Talent and tragedy marked Liza Minnelli's road to stardom. The legendary actress, whose decades-long career spans both screen and stage, acting, and singing, is one of the few Hollywood icons to win the rare EGOT- Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony. To illustrate Minnelli's caliber even further, she is a knight of the Legion of Honor; the highest French order of merit. Her acclaimed performances reigned theatre, mainstream films, television, and music for many decades until the actress was infested with many health scares several years ago.
Aged 77 now, Minnelli battles many health issues, including viral encephalitis, alcoholism, wrist injuries, a jawbone injury, and more. Born to the famed Hollywood stars, Judy Garland, and Vincente Minnelli, Liza was exposed to the showbiz world as a child, making her career in the industry eventual and inevitable. Blessed with the same impeccable talents as her iconic mother, Liza's abilities were often pitted against her Oscar-winning mother for a long time, until Judy's early demise at 47.
Inside Liza Minnelli's Three Marriages!
Call it a mere coincidence or life's cruel fate, but mad talent and lifelong stardom aren't the only things Liza got from her mother. The actress's personal life, in many ways, mirrors Judy's unstable and tumultuous married life. Like her late superstar mother, Liza also married many men in her life. Another analogy made between the famous mother and daughter duo is that both of them were weirdly married to men who later came out as gay. A twisted celebrity tale goes as far as to claim that one of Minnelli's husbands cheated on her with her stepdad.
The Sterile Cuckoo actress was breaking through a multi-faceted career as one of the most talented Hollywood royalties when she married her first husband, musician Peter Allen, in 1967. The late musician stood on par with the Minnelli's stature, and most importantly, shared a bond with Liza's mother, who discovered Peter's claim-to-be fame band, The Allen Brothers. Judy even helped Peter's band catapult to global fame and eventually linked him with her daughter.
Minnelli and Peter's marriage seven years until their divorce in 1974. Allen shockingly came out as gay later on and even Gregory Connell for over a decade. Minelli and Allen's marriage probably unraveled before the pair decided to end it for good as the EGOT-winning actress delved into her second marriage with, director Jack Haley Jr., the same year she divorced Allen. During their five years of marriage, from 1974 to 1979, the pair collaborated on many projects. It was later revealed that the pair's relationship wasn't apt for marriage as what they felt for each other was mainly friendship.
"I fell in love with him the first time I met him, and I have loved him with all of my heart ever since," Minnelli said after Jack's death in 2001. The Wizard of OZ actress didn't take long to find her third husband. Minnelli married sculptor Mark Gero, in 1979. Unlike her first two open-book marriages, Liza kept her personal life under wraps with Gero. The actress didn't have any children with her first two husbands, but she suffered a miscarriage with Gero in 1981. The pair called it quits in 1992.
The Truth About Liza Minnelli's Last Marriage!
Liza was battling severe health issues and a dwindling career when she married her fourth husband, concert producer David Gest. The pair's marriage didn't start off on the right foot, not that it ended in any better way. The EGOT winner was introduced to Gest by fellow legend Michael Jackson in 2001. While the King of Pop's confidence in introducing the unlikely pair is still unknown, the whole of Hollywood and fans in the know didn't feel right about Liza and Gest.
For starters, David was seven years younger than Minnelli, which can still be overlooked, and the other whisper was that Gest was gay, and was interested in Minnelli for her fortune alone. Ignoring many of such speculations, the Cabaret actress married Gest, on March 16, 2002. Liza, who was beaten by her health scares and three failed marriages, was immediately smitten by Gest's arrival in her life. "I'm the kind of woman who can only go so far without someone saying, 'Come on, you can make it.' And that's what David did. He said, 'You can do anything," Liza gushed.
The pair's star-studded wedding was even attended by former President Donald Trump, who called the event "the best." Things were going smooth for the married couple, even Gest reassuring fans that he wasn't after Liza's mother, and the latter making her acting comeback after a break until their messy fallout after sixteen months. The pair went separate ways in July 2003 and soon, Gest sued Liza for $10 million, alleging that the actress physically abused him in alcohol-fueled rage.
Minnelli vehemently denied the allegations and counter-sued Gest for $2 million. The nasty legal battle between the estranged spouses went on for years until its finalization in 2007 when the pair agreed on a no-fault divorce. After her sensational split from Gest in 2003, Minnelli went on record to say that she is swearing off marriages. "I mean, I most certainly date and go out," the veteran actress said, adding, "but I don't think there's any reason to get married again, especially after what I've been through."
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