Liza Minnelli

My mother gave me my drive but my father gave me my dreams

Liza Minnelli was born on March 12, 1946, the daughter of Judy Garland and movie director Vincente Minnelli. She was practically raised at MGM studios while her parents worked long hours there and she made her film debut at fourteen months of age in the movie In the Good Old Summertime (1949). Her parents divorced in 1951 and, in 1952, her mother married Sidney Luft, with sister Lorna Luft and brother Joey Luft subsequently being born. Her father, Vincente Minnelli, later married Georgette Magnani, mother of her half-sister Christiane Nina “Tina Nina” Minnelli.

At sixteen, Liza was on her own in New York City, struggling to begin her career in show business. Her first recognition came for the play “Best Foot Forward” which ran for seven months in 1963. A year later, Judy invited Liza to appear with her for a show at the London Paladium. This show sold out immediately and a second night was added to it. Liza’s performance in London was a huge turning point in both her career and her relationship with her mother. The audience absolutely loved Liza and Judy realized that Liza was now an adult with her own career. It was at the Paladium that Liza met her first husband, Peter Allen, a friend of Judy’s.

Liza won a Tony award at age nineteen and was nominated for her first Academy Award at age twenty-three for the role of Pookie Adams in The Sterile Cuckoo (1969). Other dramatic roles followed and, in 1972, she won an Oscar for her performance as Sally Bowles in the movie Cabaret (1972). The seventies were a busy time for Liza. She worked steadily in film, stage and music. She and good friend Halston were regulars at Studio 54, the trendiest disco club in the world. Marriages to filmmaker Jack Haley Jr. and Mark Gero, a sculptor who earned his living in the theater followed. Each marriage ended in divorce.

Over the past years, her career has leaned more towards stage performances and she has a long list of musical albums which she continues to add to. She teamed with Frank Sinatra in his “Duets” CD and Sammy Davis Jr. joined them for a series of concerts and TV shows which were extremely well-received.

She has had to deal with tabloid stories of drug abuse and ill-health and has had a number of high profile stays at drug-rehabilitation clinics. Her hectic schedule may have slowed down in recent years, but she still has a large following of immensely loyal fans who continue to cheer her on.

Liza Minnelli on the Judy Garland Show

Baryshnikov and Minnelli

Stepping Out

Facts about Miss Liza Minnelli

Her parents named her after Ira Gershwin’s song “Liza (All the Clouds’ll Roll Away)”

Says her mother gave her a sense of humor

1990: She received the Grammy Legend Award, making her one of the few artists who have won entertainment’s top four awards – the Oscar, the Tony, The Emmy and the Grammy.

Was briefly managed by KISS lead singer/guitarist Gene Simmons in the 1980s.

When she was young she befriended Marilyn Monroe.

Her mother, Judy Garland, and former father-in-law, Jack Haley, starred together in The Wizard of Oz (1939).

She and her mother, Judy Garland, were the first Oscar-nominated mother and daughter.

Godparents were Ira Gershwin and Kay Thompson.

Because Liza constantly traveled with her mother, she spent most of her childhood in hotels. She was the inspiration for the character of “Eloise”, who grew up in the Plaza Hotel. The books were written by Liza’s godmother, Kay Thompson.

While Frank Sinatra’s version of “New York, New York” is played at Yankee Stadium after every Yankee home win, Liza Minnelli’s version is played after every Yankee home loss.

Her favorite modern-day singers are Adele, Michael Bublé, Pink and ‘Lady GaGa’.

              HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Today for Tuesday Tunes we are featuring the works of…

        Donald O’Conner

I was born and raised to entertain other people. I’ve heard laughter and applause and known a lot of sorrow. Everything about me is based on show business – I think it will bring me happiness. I hope so.

Though he considered Danville, Illinois to be his home town, O’Connor was born in St. Elizabeth Hospital in Chicago. His parents, Effie Irene (née Crane) and John Edward “Chuck” O’Connor, were vaudeville entertainers. His father’s family was from County Cork, Ireland.[3] When O’Connor was only a few years old, he and his sister Arlene were in a car crash outside a theater in Hartford, Connecticut; O’Connor survived, but his sister was killed. Several weeks later, his father died of a heart attack while dancing on stage in Brockton, Massachusetts.[4] O’Connor at the time was being held in the arms of the theater manager, Mr. Maurice Sims.

O’Connor began performing in movies in 1937. He appeared opposite Bing Crosby in Sing You Sinners at age 12. Paramount Pictures used him in both A and B films, including Tom Sawyer, Detective and Beau Geste. In 1940, when he had outgrown child roles, he returned to vaudeville. In 1942, O’Connor joined Universal Pictures where he played roles in four of the Gloria Jean musicals, and achieved stardom with Mister Big (1943).

In 1944, O’Connor was drafted into the Army. Before he reported for induction, Universal Pictures rushed him through production of three feature films simultaneously and released them when he was overseas. After his discharge, Universal (now reorganized as Universal-International) cast him in lightweight musicals and comedies.

In 1949, he played the lead role in Francis, the story of a soldier befriended by a talking mule. The film was a huge success. As a consequence, his musical career was constantly interrupted by production of one Francis film per year until 1955. It was because of the Francis series that O’Connor missed playing Bing Crosby’s partner in White Christmas. O’Connor was unavailable because he contracted an illness transmitted by the mule, and was replaced in the film by Danny Kaye.

O’Connor’s role as Cosmo the piano player in Singin’ in the Rain earned him a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Comedy or Musical. The film featured his memorable rendition of Make ‘Em Laugh. O’Connor was a regular host of NBC‘s Colgate Comedy Hour. He hosted a color television special on NBC in 1957, one of the earliest color programs to be preserved on a color kinescope; an excerpt of the telecast was included in NBC’s 50th anniversary special in 1976. In 1954, he starred in his own television series, The Donald O’Connor Show on NBC. In 1968, O’Connor hosted a syndicated talk show also called The Donald O’Connor Show.

O’Connor overcame alcoholism after being hospitalized in 1978. His career had a boost when he hosted the Academy Awards, which earned him two Primetime Emmy nominations. He appeared as a gaslight-era entertainer in the 1981 film Ragtime, notable for similar encore performances by James Cagney and Pat O’Brien. It was his first feature film role in 16 years.

O’Connor appeared in the short-lived Bring Back Birdie on Broadway in 1981, and continued to make film and television appearances into the 1990s, including the Robin Williams film Toys as the president of a toy-making company. He had guest roles in 1996 in a pair of popular TV comedy series, The Nanny and Frasier.

In 1998, he received a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs, California, Walk of Stars. O’Connor’s last feature film was the Jack Lemmon–Walter Matthau comedy Out to Sea, in which he played a dance host on a cruise ship. O’Connor was still making public appearances well into 2003.

The most distinctive characteristic of O’Connor’s dancing style was its athleticism, for which he had few rivals. Yet it was his boyish charm that audiences found most engaging, and which remained an appealing aspect of his personality throughout his career. In his early Universal films, O’Connor closely mimicked the smart alec, fast talking personality of Mickey Rooney of rival MGM Studio. For Singin’ in the Rain, however, MGM cultivated a much more sympathetic sidekick persona, and that remained O’Connor’s signature image.

O’Connor nearly died from pneumonia in January 1998. He died from complications of heart failure on September 27, 2003 at age 78 at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital, in Woodland Hills, California. His remains were cremated and buried at the Forest Lawn–Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles. O’Connor was survived by his wife, Gloria, and four children. Gloria O’Connor died from natural causes on June 4, 2013, aged 84.

Incredible balloon dance!

Make ‘Em Laugh from Singin’ in the Rain

Walking My Baby Back Home

Fun Facts About Mr. Donald O’ Connor 

Judy Garland, whom he knew as a child, was one of his best friends.

Was suppose to co-star with Bing Crosby in the perennial film classic White Christmas(1954) in 1954 but was sidelined with pneumonia and replaced by Danny Kaye.

Allegedly didn’t enjoy working with Gene Kelly while filming Singin’ in the Rain (1952), because he found him to be a bit of a tyrant on set.

Made his film debut at age 12 in Melody for Two (1937) with his two brothers, Jack O’Connor and Billy O’Connor, doing a specialty routine. Billy died a year or two later after contracting scarlet fever.

Despite failing health in 2003, he made appearances at the Roger Ebert Overlooked Film Festival and the opening of the Judy Garland Museum.

While he’s hesitant to select a favorite film, he’s quick to single out his favorite performance: “Call Me Madam (1953) – my favorite number is in there with Vera-Ellen. It’s the number I do out in the garden with her to “It’s a Lovely Day Today”. It’s a beautiful lyrical number. I think she was the best dancer outside of Peggy Ryan I ever danced with”.