Finn Wittrock is to star as Judy Garland’s fifth husband Mickey Deans in the new biopic ‘Judy’.
The 33-year-old ‘American Horror Story’ actor has joined Renee Zellweger – who will play the iconic actress and singer – in the new movie being made by British stage director and Tony Award nominee Rupert Goold, Deadline reports.
Deans married the ‘Wizard of Oz’ star in 1969 in London and worked to promote her career, but he found it impossible to control her excessive use of prescription drugs.
Their marriage lasted only four months after Deans discovered his wife dead in June of the same year.
Jessie Buckley has also been announced to be joining the cast as Garland’s production assistant Rosalyn Wilder.
‘Judy’ is based on a script written by ‘The Crown’ scribe Tom Edge and is set to be produced by BAFTA winner David Livingstone, who shot to fame in the LGBT movie ‘Pride’.
The biopic is set in 1968, which is 30 years after Garland played the iconic role of Dorothy in ‘The Wizard of Oz’ and she arrives in London to perform a sell-out five-week run at the nightclub Talk of the Town.
As she prepares for the concerts, she battles with management, charms musicians and reminisces with friends and her fans and embarks on a relationship with Deans.
However, the iconic star is fragile and after working for 45 years, she is haunted by memories of a childhood lost to Hollywood and gripped by a desire to be back home with her children, who include Liza Minnelli.
Garland was one of the most iconic actresses of the 1940s and starred in a number of movie musicals, including ‘Meet Me In St Louis’ and ‘A Star Is Born’.
Throughout her life she struggled with physical and mental health issues and was heavily criticised by film executives who did not believe she was attractive enough to be a leading actress.
Judy struggled with alcoholism and substance abuse and she eventually died at the age of 47 in England from a drug overdose.
Finn Wittrock to star in Judy Garland biopic
