you are still the top,” he wrote. “One of my favorite things of my life was seeing you in person at the Palace Theater with Joe and Lorna in 1967.”
Ferncliff officials declined to comment.
Garland, a two-time Academy Award nominee whose 1961 Carnegie Hall concert ranks among the venue’s greatest performances, was found dead in her London home at age 47.
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| Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli Courtesy Everett Collection/Getty Images |
Judy Garland superfan spent $15K on the crypt next to hers, but his dreams of spending eternity with starlet are dashed now that her body has been moved
A superfan has had his dreams of spending eternity with Judy Garland dashed.
Earlier this month, the 'Wizard Of Oz' star's body was flown to Hollywood from New York, where her remains had rested since her death in 1969.
It's a blow to the die-hard fan who'd bought the crypt next to hers, which is now empty, in the Ferncliff Mausoleum in tony Westchester, New York.
And there's a knife-twist of irony to the cross-country re-interment saga.
The man who bought the adjacent crypt 'specifically flew in from California because he is a big fan of hers,' a Ferncliff cemetery manager told The New York Post.
Garland had been interred in crypt No. 31 in Unit 9 of the mausoleum, where nearby spaces go for up to $15,500.
Garland was found dead in her London home in 1969 at age 47, after a barbiturate overdose.
Her fifth husband, Mickey Deans, made the decision at the time to bury her on the East Coast, rather than Los Angeles.
'I didn't want her where tourist buses and that sort of thing go through,' he told The New York Times at Garland's 1969 visitation in Manhattan.
Now, Garland's daughter Liza Minnelli was reportedly behind the decision to move the Golden Era starlet's body to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, where there is more space for family to be buried nearby.
On the same block as Paramount Studios, the cemetery is one of the oldest in Lost Angeles.
There, Garland now rests among stars including filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille, Beatles guitarist George Harrison, and Ramones bassist Dee Dee Ramone.
If the Garland fan who bought the New York crypt moves forward with his plans to be buried there, it's unclear who his new neighbor in eternity will be, if anyone.
'We haven't decided what to do yet but we think because she's been here so long, we will just leave it here and memorialize her,' the cemetery manager said.
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