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Lorna Luft
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Lorna Luft (born November 21, 1952 in Santa Monica, California) is an American television, stage and film actress and singer. She is the daughter of the legendary singer and actress Judy Garland and Sid Luft, and the half-sister of Liza Minnelli.
Lorna Luft lives in Rancho Mirage, CA with her husband, musician Colin R. Freeman. Her two children are from her first marriage to musician and artist manager Jake Hooker. Her children, Vanessa and Jesse Richards, are the only grandchildren of Judy Garland.
Childhood and early life
Luft debuted in December, 1963 on her mother's CBS television series, The Judy Garland Show and soon joined the family act on a summer concert tour, the highlight being Garland’s third and final appearance at New York's famed Palace Theater on Broadway in 1967.
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Encyclopedia
Lorna Luft (born November 21, 1952 in Santa Monica, California) is an American television, stage and film actress and singer. She is the daughter of the legendary singer and actress Judy Garland and Sid Luft, and the half-sister of Liza Minnelli.
Lorna Luft lives in Rancho Mirage, CA with her husband, musician Colin R. Freeman. Her two children are from her first marriage to musician and artist manager Jake Hooker. Her children, Vanessa and Jesse Richards, are the only grandchildren of Judy Garland.
Childhood and early life
Luft debuted in December, 1963 on her mother's CBS television series, The Judy Garland Show and soon joined the family act on a summer concert tour, the highlight being Garland’s third and final appearance at New York's famed Palace Theater on Broadway in 1967. In this month-long engagement Judy Garland "shared" the bill with two of her children, Lorna (14 years old) and Joe (12 years old). The show was recorded live and subsequently released as Judy Garland At Home At The Palace--Opening Night.
Television
Luft appeared as Nurse Libby Kegler on the hit CBS series Trapper John, M.D. during that show's final season, 1985-1986.
Luft also appeared in 2 episodes of the new 2007 Logo animated series Rick & Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple In All The World.
Stage
Luft made her Broadway debut in 1971 in the musical Promises, Promises at the Shubert Theatre.
Luft starred in the 1981 national tour of They're Playing Our Song. In 1983, she played Peppermint Patty in the Off-Broadway production of Snoopy and later that year she co-starred in Extremities with Farrah Fawcett.
From 1992 through 1994, she played Adelaide in the American and world tour productions of Guys and Dolls. In 1996, she appeared in an Irish production of Follies in Dublin with Enda Markey, Dave Willetts and Millicent Martin.
In 2002, she starred as "Mama Rose" in a University of Richmond school production of Gypsy.
Recent activity
In November 2006 through January 2007, she performed in the UK premiere of Irving Berlin's White Christmas: The Musical, a new stage adaptation based on the film. Lorna reprised her role in White Christmas the next year, playing the Edinburgh Playhouse from November 19 to December 8, 2007 and the Wales Millennium Centre in the Donald Gordon Theatre from December 13, 2007 through January 12, 2008.
In October 2007, she released her debut CD Lorna Luft: Songs My Mother Taught Me in the United Kingdom. Produced by Barry Manilow and Colin R. Freeman, the album celebrates the music of her legendary mother, Judy Garland. In 2005 she toured Ireland with her stage show, "Songs My Mother Taught Me."
In June 2006, she surprised audiences at Carnegie Hall by performing a duet with Rufus Wainwright on the song "After You've Gone" at the end of Wainwright's tribute concert of Judy Garland's triumphant 1961 comeback at Carnegie Hall.
For the first time ever, she is to appear in The Wizard Of Oz, a pantomime adaptation of the movie that made her mother famous, at The Lowry Centre in Manchester, England. She will be portraying the role of the Wicked Witch of the West, originally played by Margaret Hamilton in the 1939 film.
Films
In film, Lorna Luft played "Paulette Rebchuck" in the camp classic Grease 2. Other films include Where the Boys Are '84, 54 and My Giant.
Autobiography
She is the author of the 1998 book Me and My Shadows: A Family Memoir. Among its revelations is that she had a romantic crush on Barry Manilow.
In 2001, the book was adapted as an Emmy-winning television miniseries Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows. It starred Judy Davis as the adult Judy Garland, with Tammy Blanchard as Judy in her teenage years. Hugh Laurie portrayed Vincente Minnelli, Victor Garber as Sid Luft, and Marsha Mason as Ethel Gumm.
Charitable work
In addition to performing Luft participates in various children's and AIDS-related charities including the annual Los Angeles AIDS Walk and The Children's Wish Foundation International. She has been an advocate for drug rehabilitation and has spoken for The Council on Alcohol & Drugs.
Recordings
Singles
- Our Day Will Come (Epic Records single)
- Long Time (European single)
- Born Again (European single)
- Where the Boys Are (CBS Records Single)
- The Whole World's Goin' Crazee (CBS Records Dance Single)
Albums
- Songs My Mother Taught Me (October 2007 - UK)
Cast albums and compilations
- Grease 2 (film soundtrack)
- George and Ira Gershwin's Girl Crazy: Complete Original Soundtrack
- Stairway to the Stars (Live concert recording)
- Cole Porter Centennial Gala (Live concert recording)
- The Christmas Album...A Gift of Hope
Other recordings
External links
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