
LIZA: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story
Preview: 4/1/2025 | 2m 14sVideo has Closed Captions
Take an intimate look into the life and career of screen and stage icon Liza Minnelli.
Take an intimate look into the life of Liza Minnelli, best known for her Oscar-winning role in Cabaret. Following in the footsteps of her mother Judy Garland, Minnelli used her boundless raw talent to build her own legacy in showbiz.
Problems with Closed Captions? Closed Captioning Feedback
Problems with Closed Captions? Closed Captioning Feedback
Support for American Masters is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, AARP, Rosalind P. Walter Foundation, Judith and Burton Resnick, Blanche and Hayward Cirker Charitable Lead Annuity Trust, Koo...

LIZA: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story
Preview: 4/1/2025 | 2m 14sVideo has Closed Captions
Take an intimate look into the life of Liza Minnelli, best known for her Oscar-winning role in Cabaret. Following in the footsteps of her mother Judy Garland, Minnelli used her boundless raw talent to build her own legacy in showbiz.
Problems with Closed Captions? Closed Captioning Feedback
How to Watch American Masters
American Masters is available to stream on pbs.org and the free PBS App, available on iPhone, Apple TV, Android TV, Android smartphones, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire Tablet, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, and Vizio.
Buy Now

A front row seat to the creative process
How do today’s masters create their art? Each episode an artist reveals how they brought their creative work to life. Hear from artists across disciplines, like actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt, singer-songwriter Jewel, author Min Jin Lee, and more on our podcast "American Masters: Creative Spark."Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship♪ Gather around, I got a story to tell ♪ (board clicking) (fancy jazz music) - [Oprah] Tony's, a Grammy, an Emmy, even an Oscar, she's done it all.
(cameras flashing) - [Man] She has achieved that rare status where only a first name is necessary.
The one and only Liza.
♪ I gotcha ♪ ♪ Uh huh huh ♪ ♪ You thought I didn't see you now didn't ya ♪ - [Narrator] Born to Hollywood royalty.
- [Announcer] Vincente Minnelli.
- [Host] Superstar, Judy Garland.
- [Liza] I thought, mama, she's never gonna pass.
- [Host] Her fight was to find who she was.
She didn't want be a mother.
- Her mother's passing was a catalyst.
- A period of incubation.
- [Narrator] She found friends and mentors who helped her.
- [Woman] He gave her an entire sense of self.
- [Narrator] There was so much expected of her.
- [Man] She had the thing that you can't teach.
- She blossomed.
(audience cheering) - Everybody wanted to be with Liza, everybody wanted her at their parties.
(camera flashing) - She's hot, she's sexy, she's weird.
- [Man] And she had that fierceness and so much vulnerability.
- [Man] How you doing?
- Terrific.
- [Man] Hmm?
- Fine.
(camera flashing) I feel wonderful about love.
- Excuse me.
- [Liza] Because I wanted it to be like it was in the songs.
- [Woman] That last husband of hers, I was at the wedding.
Oh my God.
- [Reporter] Legendary actress and singer, Liza Minnelli, has checked into rehab.
- [Man] I was very worried.
- [Liza] How lucky I was to have gone through all of the bad stuff that I've gone through because it prepared me for the rest of my life.
(triumphant music) - [Bruce] If the public sees Liza as a barrel of sequins and glamour, they've got her wrong.
- [Man] She wanted to consume the fullness of life.
I don't think she has any regrets.
(triumphant music fading out) (logo sparkling)
Liza Minnelli created her own family
Video has Closed Captions
Liza Minnelli became a godmother to several of her friends’ children, making her own chosen family. (1m 52s)
Liza Minnelli on dealing with the press at an early age
Video has Closed Captions
Because of her famous parents, Liza Minnelli learned how to handle the press at a young age. (1m 40s)
Liza Minnelli showcased her talents in “Liza with a Z”
Video has Closed Captions
“Liza with a Z” highlighted both Liza Minnelli’s personality and her performance capabilities. (3m 20s)
What Liza Minnelli was like in her relationships
Video has Closed Captions
Friends described Liza Minnelli as going into her relationships with fervor and passion. (2m 53s)
Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipSupport for American Masters is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, AARP, Rosalind P. Walter Foundation, Judith and Burton Resnick, Blanche and Hayward Cirker Charitable Lead Annuity Trust, Koo...