OCR Text |
Show Liza Minnelli Looks Back Without Tears Judy Garland’s talented daughter isn’t about iv be By PEER J. OPPENHEIMER a second-rate imitation of her mother A matronly woman rushed onto the stage of the Los Angeles Ambassador’s Now Grove with outstretched arms and tears in her eyes. She scoopedthe startled Liza Minnelli into her armsand gasped, about Judy’s own troubled life with its constant ups and downs, moving about and unreliability, when it came to Liza and her other two children, Lorna, 16, and Joey, 13, Judy worked hard and conscientiously te give them all the love she had and as much security as she could possibly provide within the framework of her own turbulent life. By the Yet when Liza told Judy she was going to New York to try her luck, Judy said, “I hope you know what you're doing. You’ve seen what’s going to happen to you. .. .” as if the example of her own life might be a deterrent to her daughter’s ambitions. Liza accepted the challenge with habitual optimism and moved in with friends of the family in New York. A short time later she got the lead in a summerstock production of “The Diary of Anne Frank”—“probably because of my mother’s name and the curiosity factor,” admits Liza. But it was her ability, she’s sure, that landed her a part in an off-Broadway musical, “Best Foot Forward.” If there is one thing Liza learned from her mother’s mistakes, it was never to get into a financial jam. “I knew I didn’t have the experience to handle my ownfinancial affairs.” So she marched into the office of business manager Marty Bregman and blurted, “If I were you, I wouldn’t take me on—but will you?” He did. Today, with a yearly income estimated at $500,000, which is what her mother owed in unpaid incometaxesat the time of her death, Liza is one of the most frugal actresses in show business. | Liza Minnelli in scene from “Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon.” “You darling! You'rejustlike your mother!” Only Liza Minnelli isn’t just like her to films. It took Liza three years to get time she was 16, Liza had gone to 20 different schools in four different countries. “In a way, my life was more nor- mother—thelate singing star Judy Gar- mal than a lot of other show-business land: Although she says, “Comparing me with my mother is a compliment,” she doesn’t want to be knownas “Judy's kid.” “I also wish they'd quit asking me kids. When welived in Beverly Hills, to sing, ‘Over the Rainbow’!” She has been through that routine most of her life. But now, at 24, Liza is a recognized star on her own. Liza was five when she appeared on the stage of the Palace in New York. “I want you to meet my kid,” Judy announced to the audience, then brought her little daughter up on the stage. While Judy sang “Swanee,” Liza recalls, “they said I danced my heart out.” No matter what one mixht think S.. first made her mark as a star of the Broadway production “Flora, the Red Menace.” A featured role in “Charlie Bubbles,” in which she played Albert Finney’s secretary, was her introduction most of my friends had divorced parents, too. But I was a lot closer to mine than most of them were to theirs. Besides, my father and my mother were my friends. I could deal with then: as people, not parents. And I was in the middle. I didn’t belong totally to anybody, and I liked that.” In Liza’s own mind there was never really any doubt that she was going to end up in show business. Not only was her motiier an outstanding performer throughout most of her lifetime, but her father, Vincente Minnelli, is one of the part of Pookie in her second film, “The Sterile Cuckoo.” “I knew from the minute I read the book I was meant to play Pookie. She fascinated me.” Her efforts paid off when she won an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. Miss Minnelli’s latest film is Otto Preminger’s “Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon.” Liza’s next will be a lead in the fivemillion dollar movie version of “Cabaret,” and she’s arranged to have every available minute between pictures occupied with tv specials, recordings, and night-club performances. “I have tremendous energy,” bubbles Liza with characteristic explosive gestures punctuating her speech. “I can go for months with iittle sleep, and then I catch it up all in one week. But I'll never take a sleeping pill! BN Liza has had two emotional upsets in her younglife. Thefirst, of course, was the death of her mother. She showed an incredible stamina and insisted upon making all the arrangements for the funeral herself. The second, the demise of her threeyear-marriage to musician-singer Peter Allen, apparently left no disastrous after-effects. The talent is there. The professional attitude and discipline are there. Add to this- Liza’s energy and her inner strength and determination and you have the makings of a star. “But,” says Liza, “I want to be an actress—not a star. I know what being a star is. I saw what happened to Mama.” Family Weekly The Newspaper Magazine LEONARD S. DAVIDOW President MORTON FRANK Publisher October11, 1970 NEAL ASHBY Managing Editor MARIUS N. TRINQUE Art Director 4 ROZ ABREVAYA Women’s Feature Editor W. PAGE THOMPSON Advertising Director MELANIE DE PROFT Food Editor Advertising Mgr.: Donald M. Hutford; Marketing Director: Sid ;; New York Sales Mgr.: Gerald Associate Editors: Hal Landon, $. Wree; Regional Mgr.: 4. Christian; Milton , Torry Schaertel; Western Adv. Mgr.: Russell A. ; Chicago Sales Peer J. , West Coast Mor.: Joe Frazer, Jr.; Detroit Mor.: William €, | Assistant Art Director: Geor, s Ramos \. Jr.; Southern Adv. Mgr.: Steven J. Newspaper Services: Promotion, Eric Publisher Relations: Rober! D, Camay, Les Ellis, Robert Goltzer; Merchandising, Carole Vilar H. Marriott,i Thomas H. C’Noil Production Director: Martin Steinhandler Editorial & Advertising Headquarters: 641 Lexington Ave., New York N.Y, 10022 © 1970, FAMILY WEEKLY, INC.All Rights reserved You are invited to mail your questions or comments about any article or advertisement that appears in Family Weekly. Your letter will receive a prompt answer. Write to Service Editor, Family Weekly, 641 Lexington Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10022. ~» Hollywood's top directors. Family Weekly, October 11, 1970 |