♪♪ ♪♪ [ Slow jazz music plays ] ♪♪ -I love it when the camera is a little higher.

Just a little.

Sorry.

I may be my mother's daughter, but there's a lot of my father in it.

[ Scatting ] Da da, ta tum.

Bow!

Oh, Lenny, it's great.

♪♪ Can you get this?

Okay.

I wish you had a light that went right in my face.

♪♪ ♪♪ Okay, a little bit higher.

I'm talking to you.

Is that perfect?

-That was perfect.

That's what I always say.

-[ Laughs ] ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Cheers and applause ] ♪♪ And on the schnoz, too.

[ Laughs ] [ Camera shutters clicking ] ♪♪ -Let's all settle down, please.

-Shut the...up!

-Shut the...up.

-[ Laughs ] [ Film projector whirring ] -Ladies and gentlemen, Liza Minnelli.

[ Applause ] ♪♪ ♪♪ -Yes.

[ Chuckles ] ♪♪ ♪ Say yes ♪ -Iconic.

-One of the biggest stars in the world.

-Talent beyond belief.

-Liza Minnelli.

-Liza Minnelli.

-Liza Minnelli!

-The one and only Liza.

-♪ When opportunity comes your way ♪ -Films.

-Concerts, Broadway.

-Tonys, a Grammy, an Emmy, even an Oscar.

She has done it all.

-♪ There's mink and marigold right outside ♪ -People think that Liza was born in a red-sequined dress, belting out a tune.

-♪ Nothing's gained if there's nothing tried ♪ -She's weathered some hard times, both personally and professionally.

-♪ Yes, I'll fly ♪ ♪ Yes, I'll say ♪ -She has achieved that rare status where only a first name is necessary.

-Buster!

-♪ And, yes, I'm gonna ♪ -She's simply the best.

Liza!

-♪ Oh ♪ [ Laughs ] ♪ Y-e-e-e-e-e-es ♪ ♪ Yes ♪ [ Cheers and applause ] Yes!

[ Telephone ringing ] [ "Over the Rainbow" plays ] [ Ringing continues ] -Ladies and gentlemen, here is young Liza Minnelli.

[ Cheers and applause ] -How am I doing, Mama?

-Oh, fine, Liza!

Keep going.

-Judy and her daughter Liza at the London Palladium.

-♪ Hello, Liza ♪ [ Telephone rings ] -Hello?

[ Dial tone ] [ Film projector whirring ] ♪♪ ♪♪ -Thousands of people line the streets outside the funeral chapel on Manhattan's Upper East Side to pay this last tribute to a woman they had known since her childhood.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -I thought, "Mama?

No.

My mother?

Nah.

She's never gonna pass."

And I believed it.

I started to cry, and I didn't stop for about eight days.

It just was devastating to me.

And I was in charge of so much.

-Her family, her three children -- Liza Minnelli, Lorna and Joey Luft -- attended the services.

-It's hard to imagine what would have happened with Liza if her mother hadn't passed away at that moment in her life, because it's kind of a before-and-after.

Her mother's passing was a catalyst.

♪♪ -She took that period of time to hone the craft that her mother had given her, the legacy she had passed on to her.

She took the grief as a period of incubation.

-I think, when her mom died, there was, of course, sorrow.

Her mother was a massive person in her life.

But I think there had to be an element of "I don't have to worry anymore," because, I mean, her mom was a worry.

-So, what's next?

Her mom has died.

She's grieving, and at the same time, she's thinking about her own life.

She's 23.

What's she going to do in her career?

Because there was so much expected of her.

-♪ Oh, sweet blindness ♪ ♪ A little magic ♪ -She is a talented dancer, a talented singer, a great actress, but these things all need to be developed.

So she found friends and mentors who helped her.

-♪ Come on, baby ♪ -What I was really good at was picking the people to be around.

I had a good eye.

I think I still do.

-♪ Don't let daddy hear it ♪ ♪ He don't believe in the gin-mill spirit ♪ -It was now or never, so she set out to create the person that she wanted to become.

♪♪ -Kay!

-♪ Come along and join the jubilee ♪ -♪ Lee ♪ -How smart of you to show me this right now.

It's giving me courage, too.

-In what way?

-Because it's fun, and I'm nervous, so it helps that.

-The minute her mother died, Kay Thompson comes back into Liza's life as her quirky godmother, who took her under her wing and gave her this sort of life wisdom.

-Liza called Kay, who was in Rome.

Kay immediately flew to New York and took over.

"What are you going to wear?

What's the casket?"

Kay said, "We need a white casket."

The funeral home said, "We don't have white caskets."

And Kay said, "We're from MGM.

Spray it."

[ Roars ] Kay really started to mentor Liza at a time when Liza didn't know who she was.

Was she Judy Garland's daughter?

Who was she supposed to be?

-Her fight was to find who she was, not her mother.

She knew who her mother was.

She didn't want to be her mother.

-Kay Thompson is always referred to as "larger than life," but Liza was also larger than life.

And Liza became larger than life because she watched Kay.

-♪ Kay Thompson ♪ ♪ Kay, Kay Thompson ♪ -♪ Hello, hello!

♪ ♪ We're having a birthday party ♪ -♪ Jubilee time, jubilee time ♪ -Kay Thompson was a singer, a vocal arranger, a composer, a lyricist, a cultural icon, a fashion icon, an author of the "Eloise" books.

Kay supposedly created the character of Eloise, patterned in part after Liza.

She became a mentor, musically, first to Judy Garland and then to Liza Minnelli.

-Hi.

Oh, bonjour, Paris!

How heavenly!

Hi, there!

-There was this deep bond where they were like two girlfriends and shared this spiritual life together.

And Kay opened up the world to Liza to have a different perspective, an off-kilter perspective, a kooky perspective of life.

-With pleasure, my darling.

We're both from the Virgin Islands, so let's go.

-Okay.

Thank you.

-I love your sweater.

Is that from the Virgins?

[ Beep ] -♪ Au bord de la mer ♪ -♪ Au bord de la mer ♪ -♪ Au bord de la mer ♪ -♪ Au bord de la mer ♪ -[ Vocalizing ] [ Both vocalizing ] -Kay wrote that.

I love that song.

-I was really happy to be invited to be in a show that ended up being called "Liza's at the Palace."

We toured for three years, ended up on Broadway.

It was interesting that, after much touring and some illnesses, Liza took this return to Broadway as a celebration of Kay Thompson.

-She was so original, the way she would teach you stuff.

I mean, when my parents were gone, she never left my side.

We were so close.

I was such a fan.

She was it.

She was it for me.

She understood my fears and what worried me.

And she always knew what to say.

-I got the jitters.

-Don't have -- -Just a little.

-Oh, well, a little is great.

-When you get up there, you suddenly realize what's expected of you and you get scared.

-But I think we get that way because we think we have to do more than we can do, which is the dumbest form of insanity in the world.

You can only do what you can do, no more.

-That's true.

The most important thing -- and Kay told me this -- "Don't go around with people you don't like, or even if you're curious about people you don't -- don't do it."

-And if I get killed in an elevator tonight, don't waste your time with dull people.

-Okay.

-It's like an emery board going over you all the time.

-[ Laughs ] -You know, it's terrible.

And you become dull yourself.

Alright, now, what you can do is turn around, Fritz, because what you've got in back of you...

Moment, s'il vous plait.

-She taught me everything.

She taught me how to live life.

You know, how to appreciate everything that we were going through.

♪ ...people to be ♪ ♪ But some people ain't me ♪ Just give me more level.

Does it sound real good back there?

-Beautiful sound.

-Wish I could hear myself just a little more.

She'd see me start to shake as I was putting my makeup on and she'd say... ♪ "Happy days are here again" ♪ ♪ The skies are bright ♪ You know, she'd get me singing.

I'd relax.

-The theater is beautifully perfect, acoustically.

And this sound is heavenly.

What more can I say?

-She would stand backstage with me sometimes and she'd slap me on the behind and say, "Go!"

I went, "Wow!

", and I was onstage.

-So, I mean, honey, you're in, you know?

-[ Laughs ] -Hi, there.

-How do I want to say that?

Kay never felt particularly attractive.

She said she had a new face made of old material, which is a great line.

She had a real feeling of being less than.

And then, moving to Hollywood, where everyone is beautiful, must have been crushing.

So I think that's perhaps where some jealousy came from.

She was the one with the talent and she was coaching all of these other people to do what she did.

So, there were a couple withering comments here and there from Kay that I know would hurt Liza.

There was a lot of jealousy in Kay Thompson.

-♪ All kinds of weather ♪ -♪ What if the sky should fall?

♪ -♪ I don't know ♪ -♪ As long as we're together ♪ -♪ Where are we going?

♪ -♪ It doesn't matter ♪ -During the last years of Kay's life, Liza took care of her in her own home -- round-the-clock staff, the best food.

Liza gets her star in heaven for treating her so beautifully.

-And the last words she ever said to me were these.

"Goodbye, darling!

Happy...everything!"

[ Cheers and applause ] -I think Kay the mentor made Liza the superstar possible.

-Hi.

I'm Liza.

When I was 18, I went in New York one night to the Ambassador Theatre.

And there, I saw something that I'll never forget.

-[ Singing in French ] -Ladies and gentlemen, I have brought you a present from France.

Charles Aznavour.

♪♪ Charles Aznavour changed my life.

He changed my entire life.

I don't think I'm a real good singer, but I can act a song, you know?

♪ So, we're alone again tonight ♪ [ Chuckles ] ♪ I read a book, you watch the fight ♪ ♪ A stifled yawn, a can of beer ♪ ♪ What an enthralling atmosphere ♪ ♪ And, yet, the sight of you this way ♪ ♪ Helps me to say ♪ ♪ What I must say ♪ [ Laughs ] Which was written by Charles Aznavour.

-She'd learned a lot from Aznavour.

I mean, it all paid off.

-I see her taking the advice of Charles Aznavour very seriously with lyrics and interpretation.

-Aznavour is one of the most beloved, iconic French singers, songwriters, performers, who was mentored by Edith Piaf, with whom he had a relationship very early in his career.

-He personified French culture to the world.

-Aznavour sold 180 million records.

-The French Frank Sinatra.

-[ Singing in French ] -Tell us all you have to know to be -- -First of all, to be honest with the public and to be kind of an actor onstage much more than to open the mouth and throw a voice out.

[ Singing in French ] -When you see Aznavour perform, even if it's in French and you don't understand what he's saying, he has that same ability to communicate and make you feel the gamut of every emotion.

-[ Singing continues ] -♪ And on ♪ ♪ And on ♪ ♪ And o-o-o-o-o-n ♪ -When Liza saw Aznavour, she said, "That's it, that's it!"

It was different from what her mother did.

And Aznavour was this embodiment of not only the show-business part and the vocal part, but the grittiness of life.

[ Both speaking French ] ♪♪ -Charles Aznavour is the person Liza has credited with being one of the architects of helping her find her own voice.

♪♪ -The creative part of their relationship was really good for Liza, because I remember Frank saying about Liza when she started out -- he said, "Not everything has to be the national anthem," and I knew what he meant, but I didn't say anything.

And Aznavour -- I think, from Aznavour, she saw a way of delivering the song in a way that was closer -- closer to the heart.

Mm, she can do the big stuff, and her mom always did the -- the big stuff, too.

But I think being able to do both is something that she showed more of after Aznavour.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -I always wanted to dance.

[ Chuckling ] It was the first thing I could do.

I loved it.

I danced before I sang, before I did anything.

I wanted to be in a dance company, you know?

That's what I loved so much was... ♪ I want a natural -- ♪ Cut and go to the clip.

-♪ I want a natural man ♪ -♪ I want a natural man ♪ -♪ I want a natural man ♪ -♪ I want a natural man ♪ Yes.

[ Laughs ] ♪♪ -Liza grew up surrounded by dance... -♪ Shout, "Hallelujah," come on, get happy ♪ ♪ You better chase all your cares away ♪ -...not only because of her mother, but also because of her father.

-Out in the audience -- Vincente Minnelli.

[ Buzzer ] -Quiet!

Close down!

[ Clacks ] -Vincente Minnelli was a true Hollywood visionary.

He was an extraordinary director of iconic musicals -- "An American in Paris" and "The Band Wagon" and "Gigi."

And he had this eye for perfectionism.

And that is the thing that Liza inherited.

And that's one of the most important traits in who she is.

-Well, my father inspired me with everything, especially art.

And from watching him direct everybody else, he was a tyrant.

You know?

Come here, cameraman.

-[ Laughs ] -I don't want it straight ahead, down.

I want it...there.

-Okay.

... -Now tilt it too far.

There.

That's the angle.

Vincente Minnelli's daughter.

What are you gonna do?

-I know.

[ Laughs ] -I just loved hanging out at the studio where my father and mother worked, especially when my father was directing dance sequences.

-Sometimes she would come on the set, and I said, "Who is that -- that girl?"

He said, "That's Vincente's daughter."

[ Camera shutter clicking ] She'd sing a little number, then she'd do a little dance step.

Great enthusiasm.

[ Film projector clicking ] -I learned by watching... you know?

[ Beeps ] ♪♪ There was something about movement, the choreography, that thrilled me.

To move through the air -- I just knew I had to do it.

I didn't have the classic dancer's body.

I discovered that I had scoliosis, and one leg went higher than the other.

I was really insecure about this, but I had to learn to deal with it.

Emphasize what you think is good, and what you don't like, change it.

♪♪ -There was a sense that Liza needed to take all of this raw dance talent and channel it into something bigger, something greater that she was feeling.

So on the scene comes a dance legend who would channel her talents and change her life.

-Do you know me?

I directed the shows "Pippin" and "Chicago" and the films "Cabaret" and "Lenny."

But still, people don't know my face.

♪♪ -Bob Fosse started out dancing as a young boy in his native Chicago.

He moved to choreography on Broadway, becoming one of the biggest in the business, later directing shows, and then eventually, inevitably, to directing motion pictures.

-Bob Fosse to work with was very precise and humorous.

-He was a perfectionist in terms of the choreography.

"Do it one more time.

You didn't do -- you didn't.

Do, dip, boot."

[ Laughs ] -A signature Bob Fosse move would be his hands, the hips... ♪♪ ...the tilt of the head.

♪♪ And it's the simplicity of the move that is so powerful.

It's not the cartwheel, the split and the jump and the bang, bang, bang -- no, it's the [Whispering] quiet moments.

Little things, like a flick of a head... ♪♪ ...a look.

♪♪ These are Fosse-isms.

♪♪ [ Horn honks ] -I think we should mention somewhere in here about my audition for the Broadway show of "Cabaret"... -Oh, boy.

-...and not getting it.

-Oh, baby.

[ Laughter ] -Originally, when it was conceived for Broadway, I lost the role.

It was something I always wanted to do.

I always wanted to do Sally Bowles.

And then, when they made the film, I just petitioned for it.

I fought for it.

I wanted to sing it -- that's all.

Is that too simple an answer?

♪♪ So I finally got the role, and Bob Fosse was going to direct.

Oh, my God.

We met at the Waldorf coffee shop.

I must have made him nervous or something because he suddenly got vaguely defensive.

He suddenly said, "How do you feel about going topless?"

I said, "I, uh, won't do it.

There's always a way around it."

And he said, "All right.

I was just wondering."

[ Snaps fingers ] Right away, we clicked.

He was so kind of sexy and wacko and had this great sense of humor.

-When Liza talks about Fosse, she always says, "I'm a director's daughter.

I understood how to deal with him."

-The Liza-Fosse combination.

I always felt that Liza knew how to get the most out of him.

-♪ Money makes the world go around ♪ ♪ The world go around, the world go around ♪ ♪ Money makes the world go around ♪ ♪ It makes the world go 'round ♪ -I was not a trained dancer.

Liza was -- much more so.

And she would always say.

[ Whispering ] "It's going to be fine.

Shh.

Don't say anything.

Shut the...up."

And I did.

-♪ When you haven't any coal in your stove ♪ ♪ And you freeze in the winter ♪ ♪ And you curse to the wind at your fate ♪ -Liza's feet were bleeding.

So I went to Bob and said, "Her feet are bleeding.

I don't think she can dance.

And he said, "Yeah, she can.

She's getting paid a lot of money, and that's what she does."

[ Chuckles ] -Okay.

Can we do that once more?

-Just a few more, Liza, a few more.

-She was totally in awe of him.

She did whatever he wanted.

[ Clacks ] ♪♪ -Something happened during the shooting of a scene, and Fosse was blaming her.

And after the shoot was over, he said, "Liza, I want to see you in my office right now."

She said, "No, Bobby, we'll talk about it tomorrow."

He said, "Right now."

And she said, "No, Bobby.

If I go in there now, you're going to say things to me that are going to be so horrible that, tomorrow morning, you're going to send me flowers."

[ Chuckles ] "So we'll talk about it tomorrow."

I think it's so revealing and so smart.

♪♪ -I remember going to rent the movie and being so in love with this chick that was playing Sally Bowles.

I was just like, "She's hot.

She's sexy.

She's weird."

-She had that fierceness and also so much vulnerability.

-Sally Bowles, to me, was a woman of life and yet a tragic expression of life.

And I think that Liza identified with the silent part of herself that the public didn't know, and she had a chance to express it through Sally Bowles.

-So I went to my dad, and I said, "Well, do I have to dye my hair blond and pull out all my eyebrows?"

And he said, "No, no, no, darling."

And he showed me Lya De Putti, and he showed me Louise Brooks, and he said, "There's a way to do this, and you'll figure it out."

You have to be absolutely concentrated on what you're doing and who this person is and what happened to her to become this person.

One day, I went into this store, and this wonderful lady called Christina Smith was selling these enormous eyelashes.

And I thought, "That would be good for her," because she wants to look special.

She's not trying to be beautiful.

-I made those lashes by hand.

They're long in the center, and the lowers.

Of course, she had naturally big eyes.

I just enhanced them.

-The Liza lashes are iconic on their own terms, but never more than as Sally Bowles, where it seems like each lash has like a... black pearl at the end or something.

It adds to the hyperrealism of the movie.

-She needed to be special.

She needed to be special.

-Sally Bowles!

[ Up-tempo music plays ] [ Applause ] -When you think about Liza as a dancer before she worked with Fosse, she was girlish.

If you look at footage of her on "The Ed Sullivan Show"... -Liza Minnelli.

[ Applause ] -...she was clearly very talented, but she was kind of gangly and all over the place.

Fosse brought a kind of discipline and focus to her dancing that made her just shine like a jewel.

-I have a back problem.

Every time I'd pick anything up and have to be very kind of calm, it would go [imitates rattling] like this.

They had to glue everything down for me so it wouldn't rattle.

-Sometimes the muscles would tremble, even from the rear.

You know, she'd be acting very calm.

And you look at her rear, and it had a [imitates rattling] [ Laughter ] -Fosse was such fun to work with, and marvelous director -- just knew what he wanted.

Plus, he knew what I could do.

♪♪ -He was smart enough to recognize what a hard worker she was, how the talent just oozed from her.

-♪ You have to understand the way I am, mein Herr ♪ -He used the quirkiness of her body movements, the quirkiness of her torso to her advantage, and presented her really in a new and fascinating way.

-♪ Bye-bye, mein lieber Herr ♪ ♪ Farewell, mein lieber Herr ♪ ♪ It was a fine affair, but now it's over ♪ -She has this enormous amount of talent that all I have to do is push a button or make a slight suggestion, and she says, "Oh, I know, I know."

Or she's overdoing something.

And I think sometimes Liza tends to be overemotional.

You just have to say, "Liza, pull back a little."

And it's just like some beautiful machine.

She just knows how much to pull back.

♪♪ -♪ The continent of Europe is so wide, mein Herr ♪ ♪ Not only up and down, but side to side, mein Herr ♪ -There's definitely the times when she lets the tidal wave flow, and it's thrilling, but in this very controlled way.

-♪ But I do what I can ♪ ♪ Inch by inch ♪ ♪ Step by step ♪ ♪ Mile by mile ♪ -When she gets to, like... ♪ Man by man ♪ ...and it's just so, like, lascivious.

-♪ Man by man ♪ -I mean, it's Liza doing what Liza does that no one else does, and it's Liza doing it better than Liza has ever done it.

-♪ Es war sehr gut ♪ -♪ Mein ♪ -♪ Du kennst mich wohl ♪ -♪ Herr ♪ -♪ Ach, lebe wohl, na-na-na-na ♪ -♪ Herr ♪ -♪ Auf wiedersehen ♪ -♪ Herr ♪ -♪ Na-na-na-na ♪ -♪ Herr ♪ [ Music ends ] [ Applause ] -Divine decadence.

I'm Sally Bowles.

-You worry for her because she's making mistakes and making demands of herself and others that are going to just lead to a bad place.

-[ Voice breaking ] Brian...

...I really do love you.

-Yes, I think you do love me.

-But you're never fed up with her.

You never stop worrying about her, and you never stop caring.

-♪ What good is sitting alone in your room?

♪ ♪ Come hear the music play ♪ [ Camera shutters clicking ] -The film comes out.

It's universally acclaimed as great art -- immediately, immediately.

And the film becomes a tremendous box-office success.

-♪ ...the book and the broom ♪ ♪ It's time for a holiday ♪ ♪ Life is a cabaret... ♪ -Liza Minnelli.

[ Cheers and applause ] -♪ Come to the cabaret ♪ -I would like to thank Mr. Fosse... -♪ Come hear the band ♪ -...and Fred Ebb and John Kander.

Thank you for giving me this award.

You've made me very happy.

-♪ Start by admitting, from cradle to tomb... ♪ -She was immediately, then, a huge star, after "Cabaret."

That was like -- everybody wanted to be with Liza.

-♪ Life is a cabaret, old chum ♪ -[ Camera shutters clicking ] -Everybody wanted her at their parties.

-♪ It's only a cabaret, old chum ♪ -She was getting offered better and better movies... -♪ And I love... ♪ -...better boyfriends.

-♪ ...a cabaret ♪ -It was a big deal.

♪♪ [ Music ends ] [ Applause ] ♪♪ -Let's talk about relationships, marriages.

-Give me a gay break, will you?

[ Laughter ] I'm sorry.

Cut that.

[ Laughter ] Well, I feel wonderful about love because I wanted it to be like it was in the songs, you know?

-Okay.

I think we should talk about men in our past lives.

She's had a lot of men.

I'll leave it there.

-How about you?

How about you?

-Excuse me.

-No, I had Amanda.

Nobody knew about it.

-I knew about all her -- her men.

-And some of them weren't men at all.

[ Laughter ] -I have to be careful here, 'cause Liza doesn't want to talk a lot about her relationships.

It's a very private thing for her, yet many of these liaisons were very public.

-She was taught by her MGM parents how to make things sound fantastic.

Liza will never go on camera and talk about the dirt.

-I can only say that she wanted to consume the fullness of life.

I don't think she has any regrets in that area.

[ Camera shutters clicking ] ♪♪ ♪♪ -She loses all of her bearings and all of her judgment.

"This person -- This is great.

This is going to be great.

This is it.

-She gets very into people very quickly.

So she's had some really unique relationships lasting a short period of time.

She throws herself into the relationship with the same passion that she throws herself into a song.

But then, just like in a song, you then go on to the next song.

-My engagement to Desi Arnaz has -- Well, the relationship has been deteriorating for some time.

There is no more engagement.

That's all called off.

I also met a man called Peter Sellers and fell in love with him.

And I'm very pleased to say that he fell in love with me, too.

[ Laughs ] -And when you do get married, you'll be the fourth Mrs. Peter Sellers.

Does this thought bother you at all?

-Oh, no.

Four is my lucky number, my dear.

-Liza has acknowledged that she didn't always make the greatest decisions in relationships and laughs about it because there was genuine love, deep love in every one of those relationships in different ways.

[ Camera shutter clicks ] -And she said, "I want to take a picture just for us."

I said, "Okay, sure."

So I got off my shirt, she took off her blouse, and we took the shot.

What the photo is saying is exactly what was in my mind -- "I got you."

Then, next thing I know, it was in Newsweek.

Next thing I know, it's... [ Laughs ] ...all over the world.

[ Laughs ] I'm sure a lot of society was shocked, but it never entered our bubble.

It was two people sharing a moment in time.

We didn't stop to say, "Well, what does that White guy think about it?"

or, "What's that Black guy going to think about it?"

We didn't care.

It was in our world.

-No you didn't.

-There's no such... [ Film projector clicking ] [ Clicking continues ] -Wow.

Wow.

[ Clicking continues ] Mm.

Excuse me.

I guess you'd call it love.

I love Liza.

That's my baby.

-Some of these relationships didn't last as relationships, but many of them are long-lasting friendships over the years.

-♪ Maybe this time ♪ ♪ For the first time ♪ ♪ Love won't hurry away ♪ -I tell you, my favorite song that she sings is "Maybe This Time."

And, um... And you -- And you felt when she was singing it -- you know, you hoped that maybe this time would be the time, you know, because she sure deserved it.

-♪ It's gotta happen ♪ ♪ Happen sometime ♪ ♪ Maybe this time ♪ ♪♪ ♪ Maybe this time ♪ ♪ I'll ♪ ♪ Win ♪ [ Finale plays ] [ Applause ] -You've now been married twice, with one divorce behind you.

And yet, I wonder how -- how you really have survived and how you really cope.

-I was expecting all the pretty things that I'd heard about.

And I got a lot of them.

-One time, Judy Garland was onstage, and somebody yelled out, "Marry me!"

And Garland said, "Marry you?

With my track record?"

And that's kind of like Liza -- the way she jokes.

It's like, "You know, with my track record?"

♪♪ -Peter Allen was so hilarious and so much fun to be with, and he was so great onstage.

-When Liza talks about Peter Allen to this day, she always talks about his talent, his incredible ability as a musician, as a composer.

She was deeply in love with him, and they, in a certain way, remained in love with each other for the rest of his life.

♪♪ -The happiest I saw with somebody in her private life was with Peter Allen.

But, you know, there were other elements.

♪♪ -She was truly devastated when she discovered Peter in a compromising situation with -- with another man.

And people always say, "Well, how could she have not known?"

She didn't know.

I absolutely believe that.

-I think that he felt restricted.

He needed literally to come out.

-[ Speaking indistinctly ] -Ah!

Oh!

-Aww, Jack.

[ Indistinct conversations ] ♪♪ -When Liza married Jack Haley Jr., there was all this talk about the daughter of Dorothy marries the son of The Tin Man.

And they were a perfect match for each other in the sense that they both grew up in Hollywood, and they had this beautiful shorthand when they were together and had a great deal of fun.

-♪ When love comes in and takes you for a spin... ♪ -I'll go, "Wagga, wagga, wagga."

-Wagga, wagga, wagga, wagga.

[ Laughs ] -Larger than life.

Loved to have a good time.

Loved to hear wonderful stories, loved to gossip.

He really, really loved my sister.

♪♪ -I mean, I love Jack and all, but I didn't think Jack was [Chuckling] a good match for her, frankly.

♪♪ -In many ways, Mark Gero was Liza's most solid husband because Mark wasn't in show business.

[ Whirring ] Mark was a sculptor, and he was solid.

He was a solid rock.

-Mark was soulful in a way, and Mark was quiet.

I think that Mark was a form of stability that she needed.

♪♪ [ Applause ] -That last husband of hers -- I was at the wedding.

Oh, my God.

♪♪ Um.

♪♪ [ Sighs ] -When Liza met David Gest, we were with her.

It was during a period of time in Liza's life when she wasn't doing so well physically.

She'd gained a lot of weight, and David Gest charmed her and romanced her.

David Gest had a gift of gab.

Nothing was real, and basically, for a while, took over her life.

He took everybody in her life out of her life.

-I never -- I did not know him.

I didn't know him.

And so I don't have a lot to say about him because I didn't know him.

-It ended when Liza went on tour, and she came back, and David Gest took everything out of the apartment -- left her with a bed and a lamp.

There's a bed and one lamp.

-Every picture was off the wall.

Everything was gone.

-He took every picture, every piece of furniture, put it in storage.

-Even her record albums.

-Well, you know, he's not around anymore, and I don't want to speak ill of the dead.

-Bette Davis said you should only speak good about the dead.

Well, David Gest is dead.

Good.

♪♪ -Ladies and gentlemen.

not only the most talented and marvelous person I know, but my best and dearest friend, and if it weren't for him, I wouldn't be here.

Mr. Fred Ebb.

-Fred Ebb!

[ Cheers and applause ] ♪♪ -I think Fred really invented me.

He really did.

He knew me so well and so deeply.

[ Cheers and applause ] ♪♪ -♪ For every man, there's a woman ♪ ♪ For every life... ♪ -Well, she, like everybody who starts, I think, was imitating everybody and not, uh... She didn't have a style of her own.

So out of that came my opinion that she should just be who she is, which is terrific.

-He was a complicated guy.

He was wonderful.

He was incredibly funny.

He was acerbic.

He could have very dark sense of humor.

And his alter ego was Liza.

He helped to expand things in her that she didn't even see in herself.

-And it really started with a song, the first piece of special material that Freddy ever wrote for me with Johnny.

-Uh-huh.

-John Canter.

Of course, it was "Liza with a Z."

-I mean, he wanted to be Liza, in a certain way.

I mean, he wanted to be that persona.

He wanted to be that performer, and he was able to channel certain aspects of himself through her.

-Would you sing it?

-Me?

Oh, yeah.

Freddy, you sing.

Everybody's heard me sing.

-You sing it.

Yeah.

-[ Laughs ] -♪ It's Liza with a Z, not Lisa with an S ♪ ♪ 'Cause Liza with an S goes snoz ♪ -♪ It's Z instead of S, Li instead of Lee ♪ ♪ Simple as can be see Liza ♪ -♪ Now, if my name were Ada, I'd be Ada ♪ ♪ Even backwards, I'd be Ada ♪ -♪ Or if my name were Ruth, then I'd be Ruth ♪ ♪ Because with Ruth, what can you do?

♪ ♪ Or Sally or Margaret ♪ ♪ Or Ginger or Faye ♪ ♪ But when you're a Liza ♪ ♪ You always have to say ♪ ♪ It's Liza with the Z, not Lisa with an S ♪ ♪ 'Cause Lisa with an S goes snoz ♪ [ Laughs ] -[ Singing in French ] -It's a whole song about how people say your name wrong.

That's right.

Nice.

[ Laughter ] -♪ Or Manoli or Miniola or Minilli or Minillie ♪ ♪ So is it a wonder I very often cry?

It's... ♪ -♪ M I double N then E double L I ♪ ♪ You double up the N, that's "n," not new ♪ -The way Freddy wrote his lyrics, it was like somebody talking to you.

-♪ Liza Minnelli ♪ ♪ It's Italian ♪ ♪ Blame it on Papa ♪ -And I know how to do a lyric.

The words are so important.

♪♪ -Fred and I were brought together -- I guess it was 1962 -- by our publisher, and our backgrounds were very different.

I come from Kansas City and a family background, which is considerably more placid.

That being said, when Fred and I went in the room to write, we immediately became one person.

And that was true, really, till the day he died.

-Here are the composer and lyricist John Kander and Fred Ebb.

[ Applause ] -They were professional, but they were also like godfathers kind of to her.

I mean, they were really close and key in her creative life and, therefore, you know, in her heart and soul.

♪♪ -Liza first came into our lives on a cloudy afternoon when we were working on the score for "Flora, The Red Menace."

We were very close to casting, and that afternoon, the doorbell rang, and there was this person.

-And I came in and said, "Do you have any songs that I could sing, please?

Mayn't I please sing some of your songs?"

-That's right.

I remember what you wore.

-What did I wear?

-Jeans.

-[ Laughs ] -And an old ratty sort of turtleneck.

A black turtleneck, and it had a hole in it.

-[ Laughs ] -I stared at it.

-[ Laughs ] -And you were biting your nails, and I thought, "God, she's cute."

-[ Chuckles ] -Just for fun, we went through all the songs in "Flora," and she nailed it instantly.

And she became, right then and there, the person that we wanted to play that part.

She never stopped being a major player in both of our lives.

-♪ Some peppy melody about rainbows blending ♪ -Liza had a lot to learn, but she had the thing that you can't teach.

-She just gave her all to Freddy.

And in doing so, she blossomed.

-He was also very parenting to Liza, and he would tell her, if she did something wrong, he didn't hold back.

He would say, "You can't do that."

-My friend, my big brother, he bawled me out when I needed it, you know?

And he told me how to sing a lyric so that it was believable.

-You could just be yourself.

That's all you had to be.

And Freddy taught me that.

He said, "The minute you think you're acting, people think you're acting."

I said, "Yeah, you're right."

[ Laughs ] -There's nothing about you that's unattainable, which is why I think you're as great a star as you are.

So all those people who care about you and are -- and your vulnerability, and there's a humanity about you when you walk out.

-♪ When you see me ♪ ♪ Hobnobbing on the top of the town ♪ ♪ My emeralds weighing me down ♪ And I would do something, and Freddy would put up his hand, and they'd cut for a minute, and Freddy would come over and whisper to me, "Hold your head up a little higher, like she was saying something really important."

I go, "Mm-hmm.

Ah."

[ Chuckles ] And then I'd hold my head up higher.

-With Fred, it was a very close off-stage relationship and a very close professional relationship.

And the two very much melded together.

-So he would steer me away from talking about my mom too much.

He said, "Because when that happens, they think about her and not you."

[ Camera shutters clicking ] -Liza, I realized you must have learned a lot of things by watching your mother.

-She was very proud of her mother, but it was such a complicated relationship.

-Liza used to talk about being at the London Palladium with her mom in '64.

That was a defining moment for her.

[ Applause ] She came on stage, and she started to get this extraordinary reaction from the audience.

-♪ It's just the Gypsy in my soul ♪ [ Applause ] -Her mom got pissed.

-♪ They were never gonna go away ♪ -Judy's pushing the microphone up to Liza's face to show that she's the professional and Liza's the amateur.

"And suddenly," Liza said, "my mother went from being my mother and turned into Judy Garland."

That was a defining moment for Liza.

-Fred understood being always compared to Judy made her feel terrible.

-Give me your sketch of your mom.

-Your mother.

Your mother.

Your mother.

-Your wonderful mother.

-If I could walk you down your mother's old yellow brick road, take you to the Wizard, What would be the one wish for yourself that you'd make?

-That you wouldn't ask me another question about my mother.

[ Laughs ] [ Applause ] -I think it was the night of her club act that we did for her.

♪♪ Because I can remember Liza sitting in front of the mirror, and she was terrified because Judy was coming out to the show, and it was Liza at her most unhappy and insecure.

And Judy is there telling Liza how wonderful she is, but also patting her on the leg, saying, "This is what we've always wanted, isn't it, baby?"

♪♪ And I cannot explain to you why that was the wrong thing to say.

But it took the evening away from Liza.

♪♪ -Fred helped her evolve from the daughter of Judy Garland legacy to the sequined, amazing performer on her own.

You can see the beginnings of all of that in "Liza with a Z."

♪♪ -I was asked to do a television special, and Fred Ebb said, "I want to do the first concert for television.

It's never been done before.

And I want Bobby to do it."

-This is a concert in the medium of television, the small screen, which could be dangerous.

you know, in that some entertainers are not good on television because they're larger than life on stage.

♪♪ -It was for one night.

It's one shot only.

It was amazing.

It was nerve-wracking.

I walked out there like I didn't have a care in the world.

And I don't know where I got the bravado.

I don't know anything except that I always felt safe.

♪ I gotcha ♪ ♪ Uh-huh-huh ♪ ♪ You thought I didn't see you now, didn't you?

♪ ♪ Uh-huh-huh ♪ ♪ You tried to sneak by me now, didn't you?

♪ ♪ Uh-huh-huh ♪ ♪ Now give me what you promised to me ♪ ♪ Give it to me, come on ♪ ♪♪ -I thought it was absolutely phenomenal.

Definitely a new way of doing things.

-♪ Black ♪ -♪ Blackbird ♪ -So the Liza in "Liza with a Z" certainly has elements of the real Liza, but the Liza with the hat and with the sequins and this -- this certain kind of persona is a character who is Liza but also is a different person.

-♪ Where somebody waits for me ♪ ♪ Sugar sweet ♪ ♪ So is she ♪ -What Fred Ebb did in collaboration with her, is to take anything that was unpolished and awkward about Liza, Judy's daughter trying to make it in show business, and either polish it or embrace the vulnerabilities.

♪♪ And she knew exactly how to mine that for everything it's worth.

-♪ Fly, little blackbird, bye ♪ -When she worked with Fred Ebb, he rehearsed her where every single speech and every single thing she said on stage was rehearsed, even though it sounded incredibly spontaneous.

-The one time that I got a little snippy, I was sitting around, I said, "Eh, I don't want to do that.

I don't want to do this tonight," or something like that.

And Fred Ebb said, "Liza, just remember, you're a figment of my imagination."

And it just so happens that I told a couple of friends of mine this truly terrific, absolutely true story, and it just so happened that these friends of mine are songwriters.

Any singer knows you've got to tell the story in your singing.

♪ Gather around, I got a story to tell ♪ ♪ About a Manhattan lady that I know very well ♪ ♪ She lives at 5 Riverside ♪ ♪ Her name is Shirley Devore ♪ ♪ And she traveled 'round the world ♪ ♪ To meet the guy next door ♪ -She's done up in Halston, who's not just making her look fabulous but making her look iconic.

I mean, really capturing what will be Liza's look for the rest of her life.

-♪ Ring them bells ♪ [ Cheers and applause ] -Liza proved with "Liza with a Z" that she was equally iconic on the small screen.

♪♪ And she did that with Fred Ebb.

[ Applause ] ♪♪ ♪♪ -It was like living in the inside of a diamond.

We won the Emmy for "Liza with a Z."

The Oscar for "Cabaret."

It was a very good year.

[ Cheers and applause ] [ "(Theme from) New York, New York" plays ] [ Applause ] -♪ Start spreading the news ♪ ♪ I'm leaving today ♪ -♪ I want to be a part of it ♪ ♪ New York, New York ♪ ♪ These vagabond shoes ♪ ♪ Are longing to stray ♪ -Liza chose to make a film called "New York, New York," which is a more traditional musical that is an homage to the 1940s, directed by Martin Scorsese, co-starring Robert De Niro.

-♪ Cream of the crop ♪ ♪ At the top of the heap ♪ ♪ My little town blues ♪ -And it was De Niro who heard the first version of "New York, New York" that Kander and Ebb wrote and said, "No, I don't like that.

Go back and write something else."

And can I tell you how pissed John Kander and Fred Ebb were that Robert De Niro was telling them they have to write another song?

And out of anger, they wrote this second song that became the iconic "New York, New York" that we know.

-In case you don't know this, folks, this little girl did this song before anybody did this song.

It's true.

She really did.

And I had to stick my nose in it.

-[ Laughing ] Yeah!

[ Applause ] ♪♪ [ Groaning ] Oh.

No, Jack and I got stuck in here once.

Looks like we're in those outer-space things.

Come on.

Stand on that?

-Yes.

-Like, I always get off an airplane like that, huh?

Oh, my God.

We're somewhere.

Let's put it that way.

-Hey, Lisa, Lisa!

-It's Liza, you guys, it's Liza!

♪♪ -When she went to Europe in the 1970s, after "Cabaret," after "Liza with a Z," she was so busy working so hard and did so much, people couldn't get enough of her.

♪♪ -Liza Minnelli, queen of the glitter and the glamour of the Hollywood, New York European world.

Wherever she goes, there are people smiling, flashbulbs popping.

♪♪ -A certifiable superstar.

♪♪ -[ Gasping ] -And still, the gossip people persist.

[ Indistinct shouting, camera shutters clicking ] -No, we can't.

-Over there, over there.

-Let me go.

-Liza has always said, "I was born, they took a picture."

So she understood how to deal with the press from a very early age.

-Is it true that I'm expecting a child?

It's one of the loveliest thoughts any woman could ever hold.

I'm not.

But I hope with all my heart that I will be soon.

-Let me go in front of him.

-Okay.

-Why don't you just wait a minute?

Well, there's different degrees of ugliness, isn't there?

And, um...

I don't really care.

You know, when I'm onstage, I don't -- I just do my job.

-Liza Minnelli has lived her life so much in public.

The burden of that must be profound.

There's the demand.

She must show up as Liza Minnelli.

-Hey, I'm really thrilled that they're all here.

It's a little bit scary, though.

-I remember talking to her after a party that she had been to, and I said, "How was the party?"

And she said, "Oh, it was okay.

They wanted her."

And I said, "What do you mean?"

She said, "You know, the sequined girl.

I just wanted to be, you know, the nice lady at the dinner table, and they wanted her."

♪♪ -After the press, the photographs, the concerts, the rehearsals, being onstage is her safety zone.

She is most comfortable there.

-♪ Ain't no time ♪ ♪ And as for me, ha!

♪ [ Vocalizing ] [ Cheers and applause ] -Jesus, man, I wonder if they liked it.

-Are they still yelling?

-They're still screaming.

-Isn't that swell?

-[ Laughs ] -There's nobody leaving the theater at all.

-They are just standing there stomping.

You've got to go out and listen.

-No, I'm scared.

-Come on.

You're fine.

-Liza needs the audience to love her.

[ Cheers and applause ] Maybe in someone else's hands, that would be off-putting, but with Liza, it's that need and that Herculean effort to make the connection with us.

-♪ I need your love ♪ ♪ That's true ♪ ♪ Yes, I do, indeed, I do ♪ ♪ You know I do ♪ How long have you been out there?

-Six hours.

-Six hours?!

-Yes.

-♪ What I cry for ♪ ♪ You know you got the kind of loving that I'd die for ♪ ♪ You know you made me ♪ ♪ Love you ♪ [ Cheers and applause ] ♪♪ -Liza deeply, deeply cares about friends.

If you need something, she is there for you on a level that is rare.

She flew from Rome for two days to Los Angeles to record a duet with me on one of my early albums because she wanted to be there for me.

-We're backstage at The Muny!

I'm going to see Michael as Hans Christian Andersen.

It's so exciting.

And this is a close-up, I promise you.

-It was something that was difficult and it was at great financial expense.

But she was there because that's what a friend does.

It's that sort of thing that she will do anything for you if you need it.

I met Liza Minnelli through her godfather, Ira Gershwin.

When I met Liza, it was very much like meeting a long-lost cousin or a sibling or a family member.

♪♪ I remember when we met at her father's house, she said, "You know, from now on, we're joined at the hip."

-This is fabulous.

Oh, honey.

-I think if the public sees Liza as a barrel of sequins and glamour, they've got it wrong.

Her friends or the thing that those friends get right is Liza's vulnerability, her kindness, and her desire for you to be friends with her.

-Liza can make you feel like the most important person in the world.

Her gaze is so fixed on you.

I don't know if it's her need to be loved, but it's shocking, because that's an unusual quality in somebody in show business.

♪♪ -"Chicago," starring Gwen Verdon, Chita Rivera, and Jerry Orbach, directed by Bob Fosse, now at the... -In "Chicago," Gwen Verdon had to take a six-week leave of absence to have some surgery, and it looked as if maybe the show might have to close.

-And everything's going well?

How are you?

And Fred said, "We're in terrible trouble."

I said, "I'll fill in for her."

-And it was the first time in Broadway history that a major superstar acted as a substitute for another star that left.

-They actually discouraged her and said, "You're a star.

You can't be a substitute.

You can't be an understudy."

And she says, "I want to do it.

I want to save the show."

And she did.

She saved the show.

-The people who wrote that show were Fred Ebb and John Kander, and, as you know, they're my best friends.

And Fred Ebb has guided my career since I've been 17.

It's really saying, "If you need somebody, I'm there."

-Liza learned that entire part in one week.

And I'm telling you one week.

-But she said, "You don't say my name.

I don't want publicity about that.

I want word of mouth.

And when people go into the theater, I just want an announcement."

-"I'm sorry.

Tonight, the role of Roxie Hart, usually played by Gwen Verdon -- audience, "Ohhhh!"

-- will be played by Liza Minnelli.

-Roars of excitement.

-[ Cheers and applause ] And Liza was... brilliant in the part.

♪♪ What motivated her to do it, I can only say is, like, the best part of Liza.

I think she did it as a favor, and she saved the show.

♪♪ [ Cheers and applause ] -And the only reason she would do that is because it was for her friends.

-When we met Liza, I was a dentist in New York.

Arlene was a housewife.

There was a dinner party at Elaine's restaurant, and we just hit it off.

It was a great chemistry, I would say.

-We just had a connection that we felt great being with each other.

And the conversation just kept flowing.

-49 years later, we're still best friends with her.

When she meets somebody, she is so warm to them and friendly that people will meet her once or twice and come away feeling she's their best friend.

-She's so real.

I mean, she doesn't think of herself as being a star.

She thinks of herself as the people around me made me a star because I picked talented people.

She's really modest that way.

[ Cellphone ringing, chimes ] -Hi, Liza.

It's Amy!

[ Laughs ] -I hear you had a party last night.

I wish I could have been there, but I'm in Connecticut still, as you know.

-Oh, no.

But when you come out here, you're living here.

-I will be there.

I will stay with you.

Of course.

It'll be like old times.

-We've been joined at the hip forever.

-We were in the same preschool, but we really came together again as friends when we were about 15.

We were in this photo shoot for Seventeen magazine.

After the photo shoot, I was exhausted and wanted to go get an ice cream cone or something.

Liza was going to her dance class.

She knew at 15 that this is what she wanted to do.

She wanted to sing.

She wanted to dance.

She was going to be a great actor.

Movie stars at the time, they didn't look like Liza.

But she never doubted that this is what she was going to do.

She was goal oriented.

I know a lot of people who've been through a lot of stuff, and people get cynical, people get angry.

But Liza's the same pure person inside.

I've not heard her say bad things about anyone, not in any gratuitous way.

She trusts way beyond what is rational.

There is a purity of heart that's unmistakable.

-Bye, darling.

-I'll see if I can turn that.

[ Music playing, laughter ] ♪ There is a smile on my face ♪ ♪ For the whole human race ♪ -So I'm out with my wife, Michael Feinstein, Mitzi Gaynor, and Liza...Minnelli.

Michael goes, "Let's play a song."

And so he plays one.

Then I sing a tune.

-♪ Now the music, and life, it seems to be great ♪ -And then it was Liza's turn.

This is, like, incredible.

I'm sitting with this icon.

And it was beautiful what she sang.

-♪ Before ♪ -At the end of the night, she's, you know, grabbing everybody and just saying, you know, "This was" -- I can't -- I'm not going to do a Liza impersonation.

Don't make me do that.

But, you know, she's grabbing everybody, going, "This was great, this was great.

This is the gang now, this is the gang."

And when she left, I was like, "I'm in the gang now?

This is amazing."

-And then I went, "How many people has she said that to?"

I just like the idea that she just made us feel so special.

I so enjoyed that sentiment of this was a good hang.

-It's going to take a miracle.

Tina.

-Yeah?

-Got to perform a miracle on my fa-che.

-Liza and I became very close friends because my husband and I went on tour with her.

And of course, they did many movies with her.

And you couldn't help with Liza.

You became very close with her.

-[ Laughing ] -Liza always liked to surround herself with her friends.

Liza wouldn't do the show unless they hired me.

And I wasn't in the union.

They didn't let me in.

They didn't have women make up artists.

So Liza stood up for me, and I was one of the first women make up artists ever.

She was very loyal to her friends, and they were loyal to her.

-Are you committed now to settling down?

-Yes.

-Well, tell me about it.

-I desperately want a family.

I-I...

I really want a family.

♪♪ -We have been with Liza at all of her emotional setbacks like miscarriages.

-She was all in.

She was all prepared.

It was very sad.

-Come here, you gorgeous thing.

-If she had to pick one thing that she was disappointed in her life, that's not being a mother.

She would have been a great mother.

-She would have been terrific.

-She has so much -- -She always had a lot of love to give.

-She's been so wonderful with our children.

We have a picture when our daughter was 3 years old, around a Christmas tree, Liza hugging her.

And then 35 years later, when our daughter had a 3-year-old, we have a picture around that same Christmas.

-Two generations, the same picture.

She taught our daughter when she was about 6 years old, how to sing "Liza With a Z" quickly and sing every lyric.

My daughter was so proud to sing it and sang it all over the place and for everybody.

-She would have been an incredible mother.

And life wasn't perfect.

-Right.

-But she moved on, and she's become part of our family.

I think that's part of our attraction for her, that we've kept this bond with sort of the family she didn't have.

-Even though she wasn't able to have children of her own, she seems to have created her own family through all the children who came into her life and all the godchildren.

-I mean, she's godmother to my twins, who are 50 now.

I mean, and she's never missed a birthday, anything.

-She's a godmother to one of my sons.

I was pregnant on tour with her.

Liza was so protective of me, and I ended up in the hospital after I had him.

And she was there all the time.

And she brought Sammy Davis to tap dance for me.

♪♪ I think she feels safe with people that take care of her, and she still calls me like two or three times a week just to talk.

I have children.

She doesn't.

I think she gets lonely.

She doesn't say that.

But I feel that -- But I would, too.

I don't know what else to say.

I just love her so much.

It makes me cry because I just think that she did a lot for all of us.

And at a time when things aren't good, she always came through.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -My father started as a costume designer, so when I was little, I was surrounded by fashion.

But the truth is, as a teenager, I didn't care much about clothes because I dressed like everybody else.

Mini skirts, and this, that and the other, and all the wrong things at that point.

Once I started doing more one woman shows and concerts, I saw how fashion could be part of the stories that I would tell in the songs.

I knew I needed a new look that I could call my own, one that would reflect me and connect with the audience.

Halston I met through Kay Thompson.

-They were at Bergdorf Goodman.

Liza sees a dress on a mannequin and says, "Oh, my God, look at the cut.

Look at the style of that dress.

That is brilliant.

Who did that?"

And Kay Thompson said, "It's Halston.

Let me introduce you."

And she takes Liza upstairs and introduces her to Halston.

-For me, being around Halston was as if I were around a religious entity.

A pope.

A king.

A god.

-The most successful single individual in the history of American fashion.

♪♪ -I think what influences design most is, you know, the people that you dress, and they tell you pretty much what they want and what they need.

Know yourself.

Know what suits your purposes to make you more attractive and more comfortable.

-When we speak about the '70s, style, American fashion coming into its own... ...Halston is at the forefront of that.

He grew up in the Midwest, and he started his career by making hats.

He became famous when he designed Jackie Kennedy's pillbox hat.

Soon, though, he moved on to design clothing.

-The beauty of Halston was that it was architecturally amazing and it functioned.

-In other words, I think people have to work harder so they need clothes for those different occasions.

-Clean.

Simple.

It's even more complicated when you have simple.

When I first came to work for Halston, it was taught to me that fabric needs to talk to you.

How does a fabric talk to you?

We would literally take fabric and put it on a mannequin, and sometimes look at it for three days, and things appear when you keep looking at them, it starts talking to you.

And in a sense, it will tell you what it wants to do.

The cuts are simple because the fabric is let to do what it wants to do.

And that was the genius of Halston.

-Halston was a very down to earth, practical, funny man, which I have not seen depicted recently.

Underneath all of the "darling this and darling that", there was a real wonderful guy, who found his way to create his own Paradise.

And he was able to do that with Liza.

-I met Halston when I was 19, and I had no idea how to look.

You know, it affects not just how you dress, but how you feel, how you perform.

He was the first one that gave me confidence.

I had the eye to know what was good and what wasn't that great.

But he knew what to do.

-When she met Halston, he gave her an entire sense of self.

-Halston was able to take what she considered to be negatives about her body and her self-image, and turn them into positives She had scoliosis.

She felt that her body was not symmetrically perfect.

All these things that she was insecure about, he used.

-Technically, Halston paid very acute attention to Liza's clothes.

Halston was the one who said to Liza, "Since you're perspiring so much on stage, let's make all of your wardrobe in sequins."

So with the sparkle, you can't see where the perspiration starts and stops.

And also because Liza's weight would often fluctuate, Halston would often make two and three, or sometimes four of the same garment in different sizes, so he would be prepared with her current figure.

Liza went from a pretty little girl representing mainstream fashion.

overnight to the chicest girl in the world.

-The adoration that Liza and Halston had for each other was always palpable when I was in the room with them.

They had this deep, deep love and shared the humor and the irony of life together.

-I never performed, gave a party, or made any real major important decisions in my life without my friend Halston.

-When we were together, it was heaven, you know?

I'm so lucky.

And I know that.

-When Liza and Halston were together, it's like nobody else was in the room.

They were so comfortable with each other.

They would hug and kiss and cuddle and just cling to each other in a way that was so beautiful.

-When Liza would arrive at Halston's office, she brought that zest.

The two of them they had nicknames for one another, usually perverse nicknames.

It was a brother and sister relationship.

It was also very paternal on his side.

They brought each other to life.

-Having lunch with Halston and her, we would have conversations of the next show she's doing and what are we going to design?

And there were nights that we would all go to Studio 54 together.

♪ Aw, freak out ♪ ♪ Le freak, c'est chic ♪ -Studio 54 is probably the Mount Olympus of the disco world.

-It was like the circus pulled into town.

-You're there with inspirational people.

-Did that involve a lot of things?

Yeah, that's been documented.

-I mean, you had quaaludes.

You had poppers, cocaine.

-Hold it.

It wasn't that wacko.

And as far as drugs was concerned, nobody did drugs.

I mean, they just didn't.

-Liza is reluctant to talk about Studio 54 because everybody focuses on the excess and debasement and the debauchery and all that.

For her, Studio 54 was a cultural thing.

-What happened with Studio 54 is Halston used to give these wonderful parties, and around 11:00 or 12:00 at night, he'd didn't know how to get rid of people.

He would say to his guests, "Let's all go to Studio 54," to get them out of the apartment.

-I would just let the door know, so they would just be alerted to them because it was a sea of people.

You can't even believe, the whole block sometimes were filled.

And then they would go and escort them in if they needed to.

And the seas would part.

♪♪ -They would have some banquettes in the center of the dance floor, and Halston would hold court with Liza and Andy Warhol, Bianca Jagger.

-Liza used to love rum and coke.

Halston used to smoke.

She used to smoke cigarettes.

But all I remember is being with Halston and being with Liza and all of us having the best happy times.

♪♪ -He wasn't just a friend and a party buddy at Studio 54.

They were each other's muse.

-You think of what Halston got from Liza and what Liza got from Halston, and obviously Studio 54, talk about genius branding.

-Liza became so much of the female figure that allowed women to see how extraordinarily wondrous Halston was.

Liza was a blueprint for Halston.

Halston was a blueprint for Liza.

-The mythology of Studio 54 depends upon its associations to cultural icons, who themselves were seen as figures of excess.

And Liza Minnelli in the company of Halston is in some sense one of the most sequined figures for that era.

-Can I say one more thing?

The very first collection that Halston showed at the Olympic Tower was mind boggling.

♪♪ [ Camera shutters clicking ] Liza closed the show.

She came out on the runway with the most extraordinary black crepe back satin dress with nude shoulders, and she walked the runway carrying one rose.

At the end of the runway, she presented it to Elizabeth Taylor.

Halston came out, and they came down together.

To watch them was so touching.

They worked together, they were in love together, and they represented a moment that is unmatched in American fashion history.

♪♪ ♪♪ -Legendary actress and singer Liza Minnelli has checked into rehab.

-The veteran entertainer is getting treatment for a substance abuse issue at a Malibu facility.

-A much publicized personal battle against tranquilizer addiction.

-A disease that she says nearly killed her.

-Honestly, 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.

It made me understand a little bit more about myself.

-Good to meet you.

-Nice to meet you.

-Fine.

We're gonna sell out this evening.

-Oh, fabulous!

-The enormity of Liza's success certainly was a factor.

With the incredible pressures of life and of show business and becoming a commodity for so many people that she's supporting financially took its toll.

-How you doing?

-Terrific.

-Hm?

-Fine.

I was the kind of person that never fell down.

I never missed work.

I never did any of the things that you think of when you think of somebody being a real mess.

But inside, I felt so weird.

-I was taking Valium, prescription drugs, but I really didn't feel like I had a drug problem.

And I'd drink silly drinks like rum and Coke.

I started to notice that drinking made me feel better for a minute.

It's really that simple.

And then, of course, it turned on me like it always does.

And people who had been through all the things I'm thinking about know what I'm talking about.

-I never got drunk anywhere.

[ Laughs ] [ Indistinct talking ] -I would like to have, but I can't.

It makes my stomach sick.

-I know in the '70s I used to tell interviewers that I was terrified of drugs and didn't even take aspirin.

Well, kids, that's called denial.

I didn't want anyone to know that I was less than perfect, that I was under stress.

I always wanted to be the hero.

♪♪ -She has this incredible strength that, I'm going to do this, I can do this.

And at the same time, she has this vulnerability.

She has nervousness.

She has fear.

-The dark stuff, the drug stuff, whatever it was, she thought that being alive and open and playful and sexy and all of those things, she inherited some of that from her mom.

-When Liza became more vulnerable at times in her life, I was surprised because she, better than anyone, knew and had vowed, you know, never to be anything less than the totally sharp, responsible person.

-But I was very worried because I thought she was making some wrong moves personally, and I loved her.

She was like my baby sister.

-Watching my mom, I swore on my life that I would never take drugs until I realized I was doing it.

You know, being Judy Garland's daughter is not a lot of laughs.

-♪ Life is just a bowl of cherries ♪ ♪ Don't take it serious ♪ ♪ Life's too mysterious ♪ ♪ You work, you say ♪ -So we hear stories of what it was like to grow up with a mother who was both so unbelievably talented, but also who had, you know, her demons, struggled with alcohol and drug addiction.

And Liza Minnelli, you know, tells stories of her mother locking herself in the bathroom and threatening to commit suicide.

-Her mother was a person who deeply, deeply loved her daughter.

She famously said, "I'm giving up drugs and pills, and I'm going to be a good mother for my daughter."

But she couldn't sustain that because she was addicted.

-♪ Is just a bowl of cherries ♪ ♪ So live and laugh at it all ♪ -She became incredibly protective of her mother at a very early age because she understood her mother.

-She's taught me a great deal.

-But I mean, have you learned anything from her mistakes as well as from her achievements?

-Yes, I have.

Most of the mistakes that have been made that I've been around have not been her fault.

-♪ You live ♪ ♪ And you laugh at it all ♪ -The relationship was complicated.

And yet when she sees her mom on TV, she melts.

She just admires that talent and that person and that soul.

-Fred Ebb really taught me about sobriety.

Because he started to notice that I was getting a little fuzzy on stage.

I was doing too much, and somebody would say, "Have a drink, it'll make you feel better."

So I took advantage of that.

[ Laughs ] ♪♪ ♪♪ -Liza knew that she came from certain genes, which are addictive, and she needed help.

♪♪ ♪♪ -When Liza Minnelli went to the Betty Ford Clinic, this was in the newspapers, but one of the things that's distinctive about her relationship to having been, in some sense outed as a celebrity with a substance abuse problem is that she didn't run away from that.

She wasn't closeted about her struggles in a way that so many other celebrities had been.

-I think that there are a lot of people who don't know that they had a problem, like I didn't know until I got so physically weak.

All prescription drugs are the same.

They're insidious.

And at first, they do do what you take them to do with it.

They hold a very busy life together.

But then if you don't stop taking them, you just keep merrily going on thinking that they can't hurt you, eventually become toxic.

-And I think that was very brave of Liza to do.

And I think it was welcomed despite the shock, because I think people were happy to see her not following that footstep of her mother's, as in just being a hopeless case.

-But it took a lot of guts for you to decide to go public because you put yourself in the inevitable position of them saying, "Well, she's going to follow truly in her mother's footsteps."

-I really believe in... in saying when something's wrong and fixing it.

Again, it didn't have anything to do with my mother.

-She spoke so frankly about alcoholism and about addiction that I thought was the most courageous thing she had ever done.

-There's thousands of people out there having the same problem.

The knowledge that you're not alone is the first step to getting better.

-She became a champion of AA and other treatment programs, and even though she had continued struggles for different reasons through a number of years, she never gave up.

-She's a survivor.

She's come through all that with her heart and soul intact.

♪♪ [ Indistinct chatter ] -Liza.

-Hello!

Hello.

[ Applause ] It's my agent.

You don't have to applaud.

-So, in the aftermath of her mother's death, a long decade of the '70s, Oscar, Emmy, Tony.

A fixture in the cultural scene, in newspapers and tabloids.

This would be an extraordinary record of achievement over an entire career, let alone stuffed into a decade.

-I'm glad you liked it.

-You were wonderful, really.

-Thank you.

I'm glad you liked it.

-She did it.

This young girl who was born into show business royalty, had to invent herself, who had these challenges.

She knew what she needed.

She built this loyal, loving family of friends and mentors and followed this sort of intuition to become this iconic person.

-Listen!

-Shh!

Shh!

-To the band that made me feel like the best band singer in the world.

I can't tell you what it's like singing in front of you.

-She could have died like her mother.

She hasn't.

-We'd like to thank the orchestra that worked with us.

-People respond to that.

I think they see the vulnerability.

-Really do you think you were terrific.

Probably the best orchestra.

-They see somebody not unlike themselves, who knows rejection, sorrow, and loss.

And they see her courage to get up on a stage and put those sequins on.

She's brave.

She pushes on, you know?

-Yeah.

-[ Cheering ] -Thank you.

You're so terrific.

[ Applause ] -Well said.

♪♪ ♪♪ [ Crowd chanting, "Liza!

Liza!"

] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -Let's try one.

What the hell?

[ Piano playing ] ♪♪ [ Chuckles ] -♪ Sometimes you're happy, and sometimes you're sad ♪ ♪ But the world goes round ♪ ♪ And sometimes you lose every nickel you had ♪ ♪ But the world goes round ♪ ♪ Sometimes your dreams get broken in pieces ♪ ♪ But that doesn't matter at all ♪ ♪ Take it from me ♪ ♪ There's still going to be a summer ♪ ♪ A winter, a spring and a fall ♪ ♪ And sometimes a friend starts treating you bad ♪ ♪ But the world goes around ♪ ♪ And sometimes your heart breaks ♪ ♪ With a deafening sound ♪ ♪ Somebody loses, and somebody wins ♪ ♪ And one day, it's kicks, then it's kick in the shins ♪ ♪ But the planet spins, and the world goes ♪ -Can you think of a star who's managed to equal a famous parent?

-Well, one who did is Liza Minnelli, the daughter of a superstar, Judy Garland.

-It's lonely at the top.

-And Academy Award winning film director Vincente Minnelli.

Liza has become a superstar on her own.

♪ Round ♪ [ Cheers and applause ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪