Too often the word icon and legend is thrown around to describe everything and everyone without any consideration to the real meaning of the title. Liza Minnelli has lived an extraordinary life and is definitely deserving of the title Living Legend.
Born to the parents Judy Garland and Vincent Minnelli, young Liza grew up in the Golden Age of Hollywood and even appeared in one of her parent’s film at a very young age, In the Good Old Summertime, a classic MGM musical, starring Judy Garland and Van Johnson.
Liza not wanting to grow up in her parent’s shadow, moved to New York at the age of 16 and tried to make a name for herself on Broadway. Touring with summer stock and cutting her teeth working in the chorus, Liza eventually made a name for herself and winning a Tony Award for her role in the Kander and Edd musical Flora the Red Menace.
Liza Minnelli was a full threat with an incredible ability to dance and act but also she had inherited her mother’s unique singing ability, where she was able to stand her ground and sing opposite Judy Garland on a number of her tours that incorporated her children Liza, Lorna and Joey.
Minnelli during the 1960s and early 1970s began making a name for herself as a nightclub singer, touring around the country with a number of acts that lead to her recording albums including Liza Liza (1964), It Amazes Me (1965), There Is a Time (1966), Liza Minnelli (1968), Come Saturday Morning and New Feelin’ (1970).
Unlike her mother who sang a number of jazz standards from the 1940s and 1950s. Liza started out singing a number of pop standards and show tunes and this helped develop and refine the music standard that is very much to the Liza Minnelli brand, something that captures the remarkable sound and tone that is very distinctive.
While developing her theater and singing talent Liza Minnelli also worked in film with some memorable roles including The Sterile Cuckoo. Liza’s performance was captivating as Pookie Adams, which earned her an Academy Award nomination in 1969.
Breakout role that catapulted Liza Minnelli to international fame was the role of Sally Bowles in the 1972 film, Cabaret. It is like the role was written for Liza and there line between character and real person is almost blurred. For this role Minnelli won the Academy Award for best actress for 1972.
Shortly after the Academy Award win Liza Minnelli appeared in the concert film made for television, Liza with a Z. The concert re-teamed her with Fred Edd and Bob Fosse, Fosse the director of Cabaret. It was broadcast on NBC in 1972 and went on to win four Emmys and a Peabody Award.
With international fame Liza Minnelli became the muse for fashion designer Halston and featured and commissioned a number of artworks by friend Andy Warhol, commissioning portraits of all her family including Judy Garland, Vincent Minnelli, sister Lorna Luft and brother Joey Luft.
During this time Liza also performed at the infamous Battle of Versailles Fashion Show in 1973.
In the late 1970s Liza became a fixture at the famed Studio 54 in New York and attended with many of her famous friends including Elizabeth Taylor, Andy Warhol and Halston.
Skip to the 1980s and Liza Minnelli along with Elizabeth Taylor championed fundraising for amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research, as Minnelli saw first hand the ravages of the disease and wanted to do everything possible to combat the relatively unknown illness.
In 1989 Liza released an electronic dance album, Results, where she collaborated with the Pet Shop Boys and in 1990 received a Grammy Legend Award for her contribution to the music industry.
During the 1980s and 1990s Minnelli also continued to tour with a number of successful concerts including the famed performance with Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr, the concert toured the world and Liza was equally as strong as the two other vocal legends.
Following the passing of her friend Freddie Mercury from AIDS, Liza Minnelli performed “We Are the Champions” at a tribute concert at Wembley Stadium London with the surviving members of the band.
in 1997 Liza made a return to Broadway taking over the title role in the musical Victor/Victoria, replacing Julie Andrews, as Julie Andrews underwent botched vocal surgery.
In the 2000s Liza Minnelli landed a recurring role on Arrested Development playing Lucille 2, she played the lover of Buster Bluth and what the series demonstrated is that Liza Minnelli had outstanding physical and comedic timing, she really was hilarious in the series.
In 2009 Liza returned to playing concerts playing Liza’s at The Palace, which had a number of dance numbers and songs dedicated to her late godmother Kay Thompson. For this concert series on Broadway, Liza Minnelli went on to win another Tony Award in 2009.
Liza Minnelli continues to make appearances at nightclubs and on social media and even landing the cover of Variety Magazine in 2020 holding her Oscar and declaring she is ready and able to work following recent back troubles.
The life of Liza Minnelli is nothing short of remarkable and deserves to be celebrated.
Coinciding with her 75th birthday on March 12, Club Cumming in New York, the famed cabaret lounge owned by Alan Cumming. The club has coordinated a birthday celebration that is accessible digitally and is the next best way to celebrate the birthday of a legend and icon during the middle of a global pandemic.
Tickets to the Liza Minnelli Birthday Celebration are available through the Club Cumming website for the Saturday and Sunday screenings.
Happy Birthday Liza Minnelli and thank you for your incredible talent!