The unsinkable Liza Minnelli was born Liza May Minnelli, on 12 March 1946, in Los Angeles, California, first daughter of proud parents Vincente Minnelli (the director), and Diva-Suprema Judy Garland. For such a natural-born performer, it seems almost surreal that Minnelli’s fate be sealed from such an early age.

Born at a time in her Mother’s life when substance-abuse problems were commonplace, and accepted, her childhood spanned several countries and more than 20 schools between America and Europe. Minnelli has always been very philosophical about her own upbringing: ‘It was no great tragedy being Judy Garland's daughter. I had tremendously interesting childhood years -- except they had little to do with being a child.’ And so it must have been. Making her on-screen debut at the tender age of two-and-a-half, playing her real-life mother’s on-screen daughter (in the film In The Good Old Summertime), Liza subsequently showed very little interest in a showbusiness career, instead taking small parts in stock productions of revival musicals like The Flower Drum Song.

However, in 1963, at the tender age of seventeen, Liza was finally unleashed on an unsuspecting world. She was awarded the Promising Personality Award for her role in Best Foot Forward, toured the US with several major theatre productions, and in 1964 released her first album, entitled Liza! Liza!, selling over 500,000 copies shortly after its release. Liza With A Zee was on her way. Her Broadway debut in Flora, The Red Menace (1965), marked the beginning of a long association with songwriters John Kander and Fred Ebb, and gained her her first ever Tony award.

The period of 1972 – 1979 is considered by many to be Minnelli’s Golden Age. Becoming a superstar after just nine years in the business, Minnelli went on to win the coveted Best Actress Oscar for what is perhaps her most famous role, the ingénue Sally Bowles in Cabaret. During this period, she was awarded an Emmy for her TV Special, Liza With a Z, and dubbed La Pétite Piaf Americano by France, when she played a series of legendary concerts at the Paris Olympia. The films New York, New York with Robert de Niro, and Arthur with Dudley Moore, cemented Minnelli’s status not only as a singer with a powerful voice and even stronger stage presence, but as a talented and broad-ranged actress.

In a strangely expected full-circle turn, the early eighties were rife with rumours of Minnelli’s drug and alcohol abuse, and although still knocking her audiences dead, several trips to the Betty Ford clinic left many fans fearing for her health. In true Minnelli fashion, however, she bounced back with a Golden Globe for Time To Live, and later teamed herself with the legendary Divos Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr., in a worldwide tour called The Ultimate Event. She also released a hit pop album called Results, produced by The Pet Shop Boys, from which Losing My Mind became her first UK hit, reaching no. 6 in the charts.

The early 1990s were a quiet time for Minnelli, who battled on with several health problems. During this period she released perhaps two of her weakest movies, Arthur 2: On the Rocks, and Stepping Out. True to form, Minnelli returned to her Big-Band concert roots for a series of concerts she gave at Radio City Music Hall, New York, during which she broke the venue's 59-year box office record. Her other work in the early 90s included concerts with Charles Aznavour at the Palais des Congres and Carnegie Hall, and hosted the 1993 Tony Awards ceremony, during which she sang a medley of Broadway songs with her oft-estranged step-sister Lorna Luft.

In January 1997 Minnelli was back on Broadway for the first time in more than 12 years. Standing ovations became the norm when she played the lead role in Victor/Victoria while its star, Diva Julie Andrews, pulled out for health reasons. Later in the year she returned to the concert stage in America, but was forced to withdraw from a series of UK concerts in May 1998 amid growing fears for her health. However, she was fit enough to lead the on-stage tributes (and sing her own typically bells-and-whistles fabulous version of New York, New York) to Kander and Ebb, when the songwriters received their Kennedy Center Honours in early 1999. Later in the year she appeared at New York's Palace Theatre in Minnelli On Minnelli, a tribute to her late father, a project which took its toll on her.

Minnelli underwent surgery for a debilitating form of brain encephalitis in 2000, but shortly afterwards performed at Michael Jackson’s 40th Birthday Party. Lately she has toured North America and Europe, promoting her new album, Liza’s Back! Minnelli, who was romantically linked with Peter Sellers and Desi Arnaz Jr, has been married to the late singer Peter Allen, film executive and producer Jack Haley Jr., and sculptor Mark Gero. Producer David Gest became Liza’s latest husband, and though the pair were rarely photographed apart during their 16-month marriage, they have now separated. Citing irreconcilable differences as the reason for the split, David Gest has referred to his marriage, and in particular, Liza, as ‘a big mistake.’ While David has made such faux pas as telling British Daytime TV Actress Jessie Wallace that he ‘loves all her albums’, Liza has retained a dignified silence throughout the whole affair, and now it’s Liza the world is watching. She’s never looked, sounded or acted more like a True Diva.

written by David Barry

 

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