Minnelli, Liza (1946-…), is a popular American singer, dancer, and actress known for her energy and magnetic personality. She has starred on the stage, in motion pictures, in nightclubs, and on television. Minnelli became a star at the age of 19 with her performance in the off-Broadway musical Flora, the Red Menace (1965), for which she won a Tony Award as best actress. She also won a Tony Award as best actress in a musical for her performance in The Act (1978), as well as a special Tony Award in 1974 for “adding lustre to the Broadway season.” In 1973, Minnelli won an Emmy Award for the television concert “Liza with a Z” (1972) and an Academy Award as best actress for her performance in the motion-picture adaptation of the 1966 musical Cabaret .
Liza May Minnelli was born in Los Angeles on March 12, 1946. Her mother was the famous entertainer Judy Garland, and her father was the noted motion-picture director Vincente Minnelli. Liza began her show-business career at the age of 2 in one of her mother’s films, In the Good Old Summertime (1949). Minnelli made her stage debut in New York City in the musical Best Foot Forward in 1963. She became a leading motion-picture actress from the late 1960’s to the 1970’s in such films as The Sterile Cuckoo (1969), Tell Me That You Love Me Junie Moon (1970), Cabaret (1972), and New York, New York (1977). Minnelli also starred in the romantic comedy Arthur (1981) and its sequel Arthur 2: On the Rocks (1988).
Minnelli has starred in a number of other stage productions, including an acclaimed performance in the Broadway musical The Rink (1984). She also made a highly praised tour with Frank Sinatra in 1988 and starred in her own successful stage show at Radio City Music Hall in New York City in 1991. From December 2008 to January 2009, Minnelli starred in the Tony Award-winning Broadway concert Liza’s at the Palace.
See also Allen, Peter ; Garland, Judy ; Minnelli, Vincente .
