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Liza Minnelli has announced that she will release a memoir after being “mad as hell” that previous documentaries on her life “didn’t get it right”.
The 78-year-old actor and singer has signed a deal with Grand Central Publishing and will release the book in spring 2026.
She wrote the memoir with Pulitzer Prize winner Heidi Evans and Los Angeles Times alum Josh Getlin, and will offer a look through her childhood, career, love life, rise to fame, and struggles with substance abuse.
“Since I was old enough to put pencil to paper, people asked me to write books about my career, my life, my loves, my family,” Minnelli told People magazine.
“‘Absolutely not. Tell it when I’m gone’ was my philosophy. So, why did I change my mind?”
Minnelli went on to add that documentaries on her life and career “didn’t get it right” and a “series of unfortunate events”, like a “sabotaged appearance at the Oscars” and “a film with twisted half-truths”, changed her mind.
“Finally, I was mad as hell. Over dinner one night, I decided, it’s my own d*** story, I’m going to share it with you because of all the love you’ve given me,” she said.
Minnelli’s longtime friend and collaborator, singer Michael Feinstein, said on The Jess Cagle Show after Minnelli’s appearance at the Oscars that she was brought on stage in a wheelchair against her wishes.
“She was sabotaged,” said Feinstein. “She said, ‘I don’t want people to see me limping out there.’ She said, ‘You know, I wanna look good. I don’t want people to worry about me.’”
Feinstein then added that plans were changed “literally five minutes before she went on”, after “everything that had happened earlier” when Will Smith jumped on to the stage and slapped presenter Chris Rock.
“The stage manager said, ‘Well, she has to be in a wheelchair’ and Liza pleaded. She said, ‘No, I will not be seen in a wheelchair in front of everybody. I will not do this. I refused to do this,’” Feinstein claimed. “And they said, ‘Well, it’s either that or nothing.’”
Minnelli, who is one of the handful of performers in history with an Egot – Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony – is the daughter of actor Judy Garland and director Vincente Minnelli.
She won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for starring in Flora the Red Menace in 1965, the Best Actress Oscar in 1972 for Cabaret, the Emmy award for Liza with a Z in 1973, and the Grammy Legend Award in 1990.
She is also known for her performance in Martin Scorsese’s New York, New York, and appeared in a recurring role on the award-winning sitcom Arrested Development.
“From the moment she was born, people have been telling Liza’s story. She is now, after a life of many dizzying triumphs and some terrifying lows, finally ready to tell it herself. Grand Central is absolutely thrilled to help bring this book into the world,” said Colin Dickerman, senior vice president and editor-in-chief at Grand Central.
