Liza Minnelli
American Actress and Singer
| Date of Birth | : | 12 Mar, 1946 |
| Place of Birth | : | Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Profession | : | Actress, Singer, Dancer, Choreographer, Television Presenter, Film Actor, Stage Actor |
| Nationality | : | American |
| Social Profiles | : |
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Liza May Minnelli is an American actress, singer, dancer and choreographer. Known for her commanding stage presence and powerful alto voice, Minnelli is one of the few performers to be awarded a non-competitive Emmy, Grammy (Grammy Legend Award), Oscar, and Tony (EGOT). Minnelli is a Knight of the French Legion of Honor.
The daughter of actress and singer Judy Garland and director Vincente Minnelli, Minnelli was born in Los Angeles, spent part of her childhood in Scarsdale, New York, and moved to New York City in 1961 where she began her career as a stage actress. musical and disco. She is a traditional pop music performer and artist. She made her professional stage debut in the 1963 Off-Broadway revival of Best Foot Forward and received the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for starring in Flora the Red Menace in 1965, which marked the beginning of their all-star collaboration. life with John Kander and Fred Ebb. They wrote, produced or directed many of Minnelli's future stage acts and television series and helped create her stylized survivor stage persona, including her career-defining renditions of survival anthems ("New York, New York," "Cabaret " and "Maybe this time"). Along with her roles on stage and screen, this personality and her acting style contributed to Minnelli's status as an enduring gay icon.
Early life
Minnelli was born on March 12, 1946, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on Beverly Boulevard in Los Angeles. She is the daughter of Judy Garland and Vincente Minnelli. Her parents named her after Ira Gershwin's song "Liza (All the Clouds'll Roll Away)". Minnelli has a half-sister, Lorna, and half-brother, Joey, from Garland's marriage to Sid Luft. She has another half-sister, Christiane Nina Minnelli (nicknamed Tina Nina), from her father's second marriage. Minnelli's godparents were Kay Thompson and Ira Gershwin.
Minnelli's first performing experience on film was at age three appearing in the final scene of the musical In the Good Old Summertime (1949); the film stars Garland and Van Johnson. In 1961 she moved to New York City, attending High School of Performing Arts and later, Chadwick School.
Career
Theatre
During 1961, Minnelli was an apprentice at the Cape Cod Melody Tent in Hyannis, Massachusetts. She appeared in the chorus of Flower Drum Song and played the part of Muriel in Take Me Along. She began performing professionally at age 17 in 1963 in an Off-Broadway revival of the musical Best Foot Forward, for which she received the Theatre World Award.
The next year, her mother invited her to perform with her in concert at the London Palladium. Both concerts were recorded and released as an album. She attended Scarsdale High School for one year, starring in a production of The Diary of Anne Frank which then went to Israel on tour. She turned to Broadway at 19, and won her first Tony Award as a leading actress for Flora the Red Menace. It was the first time that she worked with the musical pair John Kander and Fred Ebb.
Music
Minnelli began as a nightclub singer as an adolescent, making her professional nightclub debut at the age of 19 at the Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. That same year she began appearing in other clubs and on stage in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, and New York City. Her success as a live performer led her to record several albums for Capitol Records: Liza! Liza! (1964), It Amazes Me (1965), and There Is a Time (1966). In her early years, she recorded traditional pop standards as well as show tunes from various musicals in which she starred. Because of this fact, William Ruhlmann named her "Barbra Streisand's little sister". The Capitol albums Liza! Liza!, It Amazes Me, and There Is a Time were reissued on the two-CD compilation The Capitol Years in 2001, in their entirety.
From 1968 to the 1970s, Minnelli also recorded her albums Liza Minnelli (1968), Come Saturday Morning and New Feelin' (both 1970) for A&M Records. In 1973, Minnelli sang back up with Ronnie Spector for Alice Cooper's song "Teenage Lament '74" from the album Muscle of Love (1973). She released her solo albums The Singer (1973) and Tropical Nights (1977) on Columbia Records.
Film
Minnelli's first appearance on film is as the baby in the final shot of her mother's film In the Good Old Summertime (1949). Her first credited film role was as the love interest in Charlie Bubbles (1967), Albert Finney's only film as director and star, although four years earlier, she did voiceover work for the animated film Journey Back to Oz, a sequel to The Wizard of Oz. Minnelli was the voice of Dorothy (a character played in the earlier film by her mother Judy Garland) in what would have been her first credited film role had it been released in 1964 as planned—the Filmation production was delayed, eventually being released in the UK during 1972.
Minnelli appeared in The Sterile Cuckoo (1969), Alan J. Pakula's first feature film, as Pookie Adams, a needy, eccentric teenager. Her performance was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. She played another eccentric character in Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon (1970), directed by Otto Preminger. A nude scene in that film, filmed in a Massachusetts cemetery, resulted in a misdemeanor complaint by family of those buried there, and a "Liza Minnelli Bill" was introduced the following year to penalise filming in Massachusetts cemeteries without permission.
Later career
Minnelli 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 wrote "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, doctors predicted that Minnelli would spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair and perhaps not be able to speak again. However, taking vocal and dance lessons daily (especially with Sam Harris, Luigi Faccuito, Ron Lewis, and Angela Bacari), she managed to recover. She appeared on a September 19, 2001, episode of The Rosie O'Donnell Show, notable because it was Rosie's first show back following the September 11 attacks. Despite having had vocal surgery shortly before, she sang her signature song, "New York, New York", and received an enthusiastic ovation. She also returned to the stage in 2001 when asked by long-time friend Michael Jackson to perform at Madison Square Garden in New York City where she sang "Never Never Land" and the televised "You Are Not Alone" at the Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Special concert produced by future husband David Gest. Minnelli told reporters: "I am stable as a table."
Personal life
Minnelli has long suffered from alcoholism and has been addicted to prescription drugs, originating from a Valium prescription after her mother died. Her use of recreational drugs in the 1970s was noted by Andy Warhol, who in a 1978 diary entry recalled Minnelli arriving at Halston's house and imploring the host to "Give me every drug you've got." Along with Warhol and Bianca Jagger, Minnelli made frequent appearances at New York City nightclubs during the late 1970s, including Studio 54. Minnelli left her 1984 musical The Rink to enter the Betty Ford Clinic.
Minnelli is an Episcopalian
Minnelli's friendships have included the singer Adam Ant whom she advised on what to wear when he was presented to Queen Elizabeth II after the 1981 Royal Variety Performance at which his band Adam and the Ants performed.] Ant in turn namechecked Minnelli in the track "Crackpot History and the Right To Lie" on his 1982 solo album Friend or Foe.
During an Australian visit in 1964, Minnelli and her then-boyfriend Peter Allen 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.
Marriages and relationships
Minnelli has married and divorced four times. Her first marriage was to entertainer Peter Allen on March 3, 1967. Australian-born Allen was Judy Garland's protégé in the mid-1960s. Minnelli and Allen agreed to a trial separation on April 9, 1970. Their divorce was finalized on July 24, 1974. Minnelli told The Advocate editor-in-chief Judy Wieder in September 1996, "I married Peter, and he didn't tell me he was gay. Everyone knew but me. And I found out ... well, let me put it this way: I'll never surprise anybody coming home as long as I live. I call first!"
After her separation from Allen, Minnelli was engaged to actor Desi Arnaz Jr. and comedian Peter Sellers. Minnelli married Jack Haley Jr., a producer and director, on September 15, 1974. His father, Jack Haley, was Minnelli's mother's co-star in The Wizard of Oz. They divorced in April 1979.
Minnelli was married to Mark Gero, a sculptor and stage manager, from December 4, 1979, until their divorce in January 1992. Minnelli was married to David Gest, a concert promoter, from March 16, 2002, until their separation in July 2003, and their divorce in April 2007. In a 2003 lawsuit, Gest alleged that Minnelli beat him in alcohol-induced rages during their marriage.
She also had relationships with Rock Brynner (son of Yul Brynner), Mikhail Baryshnikov, Billy Stritch, and film director Martin Scorsese. Her close friendship with French pop singer Charles Aznavour was described by Aznavour as "more than friends and less than lovers".
Philanthropy
Throughout her lifetime, Minnelli has served on various charities and causes. She served on the board of directors of The Institutes for The Achievement of Human Potential (IAHP) for 20 years, a nonprofit educational organization that introduces parents to the field of child brain development. In a 2006 interview with Randy Rice at Broadwayworld.com, Minnelli said that she was the person who told Elizabeth Taylor about HIV/AIDS while talking about their mutual friend Rock Hudson. She has also dedicated much time to amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, which was co-founded by Taylor.
In 2007, she stated in an interview with Palm Springs Life: "AmfAR is important to me because I've lost so many friends that I knew (to AIDS)". 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.
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