‘My Mother Was Fascinating’: A Look at Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli’s Mother-Daughter Relationship

One of the most talked-about mother-daughter relationships in Hollywood is that of Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli. Not only is it filled with a whole lot of love, but it also has a lot of drama, loss, betrayal and more. Below, we look at what exactly happened between the two and what Minnelli has said about Garland following her untimely death in 1969. Read on for more. 

The beginning of Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli 

Minnelli was born in March 1946 when Garland, age 23, was married to Vincente Minnelli. Following that, Garland was hospitalized for a little while due to complications from her c-section and postpartum depression battle. 

She was then released and went straight back to the studio with her daughter by her side. 

“My mother was fascinating because she knew so many fascinating people who would come over,” Minnelli told Interview magazine in October 2024. “My mother was strict, and it depended on what mood she was in or whether she was working too hard, and they were pushing her too much. Or whether she didn’t like who she was married to at the time. Stuff like that. Every kid goes through that.” 

Something that not every kid has, though, is the pressure to go into show business. Minnelli began acting at a quite young age and even worked with Garland on The Judy Garland Show back in the 1960s. 

“Nearly everybody my parents knew was in show business. So, by default, when I was growing up, nearly everybody I met was in the industry,” Minnelli told Vogue Arabia, per People. “Looking back, of course, you realize that wasn’t a regular childhood. But to me, at the time, it was.”

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How Liza Minnelli really felt about her mother’s battle with addiction 

Another thing that Minnelli had to deal with growing up was her mother’s battle with addiction. While alive, Garland was heavily addicted to pills, which ultimately led to her untimely death in 1969 at age 47. Minnelli was 23 at the time and had a brother and a sister thanks to Garland’s marriage to Sidney Luft. 

“When she died, I almost knew why,” Minnelli told Time Magazine in 1972. “She let her guard down. She didn’t die from an overdose. I think she just got tired. She lived like a taut wire. I don’t think she ever looked for real happiness, because she always thought happiness would mean the end.”

Following her mother’s death, Minnelli was tasked with planning her mother’s funeral, a day that she claimed was both tragic and liberating. 

“Elevator men were falling around me, weeping,” she recalled in that same Time Magazine interview. “I was the only one standing up. I got so mad at everybody. I remember yelling at someone: ‘You cried for her when she sang ‘Over the Rainbow’ and ‘The Man That Got Away’. Now at last she’s at peace. Smile, for God’s sake!’” 

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A look at Liza Minnelli’s life now 

Minnelli is now 79 years old. She has been married four separate times and doesn’t have any children. She does, however, have an Oscar award for Best Actress thanks to her work in Cabaret (1973) as well as a Tony Award. 

She also, over 55 years later, still speaks very openly and honestly about her mother, telling Variety in February 202o that she still feels Garland’s presence a lot. 

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“When I call on her, she’s there, and I call on her a lot. She’ll say, ‘Ignore it’ a lot. She’ll say, ‘It’s one opinion. Who cares? Just keep going.’” Minnelli said. “She was funny, very funny, clear, incredibly intelligent, but more than you could even imagine, and in the moment.”

Along with her mother, Liza does still speak to her sister Lorna and brother Joey Luft

“My sister and I will always find our way back to one another, no matter what comes into being,” Minnelli said in 2017, per People. “I think that’s the way with all families. Our family’s just a little strange because it’s under a microscope.”