When actress Tammy Blanchard landed the lead role of the young Judy Garland in the popular 2001 ABC miniseries "Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows", it seemed almost pre-ordained. One of the first roles the Bayonne, New Jersey native had ever played with Dorothy in a grade school production of "The Wizard of Oz", a part she would repeat in junior high school. Feeling an affinity with the character and the actress who so memorably inhabited the role in the 1939 feature, Blanchard delivered a fascinating and memorable turn as the youthful incarnation of Garland. Earning rapturous reviews from even the most jaded of critics, the young actress received an Emmy nomination for her efforts. Not bad for someone whose only professional credit had been a three-year stint (1997-2000) as a troubled teenager on the long-running CBS daytime serial "Guiding Light". Her character of Drew Jacobs endured the usual soap fare, from discovering she was adopted to engaging in a love affair to searching for her birth parents. With her thick "Joisey" accent, Blanchard enjoyed good press and fan support. Since her Emmy-winning, star-making turn as Garland, she landed a co-starring role in "Stealing Harvard" (2002), a comedy about a man who turns to crime to finance his niece's college education.
- Born:
December 14, 1976 in Bayonne, New Jersey, USA
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Job Titles:
Actor, Dancer, Singer, Model
Family
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Brother: T J Blanchard. Born c. 1973
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Brother: William Blanchard. Born c. 1978
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Father: William Blanchard. Divorced from Blanchard s mother c. 1986; died of lung cancer and complications from AIDS in 1998
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Mother: Patricia Rettig. Divorced from Blanchard s father c. 1986
Significant Others
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Companion: Damon Chasmer. was dating in late 1999
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Companion: Paulo Benedetti. co-star on Guiding Light ; reported to have dated, although Blanchard would offer no comment when asked
Milestones
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1997 Portrayed teenager Drew Jacobs on the long-running CBS daytime drama series Guiding Light
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1997 Reportedly botched an audition for the NBC sitcom The Tony Danza Show
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2001 Won an Emmy portraying a young Judy Garland in the ABC miniseries Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows
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2002 Feature acting debut, Stealing Harvard
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2003 Made Broadway debut playing opposite Bernadette Peters in a revival of Gypsy ; earned a Tony Award nomination
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2006 Cast opposite Matt Damon in Robert De Niro s long-anticipated The Good Shepherd
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2008 Co-starred in the musical biopic Cadillac Records
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2008 Portrayed a woman with multiple-personality disorder in a CBS remake of Sybil
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Played Dorothy in a high school production of The Wizard of Oz
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Raised in Bayonne, New Jersey
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Worked as a model for two years after high school