Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music

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MINNELLI, Liza

(b 12 March '46, LA) Singer, dancer, actress; daughter of Judy Garland and film director Vincente Minnelli (1910--86; his masterpiece was An American In Paris '51). A cabaret artist and musical show singer in the same mould as her mother, with the same star quality. Her films (not all musicals) incl. Charlie Bubbles '67, The Sterile Cuckoo '69 (she was nom. for an Oscar), Tell Me That You Love Me Junie Moon '70, Cabaret '72, Lucky Lady '76, A Matter Of Time, '76 New York, New York '77, Arthur '81. Cabaret was adapted by Jay Presson Allen from Goodbye To Berlin by Christopher Isherwood, dir. and choreographed by Bob Fosse; original cast LP of '66 stage show charted on CBS/Columbia with Jack Gifford, Jill Hayworth, Bert Convy, Lotte Lenya; film starred Joel Gray and Michael York as well as Minnelli and the soundtrack charted on ABC '72: one of the most nearly perfect screen musicals since WWII had music by Kander and Ebb (see their entry). Liza was on the cover of Time and Newsweek the same week and won an Oscar for her portrayal of Sally Bowles. Martin Scorsese's film New York, New York was about a singer and a jazz musician in the post-war city; it incl. all the right elements (music dir. by Georgie Auld) but was too long and too earnest. Minnelli appeared on Broadway in Flora, The Red Menace '65 (album on RCA) and The Act '77 (on DRG), also by Kander and Ebb; she won Tony awards for these and for Liza At The Winter Garden '73 (on CBS) -- two awards that eluded her mother -- was nominated for a Tony while starring in The Rink with Chita Rivera, but dropped out '84 for successful cure of a drug problem (began with Valium, taken at first for muscles). Her other albums incl. Liza! Liza! '64 on Capitol, two-disc Live At The London Palladium '65 with Garland on Capitol (edited to one disc, charted again '73), New Feelin' '73 on A&M, Liza With A 'Z' (TV soundtrack) and The Singer '72--3 on CBS; other sets incl. two-disc Foursider on A&M, Maybe This Time on Capitol, At Carnegie Hall '87 on Telarc (on two CDs complete or abridged on one), later Live From Radio City Music Hall on Columbia. In '88 she replaced Dean Martin in a world tour with Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. Her career seemed to be losing direction when the Pet Shop Boys prod. and wrote songs for her album Results '89 on Epic, a bigger hit in UK than USA, incl. Sondheim's 'Losing My Mind' (top ten UK hit; see the Pet Shop Boys' entry). She made a film of Bob Fosse's Stepping Out '91; had a hip replacement operation '94. Her next album was Gently '96 on EMI, a collection of standards in an intimate rather than her usual bravura style, incl. duets with Johnny Mathis and Donna Summer. She stood in for Julie Andrews in Victor/Victoria on Broadway early '97 and was writing a musical show about three generations of a show-biz family. She performs 100 nights a year, but claims to be more organized nowadays: 'I've figured out how to do it without being away from home too long.'