Liza Minnelli: Who Was Her Dad & What Was His Secret Life?
What To Know
- Vincente Minnelli was a renowned Hollywood director known for visually stunning films.
- He married Judy Garland, Liza’s mother, after working together on several films.
- Despite his public success, Minnelli’s private life was complex.
When Liza Minnelli turns 80 on March 12, 2026, it’s hard not to think about the impressive family she came from. Most people immediately remember her legendary mother, Judy Garland, the star of The Wizard of Oz. But Liza’s father was just as important to cinematic history.
Vincente Minnelli was one of the most visually gifted directors of Hollywood’s golden age, responsible for some of MGM’s most beautiful and influential films. As Liza celebrates her 80th birthday, she’s also sharing more of her own story with the release of her memoir, Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!, in which she reflects on her life growing up as the daughter of Judy Garland and Vincente Minnelli and the extraordinary career that followed. While you may know a lot about Garland, let’s learn more about Liza’s father, Vincente Minnelli.
Rev. J. Herbert Smith christens baby Liza Minnlli, as parents Judy Garland and Vincente Minnelli look on (Everett Collection)
Born Lester Anthony Minnelli on February 28, 1903, in Chicago, he came from a theatrical family. His father helped run the Minnelli Brothers’ Tent Theater, and he performed onstage as a small child. As he grew older, his interests leaned more toward art and design than acting. He worked as a window display designer at Marshall Field’s in Chicago, studied art for a time, and eventually moved into theatrical costume and set design.
By the 1930s, he had moved to New York, working on Broadway productions and eventually becoming an art director at Radio City Music Hall. His stage work caught the attention of Hollywood, and in 1940 he joined Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. From there, Minnelli quickly became one of the studio’s most distinctive directors. He made his film directing debut with Cabin in the Sky in 1943, but it was Meet Me in St. Louis in 1944 that truly put his name on the map.
Everett Collection
That film also changed his personal life. Meet Me in St. Louis starred Garland, and during production, the two grew close. They married on June 15, 1945, and the following year, their daughter Liza was born. Minnelli directed Garland again in films such as The Clock, Ziegfeld Follies, and The Pirate. But like many relationships in old Hollywood, their marriage struggled under the pressures of fame, work, and Garland’s personal difficulties.
The couple separated in 1950 and finalized their divorce in 1951. Even as his personal life shifted, Minnelli’s career was thriving. Throughout the 1950s, he directed an extraordinary run of films, including Father of the Bride, An American in Paris, The Bad and the Beautiful, The Band Wagon, and Gigi. In 1959, he won the Academy Award for Best Director for Gigi, which also won Best Picture.
Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Behind that polished Hollywood image, however, Minnelli led a far more complicated private life. He married four times. After Garland, he wed Georgette Magnani, Denise Gigante, and finally Margaretta Lee Anderson, who remained his wife until his death. At the same time, there was long-running speculation within the entertainment world about his sexuality.
Some biographers have argued that Minnelli lived openly as a gay man during periods of his life in New York, but that Hollywood’s studio system made that impossible to acknowledge publicly. Minnelli himself rarely discussed the subject and kept that part of his life largely private.
Ultimately, Minnelli died on July 25, 1986, at his home in Beverly Hills at the age of 83, after suffering from emphysema and pneumonia. In his will, he left most of his estate to Liza.
Remind 