Liza Minnelli
Liza Minnelli told reporters in 2001, "I am stable as a table." It was a bold thing to say for a performer whose body and career had both been tested in public. Minnelli is an American actress, singer, and dancer, born in 1946. She is known for a commanding stage presence and a powerful alto voice. Her shelf of honors includes an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, an Emmy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a knighthood in the French Legion of Honour. How does a performer stay upright through decades of triumphs, expensive flops, and hard falls? And how did someone born into Hollywood musicals build a name that belonged only to her?
The 12th of March 1946 brought a daughter to the actress and singer Judy Garland and the director Vincente Minnelli, at the Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Hollywood. Her parents named her after Ira Gershwin's song "Liza (All the Clouds'll Roll Away)." Gershwin became her godparent, alongside Kay Thompson. Her half-sister Lorna and half-brother Joey came from Garland's marriage to Sid Luft. Christiane Nina Minnelli, nicknamed Tina Nina, was her half-sister from her father's second marriage.
At age three she appeared as the baby in the final scene of In the Good Old Summertime, released in 1949. The film starred her mother alongside Van Johnson. Voice work followed. She spoke the part of Dorothy, the role her mother played in The Wizard of Oz, for the animated Journey Back to Oz. It was planned for release in 1964, but delays pushed it to the UK in 1972.
In 1961 she moved to New York City and attended the High School of Performing Arts, and later Chadwick School. That year she was also an apprentice at the Cape Cod Melody Tent in Hyannis, Massachusetts. She sang in the chorus of Flower Drum Song and played Muriel in Take Me Along.
In 1963, at 17, she began working professionally in an Off-Broadway revival of Best Foot Forward. It earned her a Theatre World Award. She also toured in The Fantasticks, opposite Elliott Gould.
The following year her mother invited her to perform in concert at the London Palladium. Both concerts were recorded and released as an album. She also spent one year at Scarsdale High School, starring in The Diary of Anne Frank, a production that toured Israel.
Broadway came at 19 with Flora the Red Menace, which won her a first Tony Award as a leading actress. It was also her first collaboration with the songwriting pair John Kander and Fred Ebb. In 1974 she received a Special Tony Award for Liza at the Winter Garden. She took the Tony for Best Actress in a Musical again for The Act in 1978, and was nominated for The Rink in 1984.
In 1975 she stepped into Chicago as Roxie Hart, replacing Gwen Verdon. In 1997 she took over the title role in Victor/Victoria from Julie Andrews. Ben Brantley, reviewing for the New York Times, wrote of her: "She asks for love so nakedly and earnestly, it seems downright vicious not to respond."
Charlie Bubbles, in 1967, gave Minnelli her first credited film role, as the love interest. It was Albert Finney's only film as both director and star.
Alan J. Pakula's first feature as a director, The Sterile Cuckoo in 1969, cast her as Pookie Adams, a needy, eccentric teenager. The performance earned a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress.
Otto Preminger directed her next eccentric character in Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon, in 1970. A nude scene was filmed in a Massachusetts cemetery, and relatives of those buried there filed a misdemeanor complaint. The following year a "Liza Minnelli Bill" was introduced to penalise filming in Massachusetts cemeteries without permission.
Sally Bowles, in the 1972 film Cabaret, became her best-known role. To prepare, she studied photographs of the actresses Louise Glaum and Louise Brooks, and of the dark-haired women of the era the film depicts. The performance won the Academy Award for Best Actress. It also won a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, a Sant Jordi Award, and a David di Donatello Award for Best Foreign Actress.
Bob Fosse and Minnelli next teamed for Liza with a "Z", a concert made for television. It aired twice and was not seen again until a 2005 restoration.
By 1978, Variety was suggesting that she was the number-one choice for box office poison. Three expensive flops in three years had earned her that label. The first was Lucky Lady in 1975. Then she worked with her father on A Matter of Time in 1976, co-starring Ingrid Bergman. Next came New York, New York in 1977, which gave her the signature song for which she is best known. She sometimes sang it in stage duets with Frank Sinatra, who recorded his own cover for his album Trilogy: Past Present Future.
She made fewer films after that, but Arthur in 1981 was a big hit, with Dudley Moore as her love interest. Rent-A-Cop and Arthur 2: On the Rocks followed in 1988, and the musical comedy drama Stepping Out in 1991. Then came a long gap. The Oh in Ohio in 2005 was her first film appearance in more than 15 years, and it received only a limited release in theaters.
The Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C., hosted Minnelli's professional nightclub debut when she was 19. That same year she began appearing in clubs and on stage in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, and New York City.
Her live success led to three albums for Capitol Records: Liza! Liza! in 1964, It Amazes Me in 1965, and There Is a Time in 1966. She recorded traditional pop standards and show tunes from musicals she starred in. Because of that mix, the critic William Ruhlmann called her "Barbra Streisand's little sister." All three albums were reissued in full in 2001 as the two-CD compilation The Capitol Years.
A&M Records released Liza Minnelli in 1968, then Come Saturday Morning and New Feelin' in 1970. In 1973 she sang backup with Ronnie Spector on Alice Cooper's "Teenage Lament '74." Columbia Records issued her solo albums The Singer in 1973 and Tropical Nights in 1977.
In 1989 the Pet Shop Boys collaborated with her on Results, an electronic dance-style album. It reached the top 10 in the UK and charted in the U.S., spawning four singles: "Losing My Mind," "Don't Drop Bombs," "So Sorry, I Said," and "Love Pains." She performed "Losing My Mind" live at the Grammy Awards before receiving a Grammy Legend Award. That honor made her one of only 16 people to win an Emmy, Grammy, Tony Award, and Academy Award. The list includes Richard Rodgers, Whoopi Goldberg, Barbra Streisand, and John Gielgud.
Carnegie Hall in 1979 and 1987, and Radio City Music Hall in 1991 and 1992, hosted her most successful concerts. From 1988 to 1990 she toured with Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. in Frank, Liza & Sammy: The Ultimate Event.
In April 1992, Wembley Stadium in London hosted the tribute concert for her late friend Freddie Mercury. There she sang "We Are the Champions" with the surviving members of Queen.
Her 1996 album Gently collected jazz standards and a cover of "Does He Love You," a duet with Donna Summer. It brought a Grammy nomination for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance. In 2006 she sang backing vocals on My Chemical Romance's album The Black Parade, plus a solo part with Gerard Way on "Mama."
Decca Records released Confessions on the 21st of September 2010. It was a set of American standards recorded "unplugged" with her long-time collaborator Billy Stritch. The songs were said to have been recorded several years earlier, and they show a sultrier, softer, more interpretive side of her artistry.
Gene Kelly's first television special, in 1959, found Minnelli singing and dancing beside him. Earlier in the 1950s she had appeared as a child guest on Art Linkletter's show.
Chat shows were a regular stop. Jack Paar, Merv Griffin, Mike Douglas, Joe Franklin, Dinah Shore, and Johnny Carson all hosted her many times. During the 1960s she guest-starred on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, The Ed Sullivan Show, The Hollywood Palace, and The Judy Garland Show.
In 1964 she played Minnie in the episode "Nightingale for Sale" of Craig Stevens's short-lived series Mr. Broadway. It was her first television dramatic role. In 1965 she starred in the special The Dangerous Christmas of Red Riding Hood, and a soundtrack was released alongside it. In 1970 she headlined her first television special, Liza, with guests Anthony Newley and Randy Newman.
Goldie Hawn joined her in 1980 for Goldie and Liza Together. In 1984 she appeared as Princess Alecia in the Faerie Tale Theatre episode "The Princess and the Pea." She starred in the made-for-TV movie A Time to Live in 1985 and in Sam Found Out: A Triple Play in 1988.
In December 1992, American Public Television aired Liza Minnelli Live from Radio City Music Hall, produced by Phil Ramone and Chris Giordano. The show earned six Emmy nominations. Fred Ebb and John Kander won the Emmy for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music and Lyrics. Parallel Lives in 1994 and The West Side Waltz in 1995 brought two more made-for-TV movies.
On the sitcom Arrested Development, Minnelli played Lucille Austero, also known as "Lucille 2." She was the lover of both the awkward Buster Bluth and his brother Gob. She appeared from 2003 through 2005 and returned for the show's fourth season in 2013. She also took guest roles on Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Drop Dead Diva, and Smash. Her Law & Order episode, "Masquerade," was Halloween-themed and aired on the 31st of October 2006.
In November 2009, American Public Television aired Liza's at the Palace. It was taped from the 30th of September to the 1st of October 2009 at the MGM Grand Hollywood Theater in Las Vegas. Craig Zadan and Neil Meron served as executive producers.
Rancho Mirage, California, is home to the Betty Ford Clinic, where Minnelli checked in during July 1984. She left the Broadway musical The Rink to seek treatment for alcohol and drug addiction. She said she had "a problem and I am going to deal with it," and Stockard Channing replaced her in the show. She had long struggled with alcoholism, and her dependence on prescription drugs began with a Valium prescription after her mother's death.
Scoliosis has been with her since youth, and she says it shaped her dancing. Leaning back one way hurts, so she developed unique, signature moves around the pain. Describing her condition, she said: "I've got two false hips, a wired-up knee, scoliosis, which I've always had, and three crushed disks, but I feel great. I dance every day."
Viral encephalitis struck her in 2000. Doctors predicted she would spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair and perhaps never speak again. She took vocal and dance lessons daily, working with Sam Harris, Luigi Faccuito, Ron Lewis, and Angela Bacari. She recovered.
The 19th of September 2001 was the day The Rosie O'Donnell Show returned after the September 11 attacks. Minnelli was a guest, only a short time after vocal surgery. She sang "New York, New York" and received an enthusiastic ovation.
That year her long-time friend Michael Jackson also asked her to perform at Madison Square Garden. At the Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Special she sang "Never Never Land" and joined him on the televised "You Are Not Alone." The concert was produced by David Gest, who would soon become her husband.
The 3rd of March 1967 was the day Minnelli married the Australian entertainer Peter Allen, who had been her mother's protégé in the mid-1960s. During a 1964 visit to Australia, the couple were invited to the opening of the Compass Centre in Bankstown, Sydney. They were awarded the titles of King and Queen of the Compass Centre. After three years of marriage they agreed to a trial separation on the 9th of April 1970. The divorce was finalized on the 24th of July 1974.
In a September 1996 interview with Judy Wieder of The Advocate, Minnelli joked: "I'll never surprise anybody coming home as long as I live. I call first!" Between marriages she was engaged to the actor Desi Arnaz Jr. and the comic actor Peter Sellers.
The producer and director Jack Haley Jr. became her second husband on the 15th of September 1974. His father, Jack Haley, played the Tin Man opposite her mother in The Wizard of Oz. They divorced in April 1979.
Saint Bartholomew's Episcopal Church in Manhattan hosted her wedding to the sculptor and stage manager Mark Gero on the 4th of December 1979. She wore a dress by Halston, who held the reception at his home. Guests included Andy Warhol, Elizabeth Taylor, Faye Dunaway, Martha Graham, and Steve Rubell. Her divorce filing came in November 1990, and the divorce was finalized in January 1992.
More than 1,200 guests filled the Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan on the 16th of March 2002 for her wedding to the concert promoter David Gest. Michael Jackson was best man and Elizabeth Taylor was matron of honor. The bridal party included Mia Farrow, Gina Lollobrigida, Petula Clark, Mya, and Janet Leigh. The couple separated in July 2003 and divorced in April 2007. In a 2003 lawsuit Gest made allegations of violence, which Minnelli denied. The suit was dismissed in September 2006.
Her circle of friends and companions was wide. She had relationships with Rock Brynner, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Billy Stritch, and the film director Martin Scorsese. The French singer Charles Aznavour described their friendship as "more than friends and less than lovers."
The nightclub Studio 54 was another home. She partied there with Warhol, Halston, and Bianca Jagger, and in 1978 she said it "brought a glamor back to New York that we haven't seen since the 60's." The singer Adam Ant, whom she advised on what to wear when he met Queen Elizabeth II in 1981, named her in a track on his 1982 album Friend or Foe.
She has no children despite numerous attempts. One pregnancy left her with a hiatal hernia, a result of the medical steps taken to try to save the baby.
For 20 years, Minnelli served on the board of directors of The Institutes for The Achievement of Human Potential, a nonprofit that introduces parents to child brain development. She also gave much time to amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, co-founded by Elizabeth Taylor. In a 2006 interview, she said she was the person who told Taylor about HIV/AIDS while they spoke of their mutual friend Rock Hudson. In 2007 she explained her commitment by saying she had lost so many friends to AIDS.
In 1994 she recorded the Kander and Ebb song "The Day After That" and donated the proceeds to AIDS research. That year she also sang it before thousands in Central Park, at the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall riots.
The London Coliseum, celebrating its centenary and its re-opening after a four-year restoration, staged the Royal Variety Performance on the 14th of December 2004. Minnelli appeared as a special guest, her first UK appearance after a long absence, in front of Charles, Prince of Wales.
In 2007 she announced an album in tribute to Kay Thompson. That grew into Liza's at The Palace...!, a solo concert at the Palace Theatre that ran from the 3rd of December 2008 through the 4th of January 2009. Her second act featured numbers Thompson had created. The run earned a Grammy nomination for the recording and a Special Tony Award in 2009.
The Australian musical The Boy from Oz, starring Hugh Jackman, told the life of her first husband, and Minnelli herself was a character in it. On Broadway she was portrayed by Stephanie J. Block. In October 2009 she toured Australia and served as a mentor and guest judge on Australian Idol. In May 2010 she made a cameo in Sex and the City 2, covering Beyonce's "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)."
On the 14th of June 2012 she headlined the Hampton Court Palace Festival. On the 9th of May 2014 she joined Cher's Dressed to Kill Tour in Brooklyn, performing "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" with Cyndi Lauper and Rosie O'Donnell. At the 94th Academy Awards in 2022 she presented Best Picture with Lady Gaga.
Serious health problems have marked her later years, and she has avoided huge concerts in favor of small retrospective performances. The 2024 documentary Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story profiled her life.
On the 21st of January 2026 she released the single "Kids Wait Till You Hear This." It was created with ElevenLabs for an album built with artificial intelligence, and it drew backlash. Minnelli answered that the track used "AI arrangements. Not AI vocals." She called the song a tease for her book. That book, the memoir Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!, was published in March 2026 and topped the New York Times Best Seller list.
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Common questions
Who were Liza Minnelli's parents?
Her parents were the actress and singer Judy Garland and the director Vincente Minnelli. She was born on the 12th of March 1946 at the Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Hollywood.
Which role won Liza Minnelli the Academy Award?
She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for playing Sally Bowles in the 1972 film Cabaret. The role also brought her a Golden Globe and a BAFTA.
What was her first Tony Award for?
She won her first Tony Award as a leading actress for Flora the Red Menace. It opened on Broadway when she was 19, and it was her first work with John Kander and Fred Ebb.
How did she recover from viral encephalitis?
Doctors predicted in 2000 that she might spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair. She took vocal and dance lessons daily and recovered, performing again in 2001.
What is her signature song from film?
"New York, New York" is her best-known signature song. It comes from the 1977 film New York, New York, and Frank Sinatra recorded his own cover of it.
What is her memoir called?
Her memoir is Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!, published in March 2026. It topped the New York Times Best Seller list.
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97 references cited across the entry
- 1NewsLiza Minnelli Opens 3-Week Carnegie DateMay 31, 1987
- 2Scott Schechter (2004): The Liza Minnelli Scrapbook, pp. 12–13.
- 3Scott Schechter (2004): The Liza Minnelli Scrapbook, p. 47.
- 4Scott Schechter (2004): The Liza Minnelli Scrapbook, p. 87.
- 5James Leve (2009): Kander and Ebb, p. 20.
- 6Scott Schechter (2004): The Liza Minnelli Scrapbook, pp. 13, 127
- 7Scott Schechter (2006): The Complete Capitol Collection
- 8NewsFire Island's Got TalentJacob Bernstein — August 8, 2012
- 9Liza Minnelli Joins Michael Feinstein for Intimate Concert and Conversation TonightAdam Hetrick — June 30, 2018
- 10Liza Minnelli Returns to the Stage with a Touching TributeCristi, A. A. — July 2, 2018
- 11BWW Review: Liza Minnelli and Michael Feinstein Perform Together at OC's Segerstrom CenterMichael Quintos — July 6, 2018
- 12What Is Going On With Liza Minnelli? Longtime Collaborator Opens Up About Her HealthSeth Abramovitch — June 25, 2018
- 13NewsLiza Minnelli receives Legion of Honour awardJuly 12, 2011
- 16BookJudy Garland: The Day-by-day Chronicle of a LegendScott Schechter — Rowman & Littlefield — 2006
- 17NewsLunch with a legendEmma Brockes — April 12, 2008
- 18Emanuel Levy (2009): Vincente Minnelli: Hollywood′s dark dreamer. New York: St. Martin's Press, p. 156.
- 19BookThe Milk of Almonds: Italian American Women Writers on Food and CultureEdvige Giunta — Feminist Press — 2002
- 23NewsLiza Recruited for Cooper RecordingTom Condon — October 14, 1973
- 24BookAlice Cooper at 75Gary Graff — Motorbooks — January 31, 2023
- 27Babyface, Celine Dion Dominate Grammy NominationsMarcus Errico — January 7, 1997
- 28My Chemical Romance get Madonna's helpOctober 25, 2006
- 29Liza Minnelli's "Confessions" CD Due in September; Artwork RevealedAndrew Gans — May 11, 2010
- 30MagazineMass. Cemeteries Safe From Nude Pic CapersJune 17, 1970
- 31MagazineLiza Minnelli: Be "strange and extraordinary", her father once told her. She listenedIngrid Sischy — February 2004
- 32Magazine'Star Wars'; What Else Was News in 1977Robert B. Frederick — January 4, 1978
- 35Liza's 'Palace' to get TV repriseGordon Cox — September 17, 2009
- 36NewsFor Liza Minnelli, the Affection of Her Fans Is the Milk of LifeBen Brantley — January 14, 1997
- 37Arrested Development: "Switch Hitter"/"Queen For A Day"Noel Murray — June 27, 2012
- 38Liza Minnelli Returning For 'Arrested Development' Season 4Andrew Dyce — September 11, 2012
- 40Minnelli to guest star on 'Law & Order'October 1, 2006
- 41MagazineFlashback: My Chemical Romance Recruit Liza Minnelli for 'Mama'Brittany Spanos — December 19, 2019
- 42Liza's at The Palace ...! Extends Through the New YearAndrew Gans — December 11, 2008
- 43MagazineMore About Me: Two Solipsists OnstageJohn Lahr — December 22, 2008
- 44Theater Review, 'Liza's at the Palace...!'. To Godmother, Old ChumStephen Holden — December 5, 2008
- 45NewsSuperstar Liza Minelli sic Reveals Agonising Truth Behind Her New AlbumBilly Sloan — March 19, 2013
- 46billy joel,bruce willis,confessions,liza minnelli's tapes to be released tomorrowRaymond Ronamai — September 20, 2010
- 47NewsCher flips through chapters of her past, shows unmatched style in 'Dressed to Kill' tour: concert reviewJim Farber — May 10, 2014
- 48NewsThe Biggest Bombshells from Liza Minnelli's Memoir Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!Carly Tagen-Dye — 10 March 2026
- 49New AI music from Liza Minnelli, Art Garfunkel featured on 'Eleven Album'Timothy Beck Worth — January 21, 2026
- 51NewsLiza Minnelli clarifies how much AI was used in her new song: 'Trolls didn't bother to read the truth'Shahana Yasmin — January 23, 2026
- 52Larry King Interviews Liza MinnelliMarch 25, 2006
- 54NewsSecrets and LizaLynn Barber — May 3, 2008
- 56MagazineLife Is Still a CabaretRebecca Mead — January 13, 1997
- 57Actress Liza Minnelli, saying she has 'a problem and...July 16, 1984
- 58NewsAn 'In' Crowd and Outside Mob Show Up for Studio 54's BirthdayLeslie Bennetts — 1978-04-28
- 59NewsLiza's Favorite Designer Is 'Always Chic'Helen A. Jankoski — 1980-06-30
- 60Inside Halston and Liza Minnelli's Moving, Real-Life FriendshipJulie Miller — 2021-05-14
- 61"I Made My Own Lane": A Rare Interview With Liza MinnelliMichael Feinstein — 2024-10-16
- 62BookThe Andy Warhol DiariesAndy Warhol — Warner Books — 1989
- 63Take a Peek at Liza Minnelli's Andy WarholsSarah Cascone — 2016-06-14
- 64BookStand and Deliver: My AutobiographyAdam Ant — Pan Macmillan — September 4, 2008
- 66BookThe Hollywood Book of ExtravaganceJames Robert Parish — John Wiley and Sons — 2007
- 68The SSO A-Z Guide to Queer SydneyApril 20, 2008
- 69NewsSeparation for MinnelliApril 10, 1970
- 70NewsNotes on PeopleJuly 25, 1974
- 71BookCelebrity: The Advocate InterviewsJudy Wieder — Advocate Books — 2001
- 72Lucy's Baby Desi Arnaz Jr. Is Still Reaching, but Now It's for Stardom, Not StarletsMartha Smilgis — June 19, 1978
- 73NewsLiza and Desi Won't Set a DateJune 3, 1972
- 74NewsLiza, in Love with Peter Sellers, Calls Off Engagement to Desi Jr.May 22, 1973
- 75BookMr Strangelove: A Biography of Peter SellersEd Sikov — Sidgwick & Jackson — 2002
- 76The Children of Legends, photo by Ron GalellaMarch 27, 1973
- 77Liza Minnelli: 50 years in Paris | INA ArchiveFebruary 26, 2015
- 78NewsLiza Minnelli marries HaleySeptember 16, 1974
- 79NewsLiza Minnelli DivorcedApril 11, 1979
- 80NewsLiza says, 'I do'1979-12-05
- 81NewsNidorf Party at the BistroJody Jacobs — 1979-12-07
- 82NewsDivorce Granted for Liza MinnelliJanuary 30, 1992
- 83NewsGest: Liza's still a legendApril 20, 2007
- 84NewsMinnelli, Gest End Lawsuits, to DivorceSamuel Maull — January 18, 2007
- 85David Gest hired hitman for Sir Elton JohnApril 9, 2017
- 86David Gest and Liza Minnelli: Top momentsMartha Ross Bay Area News The Mercury News — April 13, 2016
- 87NewsHusband Sues Liza Minnelli, Citing Drinking and ViolenceSusan Saulny — October 22, 2003
- 88Judge throws out spousal abuse suit against Liza MinnelliSeptember 15, 2006
- 89An Interview with Liza MinnelliRandy Rice — December 1, 2006
- 91Liza Will Record Song With An AIDS MessageJuly 5, 1993
- 92Hollywood Walk of FameOctober 25, 2019
- 93THE 45TH ACADEMY AWARDS – 1973October 5, 2014
- 97Nominees for 2010 Grammy Awards Announced – Full ListKenneth Partridge — December 2, 2009