She’s one of the few winners of the elusive, exclusive EGOT - meaning she’s won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony. She’s shared the screen and stage with everyone from Frank Sinatra to Robert De Niro. And she was the muse for creatives including designer Halston and choreographer/director Bob Fosse. She is, of course, Liza Minnelli.
For anyone looking to escape into a world of Hollywood’s Golden Age - a time of gild, glamour and grit - there’s perhaps no greater ticket in than Liza’s new book, Kids, Wait Till You Hear This One!
As well as being a veritable who’s who of the showbiz world, Liza candidly addresses the sometimes difficult relationship she had with her 'beautiful mother', Judy Garland, reveals the final words they shared and how they still 'talk to each other every day'.
Judy Garland’s troubles have long been known, covered extensively in books, film and TV adaptations, but to hear it from Liza - Judy’s firstborn child - is something else entirely. In the book, Liza reveals that Judy would remain in bed for days with depression.
"At 13, I was my mother’s caretaker - a nurse, doctor, pharmacologist, and psychiatrist rolled into one," she writes, as well as adding that Judy could often overshare with her daughter, "confiding her fears, resentments and anger" to Liza from a very young age.
Sharing that Judy’s "violent mood swings" got worse as she got older, Liza revealed her younger siblings - including entertainer Lorna Luft - would sometimes be locked out of Judy’s apartment and would come to Liza in the middle of the night.
As Liza took to the spotlight herself - something which felt predetermined, with her iconic mother and her father being renowned film director, Vincente Minnelli - Judy was "proud" but not ready to "pass the torch" completely.
Writing about the "tension" when they would perform together, Liza wrote, "None of this would have been apparent to anyone in the audience. They saw affection and love… Behind the scenes, Mama was proud, confused, and scared.
"She was holding the torch in front of me but had no intention of passing it".
Still, despite some painful memories, Liza is quick to honour and defend the legacy of her mother.
She writes, "My beautiful mother is still here with me. She always will be. Through the good times and bad. We talk to each other every day. And we laugh like hell".
As well as some of the darker memories, Liza revealed the last time she spoke to Judy - and it’s full of the witty zingers one might expect from the showbiz pair.
Liza shares that she wrote to her mum for the last time to share why she wouldn’t attend her wedding - but she’d be there for the next one, a cheeky nod to Judy’s many marriages.
Liza recalls writing to her her mother ahead of her wedding to fifth husband, Mickey Deans, "Mama, I can’t make it to your wedding. I’m making a movie for Otto Preminger! And Mama, you know what he’s like. But I promise to come to the next one!"
Judy would be found dead, just three months after marrying her fifth and final husband.
At just 47-years-old, Judy's death was concluded to be caused by an accidental barbiturate overdose and Liza addresses the constant speculation about her mother's passing in the book.
She writes, "Whatever happened, my mother did not commit suicide."
"To this day, there are people who refuse to believe this. Well, I knew my mother. They did not".
