Anne Hathaway to star as Garland

Hathaway sang a Frost Nixon spoof during the Oscar's opening medley

Anne Hathaway has signed up to play Judy Garland in both Broadway and film versions of the star's life.

The actress will play the Wizard of Oz actress in stage and screen adaptations of Gerald Clarke's biography, Get Happy: The Life of Judy Garland.

Hathaway was Oscar-nominated this year for the film Rachel's Getting Married. She surprised the audience by singing a duet with host Hugh Jackman.

The director and writer for the productions have not been confirmed.

Hathaway made her name in family movies The Princess Diaries and Ella Enchanted. She played Meryl Streep's put upon assistant in 2006's The Devil Wears Prada.

'Challenging role'

Harvey Weinstein will produce Get Happy and announced Hathaway's casting.

He called the actress "brilliantly talented" and said: "She will be a true class act in this challenging role."

Judy Garland was signed to a Hollywood studio as a child and made dozens of films for MGM. The role which made her famous was Dorothy in the 1939 classic, The Wizard of Oz, where she sang Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

She went on to win a Grammy and collect Oscar nominations for A Star is Born and Judgment at Nuremberg.

Garland had a difficult personal life. She was married five times, tried several times to kill herself and battled drug addiction before dying of an accidental overdose in 1969.