May 22, 1964 - Judy Garland flew to London by way of Hong Kong tonight, leaving behind angry and bewildered Australian fans, airline officials, and reporters.
With her was Mark Herron, an American actor who was her constant companion in Australia.
Miss Garland arrived in Sydney on May 11 and had a successful concert in Sydney Stadium two days later. The concert started 30 minutes late, but the audience of about 10,000 stamped and cheered while she sang more than 20 songs in a two-hour show.
Her troubles started at a Melbourne concert in Festival Hall last Wednesday. She kept an audience of about 7,000 waiting 67 minutes and made no apology when she appeared on stage in street dress.
After 10 minutes of the second half of the concert, she broke off singing “I’ll Go My Way by Myself” to apologize for an apparently bewildered orchestra.
When the song ended, she left the stage and did not reappear, even when the orchestra played “Over the Rainbow.”
All today she stayed in her hotel suite, refusing to explain her conduct to reporters. Her manager said she was suffering from laryngitis caught on the train from Sydney.
At the airport, she consented to a two-minute interview in which her answer to virtually every question was “No.”
Fifteen fans were at the airport shouting: “We love you, Judy.”
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