As you read Liza Minnelli’s memoir, imagine the star lounging on a lipstick-red couch and talking to you like a friend.
“Children, Wait Until You Hear This!” (now available from Grand Central Publishing) reads like a conversation with a close friend. Her longtime friend Michael Feinstein began recording her telling her life story in his living room in 2014. In just over 400 pages, Minnelli opens up about her childhood with her mother, Judy Garland, her career-making role in Cabaret, and her journey to sobriety.
Although the 79-year-old Minnelli chronicles dark moments of grief and addiction, her memoir is a comprehensive look at her life in showbiz, filled with wit and provocation. Readers will be delighted by the Hollywood “so-and-so” in which Minnelli depicts the wild parties, frenzied happenings, and theatrical magic.
Liza Minnelli talks about her complicated relationship with mother Judy Garland
Minnelli details her troubled relationship with Garland, who abused drugs and alcohol from an early age and for most of her adult life. Minnelli wrote that Garland lay in bed for days, became depressed and took large amounts of drugs. She also “began confessing her fears, resentment, and anger to Minnelli” when she was just five years old. Minnelli fled to the shelter of her father, Vincente Minnelli, as Garland and her then-husband Sid Luft got into a “vicious altercation.”
Minnelli recalled that Garland attempted suicide several times, including when she was struggling with postpartum depression and substance abuse. Minnelli felt “responsible” to get more prescription medication for her mother, but she often replaced the pills with aspirin to prevent Garland from overdosing. At the time, the family was also “penniless” and fled the hotel before checking out to avoid having to pay the bill.
“When I was 13, I was my mother’s caregiver. I was a nurse, doctor, pharmacist, and psychiatrist rolled into one,” she writes.
As she got older, Garland’s “wild mood swings” worsened. She would sometimes lock Minnelli’s half-brothers out of the apartment, and Minnelli would take the children in the middle of the night.
Minnelli wrote that in several instances, Garland tried to sabotage her career, using Minnelli’s boyfriend and the press as bargaining chips to get her to quit off-Broadway performances and stay with her mother instead. Minnelli writes of the “creative tension” that was evident when the two worked together.
“None of this would have been obvious to anyone in the audience. They saw the love and affection. … Behind the scenes, Mom was proud, confused, and scared. She was holding the torch in front of me, but she had no intention of passing it on,” Minnelli wrote.
Minnelli was 23 when her mother died of an accidental overdose at age 47. Despite their complicated relationship, Minnelli writes fondly about her mother’s legacy and their subsequent memories together.
“My beautiful mother is still with me and always will be. Through the good times and the bad. We talk to each other every day. And we laugh like crazy,” Minnelli wrote.
Minnelli reveals her Hollywood love story
Minnelli did not go into detail about her four ex-husbands and Hollywood lovers, many of whom she remained on good terms with after their breakup. Minnelli first married Australian singer Peter Allen, but later came out as gay (Minnelli witnessed him having sex with a man).
She writes about her “sexual energy” with choreographer and “Cabaret” director Bob Horse and her disastrous relationship with Martin Scorsese during the filming of “New York, New York” in the ’70s. She guides readers through her whirlwind romances with Broadway actors Ben Vereen and Desi Arnaz Jr., comedian Peter Sellers, and ex-husbands Jack Haley Jr. and Mark Gero.
“If this upsets you, how do you think I felt?” Minnelli wrote. “I married a gay man and was engaged to two other men at the same time!”
She also said she regrets her last, short-lived marriage to film producer David Guest. She said she married Guest in 2002 when she was “very lonely” even though she “didn’t feel physically attracted to him.” Minnelli wrote that Guest, who died in 2016, deceived her into believing her career could be “hotter than ever.” He controlled who she hung out with and talked to, didn’t let her have her own cell phone, and spent money lavishly. They separated after 16 months, but officially divorced four years later.
Minnelli wrote that she felt “disgusted” and “humiliated” by the marriage and vowed never to marry again.
Liza Minnelli felt ‘sabotaged’ by Lady Gaga and Oscar producers
If we’ve learned anything about “Kids” so far, it’s that Minnelli isn’t afraid to name names, living or dead.
In the final chapter of her memoir, she criticizes Lady Gaga for bringing her on stage to present the Best Picture award at the 2022 Oscars ceremony. Minnelli had planned to sit in her usual director’s chair to give her some peace of mind. However, just before going on stage, Minnelli was informed that she would only be allowed on stage if she was using a wheelchair.
Minnelli “uses a wheelchair to travel any distance, but never for performance,” she writes. Although she felt it was insulting and fought back, Lady Gaga agreed with the producers that she would not accompany Minnelli unless she was in a wheelchair.
“Then, unbelievably, she asked me if I shouldn’t go home. ‘Why?’ was my unbelievable answer. At one point, she asked me questions to make sure my memory was intact,” says Minnelli.
Minnelli wrote that she was “deeply hurt” when she went on stage thinking that her resignation would be better than the speculation around her, but felt “sabotaged by this young woman whose talent I had mentored and whose talent I had admired and publicly recognized for so many years.”
When she stumbled over her words on stage, Gaga held her hand and leaned over her. Minnelli wrote that although the “seemingly gentle gesture” drew praise from the audience, she felt humiliated because it was Gaga who had upset her in the first place.
“Stefani Germanotta, who created the fantasy of Lady Gaga, was a stranger to me on Oscar night,” Minnelli says.
USA TODAY has reached out to Gaga and the Academy for comment.
Liza Minnelli talks about keeping addiction at bay
Minnelli has written extensively about her substance use disorder, which she calls “the final gift, the genetic inheritance from my mom that I couldn’t escape.” Her drug use began after Garland’s death, with her doctor prescribing Valium to help her get through the “stress and tension” of the funeral.
“I had a front row seat to my mommy demons, but I was convinced otherwise,” Minnelli writes. “As I’ve learned, dealing with addiction has nothing to do with luck and brains. You’re dealing with a mysterious, insidious, powerful chemical. If you keep going and keep denying it, you’ll become dependent on it sooner than you think. You’ll be fooling yourself for years, even decades.”
Minnelli wrote that she continued to use while telling the world about her sobriety and recovery. In 2003, she passed out drunk on a New York City sidewalk, writing that she was in a “nearly comatose state” for “God only knows how long” as passersby stepped on and around her body.
Eventually, Minnelli developed severe encephalitis due to drug abuse. After her brain swelling and seizures worsened, Minnelli wrote that she had an epiphany that she had to stop. In March 2015, she entered a rehab facility and began working with a new doctor who no longer allowed her to self-prescribe medication.
Minnelli has now been sober for 11 years, she wrote.
“I have not ‘overcome’ addiction. No one does that when addiction is in their blood. If you are not careful, it can relapse without warning,” Minnelli wrote. “But for the first time, we fought to a draw. We’re preventing a draw. That’s the truth. That’s the difference. One day at a time. And baby, there’s no going back.”
Claire Mulroy is USA TODAY’s books reporter, covering hot releases, chatting with authors, and diving into reading culture. please find her on instagramsubscribe to our weekly magazine book newsletter Or tell her what you’re reading cmulroy@usatoday.com.
