Mickey Deans
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Mickey Deans (September 24, 1934 - July 11, 2003), born Michael DeVinko in Garfield, New Jersey, was a discotheque manager and the fifth and last husband of Judy Garland. Deans met Garland in 1967 when he delivered prescription drugs to Garland at her hotel in New York City, according to both his own book Weep No More, My Lady (1972) and Me and My Shadows: A Family Memoir (1998) by Garland's daughter Lorna Luft.
Upon marrying him in London, on March 15, 1969, Garland said, "This is it. For the first time in my life, I am really happy. Finally, finally, I am loved". Three months later, Garland was found dead in their bathroom in London, the result of an overdose.
Following Garland's death, Deans co-authored a biography of Garland with Ann Pinchot Weep No More, My Lady. The book includes autobiographical elements of Deans' pre-Garland life and their time together. The book was published in 1972 by Hawthorn Books with paperback editions issued by Pyramid Books.
Mickey Deans died of congestive heart failure in Cleveland, Ohio, aged 68. He was cremated and his ashes were sent to an individual in Florida. He was not interred with Garland at Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York. Garland is the sole occupant of a crypt in the Ferncliff Mausoleum.
Mickey played jazz piano professionally, often traveling on the road when not working at New York's Jilly's nightclub. After Garland's death, he worked as assistant to impressario/producer Roy Radin in putting together old-fashioned vaudeville-type revues. (Radin was found murdered in 1983 in the infamous Cotton Club Murder, so named for a film Radin was producing.) Later, Deans settled in Cleveland, where, at one point, he opened a "haunted mansion" to paying customers.
[edit] Publications
- Weep No More, My Lady ISBN 0515029890 Pyramid Books Edition, & ISBN 0816160392 G. K. Hall (1972), aka Judy's Story (1974)
[edit] References
- IMDb biography and filmography
- Biography Channel
- NY Times Judy Garland obituary
