Liza Minnelli he jokingly describes himself as “nepo’s first child” because of his famous parents, but his Old Hollywood pedigree didn’t mean his life was always easy.
In his new memoir, Children, Wait Until You Hear This!the EGOT winner, 79, described a childhood that was sometimes magical but also full of difficulties. The only daughter of an iconic actress Judy Garland and the director Vincente MinnelliLiza soon learned that her mother felt challenged by her daughter’s work in show business.
“Papa always joked that my professional career was predestined. My mother was skeptical at first,” Liza wrote. “Despite imagining my name on the marquee, he first tried to remove me from the bright lights, then threw his hands up, put me on concert stages and on television when I was young.
As Liza grew older, she recalled Garland making her “horribly aware” of what she “didn’t do well” in her career. “There were moments of great love from him, and harsh criticism that I was even afraid of,” he recalled. A deep sense of inadequacy. After many years, I wonder if I was able to win.”
Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli on the set of ‘Words and Music’ in 1948.
Hulton Archive/Getty ImagesAlthough Liza still felt the love of her mother, who died in 1969 at the age of 47, she did not shy away from revealing the dark parts of their past in the book, opening up about her mother’s marriages, divorce and struggle with drug and alcohol abuse.
“I wish I could hug Mom now, tell her how much I love her and give her the attention and help she deserves but never got,” Liza wrote.
Children, Wait Until You Hear This! it’s out now. Keep scrolling for the biggest revelations about Garland in the book:
The Moment That Ruined Liza Minnelli’s Life
When Liza was 5 years old, she was playing at home with her parents when she accidentally kicked her mother in the head and quickly learned what it was like to be a child of an addict.
He remembers: “Suddenly he yelled at me, screamed and screamed, it seemed like it lasted for hours. “From that moment on, the fear of him never stopped, I had hurt my precious mother.
According to Liza, the “horror of screaming voices” is still the only thing that “causes trauma” in her adulthood.
Liza Minnelli called her mother, Judy Garland, the “most challenging” part of her childhood. “My mother was interesting because she knew a lot of interesting people who would come,” said Minnelli, 78, in Interview magazine published on Wednesday, October 16. She also talked about her father, Vincente Minnelli, referring to him as “the greatest of all.” […]
How Judy Garland’s Battle With Addiction Affected Liza Minnelli’s Childhood
Liza quickly realized that her mother had a problem with alcohol and drugs. Some days, the adults would tell her to stay out of Garland’s room, but other times, Garland would vent her “fear, resentment and anger” to her young daughter.
“I was a child, 5 years old, and, although this may sound strange, this was therapy for him,” explains Liza. “He would sit me down and let me breathe, I would listen silently and nod as he continued, although it was not easy to understand what he was saying.
Soon after she welcomed her second child, a daughter Lorna Luftand second husband Sid LuftGarland tried to kill himself. According to Liza, “My mother was struggling with postpartum depression, which was made worse by excessive consumption of barbiturates, amphetamines and alcohol.”
Later, Liza and the family maid work together to hide Garland’s medication to prevent him from overdosing, replacing the prescription pills with aspirin.
“When I was 13, I was my mother’s carer – nurse, doctor, pharmacist and psychiatrist all rolled into one. It was a crazy balancing act,” he recalls, describing it as “a nightmare”. “I didn’t count the times I called the doctors and told them that she was going to run out of pills, they used to tell me that they couldn’t give her a prescription, it was too fast, I said: ‘I’m a child, please fill out my mother’s prescription!'”
A showbiz legend! Liza Minnelli was born into a family of screen giants, so it’s no surprise that she also made an indelible mark on the entertainment industry. The Oscar winner was born to Judy Garland and her second husband, film director Vincente Minnelli, in 1946. Before his 10th birthday, Liza was hanging out with him. […]
Judy Garland Married Her Third Husband Without Telling Liza Minnelli
After her 1951 divorce from her second husband (and Liza’s father), Vincente Minnelli, Garland married her third husband, Sid Luft. At that time, Liza was living with Vincente but she didn’t know that he was at her father’s house because her mother was busy getting married again.
“The evening news came on, and there was a picture of Mom and Sid on the screen. The announcer said they had secretly married three days ago,” Liza wrote. “I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. My mother got married. Without telling me. Even worse, I had missed the wedding party! I was sure it was in a fancy hotel and she was upset.”
Vicente, however, told his daughter years later that she “recovered quickly” by eating ice cream.
How Judy Garland Responded to – and Interrupted – Liza Minnelli’s Career
Liza Minnelli and mother Judy Garland circa 1960.
Hulton Archive/Getty ImagesWhen Liza made her stage debut in an Off-Broadway musical Best Foot Forward in 1963, he was “severely” hurt when his mother did not come to the door at night, saying that she had “mixed up the days.” Liza, however, tried to make the best of it by learning to “never bring anything bad to the stage” during the performance.
“After the program, I started to wonder if Mom was doing anything for me,” he added. “Maybe he knew his presence would suck all the oxygen out of me and our show on opening night and he chose not to go. Maybe. Who knows?”
Later, Garland convinced her to leave the show early to join him on the West Coast as she filmed her own TV variety show – after convincing Liza’s boyfriend to move to LA as well.
“What could I do? I was 17 years old. Liza remembered. “And I loved my mother. I still love him. … Still, I will never forget the feelings of pain—abandonment, even—when Mom made it clear that her needs were more important than my feelings.”
Liza then took part in the revival of Carnivalwhich was to be opened in early 1964. However, ten days before opening night, Garland released a statement saying that Liza would not be in the show because she was a minor and did not have her parents’ permission. After Liza issued her own statement in protest, Garland threatened to sue the producers and send Liza to boarding school.
Eventually, however, Garland “came down” and Liza put on a show. Later her mother told her that she was impressed because Carnival The debacle marked the first time he was completely ‘insolent’. “It hurts. It made me angry,” Liza remembers her mother saying. “But you stood on your feet, God, how I loved you and I loved you for having the courage to do it!
Judy Garland Saw Liza Minnelli as Competition
Liza Minnelli and Judy Garland perform at the London Palladium on November 8, 1964.
Len Trievnor/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty ImagesIn 1964, Garland asked his daughter to play with him at the London Palladium. At first, this seemed like a good opportunity, but as Liza’s part of the show continued, she realized that her mother was not happy with the positive response from the audience.
“I heard him whisper to our producer, Harold Davison: ‘Harold, get him off my stage!’ I heard!” Liza said. “His drive, his competitive spirit, did not allow him to take a back seat to anyone. It didn’t matter that I was his daughter. … It took me several years … no, decades … before I understood that his competition with me was a compliment to the player I was becoming.”
When Liza made her Broadway debut at the age of 19 Flora The Red MenaceHis mother called and said she wanted to sit up front on opening night. A legendary producer Hal Prince she put a stop to that, but Garland went to the cast party and “made her presence known,” climbing to the piano to sing.
“There was nothing stopping him,” remembers Liza. “I got angry and resigned, but I was also proud. I thank God that he didn’t interfere with the game. I was very grateful for that.”
Courtesy of Atlas Media Corp, A Zeitgeist Films Release in Association with Kino Lorber The late Allan Lazare spoke about his friend Liza Minnelli in the 2025 documentary, discussing what he called the biggest disappointment of his life. “We were with Liza through all her emotional disturbances, such as miscarriages,” Lazare, who died in 2024, […]
Judy Garland Gave Liza Minnelli Some Heartbreaking Advice
When Liza first auditioned for her first film role in the 1969s The Barren CuckooHis mother began to question why he wanted this part. Eventually, though, Garland helped her rehearse for her audition, and Liza got the part.
“My mother taught me one of the most important lessons for any actor: You have to be able to crawl inside the character and bring the person to life,” he recalls.
How Liza Minnelli learned about Judy Garland’s death
Liza, who was 23 at the time, was in South Hampton, New York, on June 22, 1969, when she learned that her mother had died earlier that morning in London. “Terror, heartache and confusion filled my brain, I was depressed, depressed,” he said, noting that he cried for eight days. At the same time, I realized that someone should organize a complicated public funeral, from now on. And that person was me.
Before the funeral, the doctor told Liza that Valium helped her deal with the “stress and tension” that led to her years of drug abuse.
“It was the first time I had ever used any drug like that, and I was amazed at how quickly it wore off,” he recalls. But Valium did something horrible to me, like a match lighting a fire. What started as a one-day blessing quickly turned into a habit, then a full blown addiction for years to come. It was the last gift, a legacy from Mother that I couldn’t escape.
If you or someone you know has a substance abuse problem, contact the National Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) at 1-800-662-HELP (4357). If you or someone you know is struggling or struggling, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org.
