Liza Minnelli has revealed her late mom Judy Garland’s pride turned to fury during their 1965 London Palladium performance.
Judy Garland once tried to boot her daughter Liza Minnelli off stage during a joint performance.
Although the Hollywood icon – who died from an accidental overdose aged 47 in June 1969 – was initially supportive of her then 18-year-old daughter Liza’s show when they sang together at the London Palladium in 1965, Judy’s pride turned to fury as their act continued.
In an extract from Liza’s new memoir, Kids, Wait Til You Hear This! shared by People magazine, the Cabaret star wrote: “After my first song [on opening night] I heard her shout, ‘Yeah, baby! Go get ’em!’
“After the second song, another ‘Yeah!’ but not quite as strong. By the third song, let’s just say she was losing enthusiasm.
“I heard her whispering to our producer, Harold Davison, ‘Harold, get her off my f****** stage!’
“I just kept singing to wild applause as Mama fumed. I had a stunning realisation. I had begun the night as Mama’s daughter. Now, I was onstage with Judy Garland.”
Elsewhere in her memoir, Liza, 79, shared that Judy allowed the star and her half-siblings, Lorna, 73, and Joey Luft, 70, to decide whether or not to join their mom on tour.
Liza – whose late dad, director Vincente Minnelli, was married to Judy from 1945 until 1951 – recalled: “I’ll never forget the day she sat us down and gave Lorna and me a choice; Joey was less than one year old.
“We could stay in school in Los Angeles. Or we could come on the road with her. We’d be in and out of different hotels, schools (I’d eventually attend 22 of them), and cities. ‘When do we leave?’ we answered in unison.”
As a teenager, Liza cared for Judy – who had Lorna and Joey with late producer Sidney Luft, whom she was married to from 1952 until 1965.
Liza penned in her book: “At 13, I was my mother’s caretaker – a nurse, doctor, pharmacologist, and psychiatrist rolled into one. I lost count of the times I called doctors to say she’d run out of pills. I’d say, ‘I’m a kid! Please fill my mama’s prescription!'”
Judy died from an accidental overdose in June 1969, and Liza believes her “final gift” from The Wizard of Oz legend was inheriting her battle against substance abuse.
Liza wrote in Kids, Wait Til You Hear This!: “I cried for eight straight days.
“Stress and tension overwhelmed me. I was reeling, and a doctor prescribed Valium to help me relax just before the funeral. What began as a one-day blessing soon turned into a habit, then a full-blown case of addiction in the years ahead.
“It was a final gift, a genetic inheritance from Mama I could not escape.”
Liza was “convinced” she did not have a problem when Lorna encouraged her to go to rehab in 1984.
Less than a year later, the late actress Dame Elizabeth Taylor – who was herself newly sober – urged Liza to go back to rehab and take her problem seriously.
Liza checked into rehab again in 2015 and takes her sobriety seriously these days.
Judy Garland tried to kick Liza Minnelli off stage during London Palladium duet
