Mickey Deans

Michael DeVinko Jr. (September 24, 1934 – July 11, 2003), known as Mickey Deans, was an American musician and entrepreneur. Best known as the fifth husband and widower of singer Judy Garland, he acted as Garland's adviser and drug dealer during the final years of her career. He was also the general manager of the New York nightclub Arthur in the 1960s.

Biography

Early life and education Mickey Deans was born Mickey DeVinko to Michael and Mary DeVinko in Garfield, New Jersey on September 24, 1934.

Career Deans reportedly held a series of jobs, including vacuum salesman, ice cream vendor, beautician, U.S. Army musician, and rock-and-roll pianist. During the 1950s and 1960s, he worked as a musician at Jilly's, a popular nightclub on West 52nd Street in Manhattan. Warhol superstar Jay Johnson later alleged that Deans, whom he described as homosexual, attempted to sexually assault him during his employment at Arthur.

Life with Judy Garland Deans first met Garland at her hotel in New York City on March 10, 1967. A mutual friend of theirs asked Deans to deliver a package of amphetamines to Garland's room in the St. Regis. He was dressed as a doctor, and he "delivered the medication she needed to get herself together to fly to work on Valley of the Dolls." She later learned that he was in fact Mickey Deans, the manager of Arthur nightclub. The couple announced their engagement at Merv Griffin's Christmas party in December 1968, before Garland informed her children. Although hundreds of guests were invited to the reception at Quaglino's, only 50 people attended. Liza Minnelli, Garland's eldest child, did not attend, saying, "I can't make it Mamma but I promise I'll come to your next one!" In her book, Garland's daughter Lorna Luft writes that when her mother married Deans, she was in the final stages of prescription drug addiction and "was dying in front of his eyes." describes Deans as the "dreadful man who became her husband. ... I mean if she put an advert in a newspaper for the most unsuitable person to take care of her, she wouldn't have had a better response. ... I don't know what possessed... well, I know what possessed her because he gave in to her and he fed her all the things she wanted." "In a move that takes my breath away to this very day when I think of it, Mickey had scheduled a meeting and wanted me to go along," Lorna wrote, adding that Deans and another man "discussed some sort of business deal" in her presence. "Months later, someone told me the other man was a publisher, and that Mickey had arranged to stop by on the way back from my mother's funeral to cut a deal on a Judy Garland biography. I don't know if it was true, but his book did come out a couple of years later under the title, Weep No More, My Lady. Needless to say, I didn't buy a copy. Mickey Deans. What a putz."

After Garland's death, Deans had a four-year relationship with Rose Driscoll, and they adopted a son, Richard.

He moved to Cleveland, Ohio, becoming a producer of police fundraising events. In 1985, he purchased Franklin Castle, a historic four-story stone mansion on Franklin Boulevard in Cleveland for $93,000 and remodeled the home for $2.1 million.

Death Deans died in Northfield Center, Ohio, on July 11, 2003, after a long illness. He was 68.

Books