Minnelli on Garland

[jimmirae]

Posted: 2/15/06 at 5:21am

Now this is interesting!
http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2006/02/06/liza_minnelli_doesn_t_think_judy_garland

[Garland Grrrl]

Posted: 2/15/06 at 9:05am

well, she didn't. judy died becuase her heart gave out after years of abuse. she did not deliberately OD. i thought that was genrerally acknowledged. i remember my mother, who was a nurse, telling me about it when i was about 10.

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 2/15/06 at 9:13am

I had never heard it called a suicide.

[Garland Grrrl]

Posted: 2/15/06 at 9:23am

there are numerous commonly believed falsehoods surrounding her death. for one, judy didn't have cirrhosis of the liver, which i've heard claimed in the past.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 2/15/06 at 9:46am

The official cause of death was listed as an accidental overdose of sleeping pills.

[best12bars]

Posted: 2/15/06 at 10:02am

This article is a bunch of bull crap, and Liza's quotes are taken directly from her appearance on "Inside the Actors Studio." The quotes are correct, including the comment about her mother's heart giving out. But not "natural causes." Liza is fully aware that it was years of abuse that caused her mother's heart to give out at this early age, and that it was an accidental overdose that put her over the edge this particular time.

BUT... Liza never said that her mother died purely of natural causes as the article implied. Her heart gave out, because of the pills. What Liza's POINT was, is that her mother did not commit suicide by taking the overdose intentionally. She wanted to put that rumor to rest on this TV show.

Sometimes I hate the media when they take things out of context and twist them around to suit their own needs or tastes. Nothing new with that, though.

Updated On: 2/15/06 at 10:02 AM

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 2/15/06 at 10:04am

It was 1969. Can they let the woman rest now?

[best12bars]

Posted: 2/15/06 at 10:08am

Judy, Marilyn, Glenn Miller, Amelia Erhart, Elvis, Mama Cass, Joplin, Hendrix, and James Dean's deaths will never be put to rest, it seems.

And their children (if any) have to live with the constant scrutiny, rumors, insults and theories, for the rest of their lives.

[redhotinnyc2]

Posted: 2/15/06 at 10:10am

Oh Rath - you know people will grind it into the dirt for hundreds of years to come. She was and is an Icon, and people will always talk about her, negatively AND positively.
We just have to live with it.
She was one of the most talented actress/singer/dancers to have ever lived, and in my opinion, her presence changed the face of entertainment.

[best12bars]

Posted: 2/15/06 at 10:12am

If you really want to hear Minnelli talk about Garland, herself, her father and acting... that installment of "Inside the Actors Studio" is a MUST.

Her comments on acting in particular are brilliant. Seriously. Her singing ain't what it used to be, but DAMN that woman can act circles around most people today. And when you hear her talk about her "process" you begin to understand why.

[VIETgrlTerifa]

Posted: 2/15/06 at 10:22am

I always felt Liza was totally underrated as an actress because her personality was so...extroverted (for lack of a better word) that people felt she was always playing herself. However, the films that I saw her in never failed to impress me.

[Garland Grrrl]

Posted: 2/15/06 at 10:23am

*SPOLIER*****i enjoyed the show but she lies and gets mixed up. the thing she says her father told her about acting, i've read that her mother said that to her. she gets confused, i think.
the song about shooting the guy was overwrought and really didn't work but the sign language number was lovely. and i loved that she said her favorite word was "Swell" or more precisely, "SHWELL".

Updated On: 2/15/06 at 10:23 AM

[VIETgrlTerifa]

Posted: 2/15/06 at 10:30am

i enjoyed the show but she lies and gets mixed up. the thing she says her father told her about acting, i've read that her mother said that to her. she gets confused, i think.

I'd give her the benefit of doubt and say she got mixed up or forgot because I can't see Liza lying. But then I don't know her, so she could've been...

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 2/15/06 at 10:31am

I've noticed in the past that her stories get a bit mixed up as well. But who knows what it looks like inside that head.

[best12bars]

Posted: 2/15/06 at 10:35am

I would say she's prone to exaggeration and story-telling. (...that sounds much nicer than "lies," as if it came from some malicious or calculated motivation on her part.) Her mother was the same way. Liza doesn't give a hoot for nitty-gritty "facts," and neither did Judy. I love that she thought that Judy was 12,13, and 14 (randomly) when she filmed The Wizard of Oz, as if that movie took three years to make. (Judy was 16 when they started filming, and turned 17 on the set. I know that... but ultimately who CARES if Liza knows that. She wasn't there either when they shot it... and I'll bet I've read more books on the subject than she has... because I'm a Wizard of Oz freak, though!)

As far as her acting goes, she's an eccentric person... and that has always come through in her acting and made it special. But it's her own "truth" coming through, which is astonishing and not easy to do. That's what we (and many others out there) could learn from. Her process of creation, not to emulate her style or mannerisms. She's unique, there. But we should try to bring out our own "styles and mannerisms" that make US unique. We shouldn't all strive to "act" like Liza. But perhaps to embrace Liza's creative approach (the way she describes her process and philosophical approach to acting) wouldn't be such a bad thing.

I was blown away by her, truthfully. She would make one HELL of an acting teacher.