It’s been nearly 56 years since the legendary Hollywood star Judy Garland passed away at the age of 47. Despite this, her Oscar-winning daughter Liza Minnelli still talks to her “every day.”
Minnelli Sounds Off On Garland
Minnelli, 79, is promoting her new memoir “Kids, Wait Till You Hear This One!” In it, Minnelli opens up about her difficult relationship with Garland, who was known to have abused drugs and alcohol. Garland reportedly “began confiding her fears, resentments and anger” to Minnelli when she was just 5 years-old.
Minnelli remembers Garland attempting suicide multiple times. As a child, Minnelli felt “responsible” for getting more prescription pills for her mother. However, she would often swap out pills for Aspirin so Garland wouldn’t overdose.
“At 13, I was my mother’s caretaker – a nurse, doctor, pharmacologist, and psychiatrist rolled into one,” Minnelli wrote.
Garland’s “violent mood swings” only got worse as Minnelli got older. Minnelli claimed that her mother tried to thwart her career behind the scenes. When they would perform together, the mother and daughter had palpable “creative tension.”
“None of this would have been apparent to anyone in the audience,” Minnelli wrote. “They saw affection and love. Behind the scenes, Mama was proud, confused, and scared. She was holding the torch in front of me but had no intention of passing it.”
Minnelli was only 23 when her mother died in 1969 from an accidental overdose. Despite their difficult relationship, Minnelli looks back at her fondly now.
“My beautiful mother is still here with me. She always will be,” Minnelli wrote. “Through the good times and bad. We talk to each other every day. And we laugh like hell.”
Minnelli’s Own Addiction Battle
In her memoir, Minnelli opened up about her own battle with addiction. It started after Garland died, when her doctor prescribed her Valium to get through the “stress and tension” of the funeral.
“I’d had a front seat to Mama’s demons. But I was convinced I was different,” Minnelli admitted. “As I learned, luck and brains have nothing to do with handling addiction. You’re dealing with chemicals that are baffling, cunning, and powerful. Keep it up, keep denying it, and you’ll become dependent on them sooner than you think. You’ll fool yourself for years, even decades.”
Minnelli’s addiction battle continued for decades. In 2003, she collapsed, drunk, on the sidewalk in New York City and laid “almost comatose” for “God knows how long” while people stepped over and around her body.
Minnelli later got a severe case of encephalitis triggered by drug abuse. Finally, she realized that she needed to stop, and she checked into rehab in March of 2015. Minnelli has been sober ever since.
“I haven’t ‘beaten’ addiction. Nobody does if it’s in the blood. It can flare up without warning if you’re not vigilant,” Minnelli concluded. “But for the first time, I’ve fought it to a draw. I’m keeping it at bay. That’s the truth. That’s the difference. One day at a time. And baby, there’s no going back.”
Both Minnelli and Garland are legends, and there will never be others like them. We applaud Minnelli for being so open about her life, and about the relationship with Garland that she still maintains to this day.
God bless you, Liza Minnelli!