#carbitral

For two decades, English Heritage endeavoured to erect a blue plaque on the site of Judy Garland’s former London home, but were rebuffed by the owners who did not want to be associated with tragedy. 

When the property changed hands, hopes were high that the new residents would welcome the opportunity to commemorate a Hollywood legend. 

But the chance has now been lost forever after building work began to demolish the mews house in Belgravia, central London, and replace it with a luxury home complete with underground swimming pool. 

English Heritage rules state that blue plaques can only be erected on an original building connected to a person of note, and not something else built on the site. 

The news comes as a blow to the UK-based International Judy Garland Club, which fought “tooth and nail” to persuade the old owners to agree. 

Garland moved to 4 Cadogan Lane with her husband, Mickey Deans, in 1969, shortly after marrying at Chelsea Register Office She died there on June 22, aged 47, from an accidental overdose. 

Gary Horrocks, spokesman for the club, said: “We worked overtime to try and articulate an argument for the plaque, but the private owners said that they refused to allow a blue plaque to be placed on their property because Judy Garland was associated with a tragedy, because she died there.

“We were appalled. We got really close to it. We had been pushing it for years. There was even a discussion about the proximity of the plaque and whether it could be put on the pavement and not on a wall. They had their right [turn it down], but we found it extraordinary.”

He added: “Judy loved London. She came in 1951 after her MGM career, she came in 1957 for a season at the Dominion, and again in 1960. London was her lucky city.”

Garland’s final months in London will be explored in a new film, Judy, which opens next month and stars Renee Zellweger. 

The house had fallen into disrepair, unlike smart neighbouring properties, and Kensington and Chelsea granted permission for total demolition in 2015.

An English Heritage spokesman said: “English Heritage’s London Blue Plaques panel decided to award Judy Garland a blue plaque in 2001. The panel was keen to celebrate her remarkable and illustrious career as an actor and singer, as well as her cultural significance.

“However, in order for a blue plaque to be erected, English Heritage needs the permission of the owner of the building in question and despite our numerous requests, we were denied this permission.

“We tried intermittently to see if the owner had had a change of heart, until we learned from the Land Registry that the building had changed hands.

“A key criterion of English Heritage’s Blue Plaque scheme is the requirement for a surviving - and relatively untouched - building associated with the figure from the past. Unfortunately, there are currently no other known surviving addresses associated with Judy Garland in London.”

The spokesman said other organisations run their own plaque schemes and “we would be pleased if another scheme decided to erect its own plaque to Judy Garland, so the star could be remembered at the site where her home once stood.”

The planning application, which included an underground swimming pool, stated: “The mews is certainly not a heritage asset and it is clearly at odds with the character of the area, such that it is unquestionably a detractor.

“Sensitive redevelopment of the mews would be more than simply acceptable: it would constitute a considerable and indisputable improvement to the quality and character of the area.”

               —The Telegraph 

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NOTE: Belgravia is the district of London where Brian Epstein died, too, on August 27, 1967  — also from an accidental overdose. 

He was using the prescribed sleeping pill Carbitral (cumulative; i.e., built up in his system over several weeks). Carbitral doesn’t exist anymore.