SANTA MONICA, Calif., Sept. 17 (UPI) -- Hollywood producer and Judy Garland's third husband, Sid Luft, has died in Santa Monica, Calif., at age 89.
The man credited with Garland's comebacks on both screen and stage died Thursday at St. John's Health Center of natural causes, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday.
Luft met Garland in 1950, the same year he divorced his second wife, B-movie actress Lynn Bari, the Times said. Bari and Luft had married in 1943 and had a son, John.
When he met the "Wizard of Oz" star, Garland was addicted to drugs, beset with depression and had just been cut loose from her contract with MGM. In his words, the star was "on the slippery slope to a fade-out," the Times said.
Garland and Luft married in 1952 and in 1954 he produced her Oscar-nominated film "A Star Is Born." Luft became Garland's personal manager and producer and put her back on the stage, where he engineered her sellout concerts at the London Palladium and the Palace Theatre in New York City.
The couple had two children, Lorna and Joey, but their professional relationship was much more successful than their personal one. They divorced in 1965 after 13 years of separations and legal battles.
Lorna skewered her father in her book and the 2001 TV movie based on it, "Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows" and the two were estranged for many years, the Times said.
Luft is survived by his fourth wife, Camille; three children; stepdaughter Liza Minnelli; and two grandchildren.
A funeral service is pending.
