Judy Garland"s Lover Sid Luft Reacted So Badly to Her Pregnancy She Didn"t Tell Him About Her Abortion

Judy Garland The Barbara Walters Interview

Judy Garlands tumultuous relationship with her lover and eventual third husband Sid Luft got off to a troubled start when she became pregnant with his child and secretly had an abortion.

Luft details the abortion in anew, posthumous memoir,Judy and I: My Life with Judy Garland, due out March 1 and excerpted in this weeks issue of PEOPLE. The book isbased on notes from his autobiography that was drafted and never published before his death in 2005.

The iconic star of The Wizard of Ozwas stillmarried to her second husband, Vincente Minnelli, when she began seeing Luft and became pregnant with his child in 1951.

Garland and Luft, a former boxer and test pilot who had become her manager, wereworking on a show together at New Yorks Palace Theatre at the time, and he didnt react well to the news.

I found myself saying, Of course I want your baby, but weve got a show to do, Luft recalls in the book.

Because of my negative reaction, judy didnt confide in me where and when she was going to have the abortion. I wasnt attentive. I didnt send flowers, he continues.

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For more about Judy Garland and Sid Lufts marriage, pick up this weeks issue ofPEOPLE on newsstands Friday

Nevertheless, their bond survived, and the pair were married from 1952 to 1965.Luft, the father of Garlands children Lorna and Joey Luft, went on to orchestrate the stars famous comeback concerts and produce her comeback film, 1954s A Star Is Born, for which she was nominated for an Oscar.

Source: http://people.com/books/judy-garland-sid-luft-abortion-memoir-judy-and-i/