With a career spanning seven decades, Liza Minnelli is one of America’s most accomplished and iconic performers. This legendary EGOT (more about that in a moment) has done it all, from Broadway shows and Carnegie Hall concerts to Academy Award-winning films and everything else in between. Is Liza Minnelli still around? Is Liza Minnelli still alive? If so, are her health and performance still good? Here’s a close look at Liza Minnelli today, as well as an overview of her incredible career.
Liza Minnelli Was Born In 1946
To answer the first question right off the bat—yes, Liza Minnelli is still alive! Her birthday is March 12, 1946, she’ll be turning 76 this year. Luckily for Liza, she was born with a natural talent for performing—her mother was legendary singer and screen actress Judy Garland (think The Wizard of Oz and Meet Me in St. LouisVincente Minnelli was Vincente Minnelli’s stage and film director. While Minnelli and Garland parted ways when Liza was still young, she was heavily influenced and performed with her mother.
Minnelli admits that being the daughter Judy Garland was a difficult challenge when she began to create her own career path. “The hardest part was getting to be known as myself as opposed to somebody’s daughter,” Minnelli revealed in a 2020 interview with Variety. “I remember Mama saying, ‘Now don’t get upset because of the way they may compare you to me because you’re an entertainer too.’ I said, ‘Oh, I won’t.’ And then she reads something where they compared me to her. She said, ‘How dare they? You’re your own woman. Dammit! Can’t they see?’ And she’d throw it down in the trash. She was so protective and wonderful. She tried saving us from any of the stuff that other people said, except the great stuff.”
Her career began more than 60 years ago
Despite those early comparisons, it didn’t take long for Minnelli to break out of her famous mother’s shadow. Minnelli was 19 when she won the Tony Award as Best Actress for the musical. Flora, the Red Menace.At the time, she was also the youngest recipient. After that show’s run, she began touring around the country as a singer while also starting to take on roles in films such as Charlie Bubbles, Junie Moon, Tell Me You Love Me The Sterile CuckooShe was nominated for the Oscar for her film, “The Girl in the Window,”
However, her biggest success on the big screen was in 1972 when she starred with Sally Bowles in “The Musical”. Cabaret. Minnelli won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance, which was a shock to the rising star. “I didn’t think I was going to win,” she said in her interview with Variety. “I hadn’t planned [an acceptance speech]. If you plan something and then it doesn’t happen, then you’re disappointed. I asked my dad, ‘What should I say if I win?’ And he said, ‘You’ll know what to say.’ I said, ‘OK,’ and off we went. When [Gene Hackman, who was presenting with Raquel Welch]My father shouted my name and gave me tinnitus. I had tinnitus because of the way my father screamed at the Oscars, honestly.”
In addition to winning her first Oscar, Minnelli’s performance as the sexy and sultry Sally Bowles cemented her status as both a big-screen superstar and a style icon. Minnelli performed on stage again, including a Tony-winning solo performance on Broadway. She also made appearances in movies like New York, New York, Arthur, Arthur 2: On the Rocks. For her made-for TV concert, she won an Emmy Award as Outstanding Variety Special. Liza With a B.
Minnelli is among a minority of performers who’ve reached EGOT status, which means she’s won all four major awards—Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony. Her 1990 Grammy win was in a special category that honored her overall breadth of work—the Grammy Legend Award. Other EGOT winners are Mel Brooks and James Earl Jones, Barbra Strreisand and John Legend.
Is She Still Acting Today
Minelli’s last recurring gig was on the TV show Arrested Development. She played the vertigo-plagued Lucille Austero during the show’s original run in the mid-2000s and returned for its first follow-up in 2013. She teamed up with Alan Cumming that same year for a two-night engagement at Town Hall, Broadway. Minnelli, however, has remained out of the spotlight ever since. In her February 2020 interview with Variety,She did mention that she was interested in acting again, but nothing has happened over the past two year, which could be due to COVID-19.
But she hasn’t stopped working altogether. Minnelli recently announced her contribution to a Gershwin compilation. In a Facebook post promoting the release, Minnelli wrote: “I’m so thrilled to be part of my baby, Michael Feinstein’s brand-new album GERSHWIN COUNTRY, which celebrates and reimagines the iconic Gershwin songbook through the contemporary lens of country music. It was an honor being the executive producer of this project that featured some amazing voices such as Dolly Parton and Alison Krauss, Brad Paisley and Rosanne Cash. I also had the honor of performing my Father’s favorite song—the timeless “Embraceable You”—with Michael.”
The one thing Minnelli made sure she wasn’t involved in was the 2018 biopic of her mother, Judy, starring Renee Zellweger. Minnelli was apparently a part the production and had been working closely alongside Zellweger, according to reports. Cabarat star made it clear that this wasn’t the case. “I have never met nor spoken to Renee Zellweger,” Minnelli wrote on her Facebook page. “I don’t know how these stories get started, but I do not approve nor sanction the upcoming film about Judy Garland in any way. Any reports to the contrary are 100% fiction.”
Is she still in good health?
We know that Liza Minnelli is in great health. The star has openly shared her struggle with substance abuse and alcoholism throughout her life and sought treatment at a rehab in 2015. It appears that she’s remained sober since.
Rumours circulated in 2018 that the star was suffering from health issues. However, her long-time friend and collaborator proved the truth. in an interview with The Hollywood ReporterThey discussed a show they were preparing for. “She’s feeling very good now and we both are very excited about this show because it will be the first time that she’s done anything where she’s appeared in a casual setting, singing songs extemporaneously and taking questions from the audience.”
Feinstein added that Minnelli’s minimized performances have less to do with her health and more to do with simply wanting to take a break from working. “It’s not that it’s too exhausting. It’s that she’s done it for 60 years and she’s at a point now where she’s actually taking time to relax and enjoy her life,” Feinstein explained.
Minnelli once more addressed health rumors in 2021. taking to her FacebookPage to discredit an article by The National Enquirer that claimed she was unwell. “Hey Kids! After my wonderful birthday celebrations with close friends, I heard that the National Enquirer intends to publish another absurd story about myself. They always quote an anonymous “close friend” but never ever actually quote any of my real friends by name in any of their stories because they might get the truth. Please look at my recent Instagram/Facebook posts and tell me if you think I’m in bad shape, or not well and isolated from my friends.”
We’re happy to hear that this legend is still thriving!
