Liza Minnelli Through the Years: Screen Stardom, EGOT, More

A showbiz legend! Lisa Minelli was born into a family of screen legends, so it comes as no surprise that she has left an indelible mark in the entertainment industry as well.

The Oscar winner was born in 1946 to Judy Garland and her second husband, film director Vincente Minnelli. Before her 10th birthday, Liza joined her mother on film sets and as a teenager she started in theater productions. At the age of 18, the budding star joined her mother for a concert at the London Palladium, which was later released as an album.

“One of the biggest misconceptions about my mother is that she didn’t give me a happy childhood,” Liza said Vogue Arabia in October 2019. “There were definitely highs and lows, but I can say I was very happy. Whether people choose to believe that or not is up to them, but I know I was happy.”

The Lucky lady actress released her first solo album in 1964 and earned her first Tony Award nomination a year later for her performance in Flora the Red Menace. However, as her career took off, Liza had to deal with the death of her mother, who died of a drug overdose in 1969 at the age of 47.

While Garland’s death shocked her fans and the entertainment world at large, Liza later said her mother’s passing brought them closer in some ways. “What it did was it took away space, it took away miles,” the Los Angeles resident told me The New York Times in 1984.”[While I was growing up], I’d have to go through long haul operators and stuff to get through to where she was on a boat or somewhere – just to call her to tell me something funny I’d read. … Mama’s death took that away because now I just look up and ask. I’m just asking in my own head.”

After Garland’s death, Liza’s career exploded. She won an Oscar and an Emmy in the same year (1973) for Cabaret and Lisa with a Zrespectively, then won her second Tony Award in 1974. She returned to Broadway the following year, replacing Gwen Verdon as Roxie Hart in Bob Fosse’s original production of Chicago.

In 1990, she achieved EGOT status, taking home the honorary Grammy Legend Award, which was created to honor “continued contributions and influence in the field of recording.” Though her career slowed somewhat in the 2000s, Liza reached new audiences with a guest appearance in Sex and the city 2 and her recurring role as Lucille Austero on Arrested development.

“It’s so nice because people just come up to me and say, ‘Thank you for the years of joy you’ve given me,’ and, ‘God, I’m so glad to meet you,’ and, ‘I saw you here. There anywhere,” said Liza Vulture in 2013 when asked which role gets her the most attention on the street. “I’ve been doing this for a long time.”

Keep scrolling for a look back at Liza’s life and career over the years: