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Liza Minnelli
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Liza May Minnelli (born March 12, 1946) is an American actress and singer. She is the daughter of actress and singer Judy Garland and Garland's second husband, film director Vincente Minnelli. In 1972, Liza Minnelli won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Cabaret. She has also won two Tony Awards (including one special Tony), an Emmy Award and a special Grammy Award for lifetime achievement, along with many other honors and awards.
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Encyclopedia
Liza May Minnelli (born March 12, 1946) is an American actress and singer. She is the daughter of actress and singer Judy Garland and Garland's second husband, film director Vincente Minnelli. In 1972, Liza Minnelli won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Cabaret. She has also won two Tony Awards (including one special Tony), an Emmy Award and a special Grammy Award for lifetime achievement, along with many other honors and awards. Two of her records were certified gold.
Biography
Minnelli was born in Hollywood, California into a well known artistic family; her maternal lineage had entertainers in the family going back six generations. Her famous mother, Judy Garland, had legendary success in film and in music, and her aunts had been part of a singing group, "The Gumm Sisters", with her mother. Her father, also from a theatrical family including circus performers, was acclaimed MGM film director Vincente Minnelli. Her godparents were Ira Gershwin and Kay Thompson.
Liza Minnelli's first film appearance was at the age of three in the final scene of the 1949 musical In the Good Old Summertime, starring her mother and Van Johnson.
Although Minnelli and her mother shared a warm personal relationship, during the London Palladium performances, Garland recognized Minnelli's talent and felt a sense of competition. Minnelli recalled a time where she was singing on stage: "I was onstage with my mother, but suddenly, she wasn't Mama ... she was Judy Garland.".
Minnelli's half-siblings through her mother and husband Sid Luft are sister Lorna Luft and brother Joe Luft. She also has a half-sibling Christiane Nina Minnelli (nicknamed Tina Nina) through her father's second marriage.
She has also been portrayed in the Australian musical The Boy From Oz starring Hugh Jackman. On Broadway, she was portrayed by Broadway star Stephanie J. Block. The show received four Tony nominations.
Liza is also known childhood friends with Mia Farrow, Cheryl Crane, Candice Bergen, Tisha Sterling, Natalie Cole, and Katy Manning.
Marriages
Minnelli has been married (and divorced) four times; her husbands have been:
- Peter Allen (real name Peter Allen Woolnough) (March 3, 1967–July 24, 1974). Australian-born Allen was Judy Garland's protégé in the mid-1960s.
- Jack Haley Jr., (September 15, 1974–1979), a producer and director. His father, Jack Haley, was Garland's co-star in The Wizard of Oz.
- Mark Gero (December 4, 1979–1992), a sculptor and stage manager
- David Gest (March 16, 2002–July 25, 2003), a concert promoter.
Minnelli has no children; one pregnancy left Minnelli with a hiatus hernia as a result of the medical steps taken to try to save the baby.
Career
Theatre
Minnelli began performing professionally at age 17, in 1963, in an Off-Broadway revival of the musical Best Foot Forward, for which she received good notices, and her first award -- The Theatre World Award. The next year, her mother invited Minnelli to perform with her at the London Palladium. The audience loved her, launching her future concert career.
She returned to Broadway at 19, and in 1965 she became the youngest person ever to win a leading actress Tony Award for Flora the Red Menace.
Film
Her first appearance on film is as the baby in her mother Judy Garland's film, "In the Good Old Summertime" (1949).
Her first credited film role was as the love-interest in Albert Finney's only film as director and star, Charlie Bubbles (1967).
In 1969 she appeared in Alan J. Pakula's first feature film, The Sterile Cuckoo (1969), as Pookie Adams, a needy, eccentric teenager. Her performance won her her first Academy Award nomination. She played another eccentric character the following year in Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon, directed by Otto Preminger. In 1972, Minnelli appeared in perhaps her best-known film role, as Sally Bowles in the movie version of Cabaret. She said that one of the things she did to prepare was to study photographs of classic actresses Louise Glaum and Louise Brooks and the dark-haired ladies of that time. Minnelli won the Best Actress Academy Award for her performance, along with a Golden Globe Award. She was the first person to ever grace the covers of Time and Newsweek magazines simultaneously.
Hot off the success of the movie, Bob Fosse and Minnelli teamed up for what was to become a groundbreaking show in several departments. Liza with a 'Z', a filmed concert later aired only two times on TV until the recovery from the vaults and first public release on DVD in 2006. In the concert, filmed in one non-stop performance, Minnelli danced and sang in several daring and censor-challenging costumes designed by famed costume designer Halston. Several awards were the reward for what is regarded by both critics and public as a piece of show business history.
Following a string of less successful feature movies and ventures into television, she finally got the chance to work with her father, director Vincente Minnelli, in the 1976 fantasy-musical A Matter of Time, co-starring Ingrid Bergman. After severe editing and cutting, done by the studio, with no input from Vincente Minnelli, the film was neither a commercial nor a critical success.
Her appearance opposite Robert De Niro in the 1977 film, New York, New York however, gave Minnelli her best known signature song. Frank Sinatra released a successful cover version (for his Trilogy: Past Present Future album) two years later and used it as his signature song as well, sometimes even dueting with Liza live on stage.
After her performance as leading lady to Dudley Moore in 1981's hit film Arthur, Minnelli made fewer film appearances although she returned to the big screen in 1991 for "Stepping Out", a feel-good musical comedy.
Later career
Minnelli's career has been known to be filled with highs and lows. In the beginnings, however, she recorded several studio albums for A&M and Capitol Records. The Capitol albums "Liza! Liza!", "It Amazes Me" and "There Is A Time" have recently been reissued on a two CD compilation, for the first time in their entirety. In 1989 Minnelli collaborated with the Pet Shop Boys on "Results", an electronic dance-style album. The release hit the top 10 in the UK and also charted in the US, spawning four singles ("Don't Drop Bombs", "Losing My Mind", "Love Pains" and "So Sorry, I Said"). This also gave her a chance to film promotional videos for the songs and resulted in a long-overdue comeback in the music business. Initially released on a VHS tape titled "Visible Results", the clips were later issued on a bonus DVD included in the 2005 remastered and expanded edition of the album. Later that year she performed "Losing My Mind" live at the Grammys ceremony before receiving a Grammy Legend Award, making her one of only 12 other entertainers, in a list that includes Whoopi Goldberg, Barbra Streisand, and Mel Brooks among others, to win an Emmy, Grammy, Tony, and Academy Award, even though she is sometimes discounted since her Grammy was a special award and was not won in a competitive category.
She returned to Broadway in 1997, taking over the title role in the musical Victor/Victoria, replacing Julie Andrews. In his review, New York Times critic Ben Brantley commented, "her every stage appearance is perceived as a victory of show-business stamina over psychic frailty... She asks for love so nakedly and earnestly, it seems downright vicious not to respond."
After a serious case of viral encephalitis in 2000, Minnelli was in very bad shape; her family and friends were seriously worried, and even an estrangement with half-sister Lorna was buried. Doctors predicted that she would spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair. However, she refused to accept this and with the help of dance lessons, which she still takes daily, managed to recover and returned to the stage "Liza's Back" in 2002 performing to rave reviews in London and New York City
After this success, the world was again made aware of Minnelli's entertainment capabilities and she continued to tour the world and received offers from several fields in the business.
In 2004 and 2005 she appeared as a recurring character on the critically acclaimed TV sitcom Arrested Development as Lucille Austero, the lover of sexually and socially awkward Buster Bluth and also the lover of Buster's brother GOB.
In September 2006, she made a guest appearance on the long-running NBC drama Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Masquerade, the Halloween-themed episode. This was written by Gina Gionfriddo and broadcast on Tuesday, October 31, 2006. She also completed guest vocals on My Chemical Romance's 2006 concept album The Black Parade, portraying "Mother War", a dark conception of the main character's mother, in the song "Mama".
Her latest project is the imminent release of a collection of songs that her godmother Kay Thompson originated. In 2007 she has added the songs to her latest tour to introduce them to audiences.
Minnelli returned to Broadway in a new solo concert at the Palace Theatre called Liza's at the Palace...! which ran from December 3, 2008 through January 4, 2009. In her second act she performed a series of numbers created by Kay Thompson. The reviews noted that while her voice was ragged at times, and her movements no longer elastic, the old magic was still very much present -- from first to last, Liza had audiences cheering and applauding and begging for more.
On January 10, 2009, Minnelli made a rare live TV appearance in a surprise cameo on NBC's Saturday Night Live, playing the best friend of Penelope (Kristin Wiig). Also on January 26, 2009, she made an appearance on The View, singing "I Would Never Leave You" from her new CD Liza's at the Palace...!. She was also interviewed by the cast of The View.
Signature song
She has made many notable public performances of her signature song, "New York, New York":
- At the 1978 Studio 54 party honoring New York City's revival, at which a guest was Mayor Ed Koch;
- The reopening of the Statue of Liberty on July 4, 1986 (this performance of "New York, New York" is generally felt to be among the strongest of her career);
- As a duet with Luciano Pavarotti at the 1996 "Pavarotti & Friends" concert in Modena, Italy;
- At a 2001 New York Mets baseball game that was the metro area's first major sporting event after the September 11 attacks;
- At the age of 60, for the "Macy's 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular" televised live, and nationally on NBC on July 4, 2006, she performed the song and received an ovation.
- In February 2008, weeks before turning 62, she performed the song at a televised celebration of Bruce Forsyth's 80th birthday celebration on BBC.
- In June 2008, at the "Opening Night" at the Hollywood Bowl where she was inducted into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame.
- On October 2, 2008, at Trevi Fountain in Rome to promote her next tour of Italy.
Awards and honors
Minnelli's appearance in The Sterile Cuckoo garnered the young actress her first Academy Award nomination.
In 1973, she won the Academy Award for Best Actress for the movie released in 1972, Cabaret.
She also won an Emmy Award for the 1972 TV special Liza with a 'Z, a 1989 Grammy Legend Award, and Golden Globe Awards for both Cabaret and the 1985 TV movie A Time to Live.
She has received three Tony Awards to date: a Tony for Best Actress in a Musical in 1965 for "Flora the Red Menace" (and for it still holds the record as the youngest person to receive a Tony for lead in a musical), a special Tony in 1974 for her concert engagement at New York's Winter Garden Theatre, and a second Tony, for The Act in 1978. She was nominated in 1984 for The Rink but lost to her costar, Chita Rivera.
Minnelli has one Oscar and Emmy, three Tony Awards, two Golden Globes, along with a special Grammy. She has the distinction of being one of the few Academy Award winners whose parents were both Academy Award nominees, and she is the only winner of that award whose parents were both winners of it as well.
Most recently, Minnelli has won the ITRA award for Best Female Theatrical Performance of 2009.
Image
Minnelli's work in Cabaret molded her popular image; the black helmet of hair, huge eyes and extravagant eyelashes have remained her visual trademarks. The perception among many is that she embodies the same characteristics she portrayed as Sally Bowles, that is, a combination of fragility, determination, detachment from reality and hunger for affection.
During the 1980s, she softened her image and has kept it ever since. Recently, she has suffered health problems, including having had both hips replaced and other surgeries. Despite this, she stated she will keep on doing what she does best as long as her body allows her to. In an interview session filmed for "Inside the Actor's Studio" in which she provided insight into her career and style, she stated she will continue to be herself.
Filmography
Discography
Albums
Best Foot Forward (1963) (Original Cast Recording) Liza! Liza! (1964) US #115 Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli Live at the London Palladium (1965) US #41 Flora the Red Menace (1965) (Original Cast Recording) US #111 It Amazes Me (1965) There Is a Time (1966) The Dangerous Christmas of Red Riding Hood (1966) (soundtrack) Liza Minnelli (1968) Come Saturday Morning (1969) New Feelin (1970) US #158 Liza Minnelli: Live at the Olympia in Paris (1972, recorded in December 1969) Cabaret (1972) (soundtrack) US #25 UK #13 Liza with a 'Z (1972) (soundtrack) US #19 UK #9 The Singer (1973) US #38 UK #45 Liza Minnelli: Live at the Winter Garden (1974) US #150 Lucky Lady (1975) (soundtrack) A Matter of Time (1976) (soundtrack) New York, New York (1977) (soundtrack) US #50 Tropical Nights (1977) The Act (1978) (Original Cast Recording) Live at Carnegie Hall (1981) The Rink (1984) (Original Cast Recording) Liza Minnelli at Carnegie Hall (1987) US #156 Results (1989) US #128 UK #6, produced by Pet Shop Boys Larlo My Love (1990) US Stepping Out (1991) (soundtrack) Liza: Live from Radio City Music Hall (1992) Aznavour Minnelli: Paris, Palais des Congrès (1995) Music from The Life: A New Musical (1995) (concept cast album, is featured on "Use What You Got", "We Had a Dream", and "People Magazine") Gently (1996) US #156 UK #58 Minnelli on Minnelli: Live at the Palace (1999) Liza's Back (2002) Liza Minnelli: The Complete A&M Recordings (2008) Liza's at the Palace...! (2009)
Popular singles
- "Theme from New York, New York" (US #104, 1977, became a worldwide classic and signature song)
- "Losing My Mind" (UK #6, August 1989) (#11 on US Dance chart)
- "Don't Drop Bombs" (UK #46, October 1989)
- "So Sorry, I Said" (UK #62, November 1989)
- "Love Pains" (UK #41, March 1990) (#40 on US dance chart)
Television
During the early days of Television in the 1950s Liza appeared as a child guest on Art Linkletter's show and in 1959 sang and danced with Gene Kelly on his first television special. She was a guest star in one episode of the popular Ben Casey television series starring Vince Edwards and was a frequent guest on chat shows of the day including numerous appearances on shows hosted by Jack Paar, Merv Griffin, Mike Douglas, Joe Franklin, Dinah Shore and Johnny Carson. During the 1960s she made several guest appearances on Rowan & Martin's Laugh In as well as other variety shows including The Ed Sullivan Show, The Hollywood Palace, as well as The Judy Garland Show. In 1964 she appeared as Minnie in her first television dramatic role in the episode "Nightingale for Sale" on Craig Stevens's short-lived CBS series, Mr. Broadway.
Recently, Minnelli has made guest appearances on such shows as Arrested Development and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. In the UK she has appeared on the Ruby Wax, Graham Norton and Jonathan Ross shows and in October 2006 participated in a comedy skit on the Charlotte Church Show and was featured on the Michael Parkinson Show.
Judy and Liza at the Palladium (1964) The Dangerous Christmas of Red Riding Hood (1965) The Carol Burnett Show" 1967 & 1968 The Anthony Newley Show (1971) Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (1971) Liza with a 'Z (1972) The Muppet Show (1979) Goldie and Liza Together (1980) Baryshnikov on Broadway (1980) The Princess and the Pea (Faerie Tale Theatre episode) (1983) A Time to Live (1985) Sam Found Out: A Triple Play (1988) Frank, Liza and Sammy: The Ultimate Event (1989) The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert (1992)
Stage productions
- Best Foot Forward (1963) (Off-Broadway)
- The Diary of Anne Frank (1963) (Tour)
- Carnival (1964) (Paper Mill Playhouse)
- Time Out For Ginger (1964) (Bucks County Playhouse)
- The Fantasticks (1964) (Tour)
- Flora the Red Menace (1965) (Broadway)
- Liza (1974) (one woman show, Broadway)
- Chicago (1975) (replacement for Gwen Verdon from Aug-Sep. 1975, Broadway)
- The Act (1977) (Broadway)
- Are You Now or Have You Ever Been? (1978) (Off Broadway}
- The Owl and the Pussycat (1979) (Martha Graham Ballet, London & Lincoln Center, New York City)
- By Myself (1983) one woman show, Los Angeles and London
- The Rink (1984) (Broadway)
- Victor/Victoria (1997) (vacation replacement for Julie Andrews) (Broadway)
- Minnelli on Minnelli (1999) (Broadway)
- Liza's Back! (2002) (Broadway)
- Liza's at the Palace...! (2008 - 2009) (Broadway)
Philanthropy
Minnelli has, throughout her lifetime, served various charities and causes which she considers very important. She served on the board of directors of the The Institutes for The Achievement of Human Potential (IAHP) for twenty years, a nonprofit educational organization that introduces parents to the field of child brain development. She also dedicated much time to amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research. In 1994 she recorded the Kander & Ebb tune "The Day After That" and donated the proceeds to AIDS research. The same year she performed the song in front of thousands in Central Park at the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall riots. Minnelli claimed that amfAR was especially important because she had lost so many friends to AIDS.
Other Appearances
Minnelli also appears on "The Black Parade" CD by My Chemical Romance. During the song "Mama" she is the woman who sings "and if you would call me your sweetheart, I'd maybe then sing you a song".
See also
- List of persons who have won Academy, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Awards
Further Reading
- Leigh, Wendy (1993), Liza: Born a Star. Dutton
- Mair, George (1996), Under the Rainbow: The Real Liza Minnelli. Carol Publishing
- Schechter, Scott (2004), The Liza Minnelli Scrapbook. Citadel Press / Kensington Publishing Corp
- Spada, James (1983), Judy and Liza. Doubleday
External links
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