Judy Garland's remains have been removed from her resting place in New York and taken to Hollywood.

The Wizard Of Oz star's body was exhumed - 48 years after her death - at the request of her family, including children Liza Minnelli, Lorna Luft and Joey Luft.

They wanted their mother to be closer to their homes in California.

The transfer from a crypt in New York's Ferncliff Cemetery to Hollywood Forever Cemetery was completed on Friday.

Image: Judy Garland's children Lorna Luft, Joseph Luft and Liza Minnelli at the Oscars in 2014

Speaking on behalf of the family, Victoria Varela explained: "When Judy Garland died, her affairs were controlled by her husband, Mickey Deans.


"Her children had no say in the matter of her burial, so this is at last their opportunity to do what they feel their mother would have wanted in the first place - to be united with her family in Hollywood."

Hollywood Forever Cemetery spokeswoman Noelle Berman said: "The move to Hollywood was made after many years of family consultations and deliberations.

"Ms Garland's three children now reside in Southern California and wished to have their mother resting near them."

Image: A young Liza Minnelli with her mother in 1960

The space in the mausoleum, renamed the Judy Garland Pavilion, has room for all her family.

Garland died in London in 1969, when she was 47. Deans, her fifth husband, died in 2003.

Her other spouses included film-maker Vincent Minnelli, father of Oscar-winning Cabaret star Liza, 70, and producer Sidney Luft, father to actress-singer Lorna, 64, and Joey, 61.

Hollywood Forever Cemetery, in the shadow of several historic movie studios, including Paramount Pictures, is the final resting place for many silver screen legends, including Cecil B DeMille and Douglas Fairbanks.