According to Rolling Stone, she only permitted herself to cry once - in the car, on the way to Manhattan, after getting the news. It fell to 23-year-old Liza Minnelli to not only console Garland’s fifth husband, Mickey Deans, but to grieve her mother’s untimely death in a very public place. It took drugs … to get her back to a level place where you could have a conversation with her.' … Being with her was like being on a roller coaster. Her manager, Stevie Philips, told Inside Edition, '… she was in enormous emotional pain. The official cause was an overdose of barbiturates, and in the end, things were bad. Judy Garland died in 1969, when she was just 47 years old. She told Variety, 'The hardest part was getting to be known as myself as opposed to somebody’s daughter.' She cried only once When it came to starting her own career, Minnelli was on her own, talking herself into off-Broadway productions, and getting experience touring with her mother, as 'duenna and crying towel.' And when it came time to set out on her own path, her famous background became her biggest obstacle. When she talked to Rolling Stone, she recalled, 'we had to sneak out of hotels because she was out of bread, and she would make an incredibly funny game out of it.' They’d put on all the clothes they could wear and head out before the bill came due, with Garland reassuring her daughter that she’d 'needed a new wardrobe anyway.' It was about the same time she said in an interview, 'Do you know how difficult it is to be Judy Garland? And for me to live with me? I’ve had to do it - and what more unkind life can you think of than the one I’ve lived?'īy the time Minnelli was 21, she’d been kicked out of hotels for an inability to pay, and she’d been homeless, sleeping in Central Park and on the Plaza Fountain. Liza Minnelli was born in 1946 (via Biography), and by the late 1960s, her mother was destitute and, says Refinery 29, supporting them by performing in bars for $100 a night. … Screaming, fighting, I will run from it at any cost.' There was no silver spoon … not really Though now I … still can’t stand to hear anybody yell. 'To Mama, it was all funny, always.'Īlthough there were good memories, and Minnelli did love her mother, it wasn’t all a picnic.

Minnelli recalled it was a normal thing for her mother to lock herself in the bathroom after announcing that she was going to overdose, but 'all she wanted was attention!' Minnelli insisted. Minnelli’s former husband, Peter Allen, explained to Rolling Stone, 'When she was a kid, a doctor told her that Judy could not take more than a couple of Nembutals a day, that more might kill her, but that she had to believe she was taking more, so it was up to Liza to empty out more of the capsules and fill them with sugar.' While Garland struggled with addiction to amphetamines and barbiturates, her daughter kept an eye on her. Once Minnelli was old enough to help, she became responsible for her mother. Hollywood’s mistreatment of Garland (and other young stars) is the stuff of legend, and years of abuse left her in fragile mental and physical health at a young age (as noted in Timeline). Liza Minnelli is the daughter of Judy Garland, and while it might seem like that’s a ticket to stardom, it came with a ton of baggage. But that hasn’t come without some major lows, though, and learning about the tragedies that she’s struggled with behind the scenes gives us a whole new appreciation for this incredible star. Her father - Vincente Minnelli - was just as famous behind the camera as a director, and although her parents split early on, Minnelli famously remarked (via The Guardian), 'They married again so many times I have millions of parents.'įrom 'Cabaret' to her role as Lucille 2 on cult favorite 'Arrested Development,' Liza Minnelli has been larger than life for, well, her entire life. That’s important, because it’s impossible to talk about Minnelli without talking about her mother.

Her mother was, of course, the legendary Judy Garland - who was, in addition to being famous as Dorothy from 'The Wizard of Oz,' was also the poster child for the system of abuse that was rampant in Old Hollywood. Even when she was young - and starring in things like 'Cabaret' - she was one of those stars who always seemed to have been plucked from another time … one where the world was still in black and white, and the stage lights were always turned down low.Īnd it’s no wonder - Minnelli was born into one of show business’ royal families.

She’s instantly recognizable with her trademark black hair and pixie cut, and somehow, it only adds to the illusion that she’s a timeless creature from some other world. There are the biggest, trendiest stars of the pop culture world, and then, there’s Liza Minnelli.

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