March 12th, 2007 - Happy Birthday Liza Minnelli!

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Liza May Minnelli (born March 12, 1946 in Los Angeles, California) is an Academy Award-winning and Tony Award-winning American actress and singer. She is the daughter of legendary actress and singer Judy Garland and her second husband, film director Vincente Minnelli.

She's 61!

Minnelli came from a well-known artistic family; her maternal lineage had entertainers in the family going back six generations. Her famous mother had success in film and in music, and her aunts had been part of a singing group, "The Gumm Sisters," with her mother. Her father was a noted film director. Minnelli's first film appearance was at the age of three in the final scene of the 1949 musical In the Good Old Summertime, starring her mother and Van Johnson.

Minnelli started performing at age 16, in 1963, in an Off-Broadway revival of the musical Best Foot Forward, for which she received good notices. The next year, her mother invited Minnelli to perform with her at the London Palladium. The audience loved her, launching her musical career. She returned to Broadway at 19, and won a 1965 Tony Award for Flora the Red Menace.

Although Minnelli and her mother shared a warm personal relationship, Garland recognized Minnelli's talent and felt a sense of competition. Minnelli recalled a time where she was singing on stage: "I was onstage with my mother, but suddenly, she wasn't Mamma ... she was Judy Garland." As a teenager with two younger siblings, Minnelli bore the brunt of Garland's substance abuse issues and instability, and often had to take responsibility for her mother and siblings.

Her Signature Song:

Minnelli had several notable public performances of her signature song, "New York, New York":

• At the 1978 Studio 54 party honoring New York City's revival, at which a guest was Mayor Ed Koch;
• The reopening of the Statue of Liberty on July 4, 1986;
• Michael Jackson's 30th Anniversary Concert;
• At a 2001 New York Mets baseball game that was the metro area's first major sporting event after the September 11 attacks;
• On January 1, 2006, she sang the song at the second inauguration of New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg; and
• At the age of 60, for the "Macy's 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular" televised live, and nationally on NBC on July 4, 2006, she performed the song and received an ovation.

Her Signature TV Moments [ I love this woman ]:



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Al Jarreau-Singer -67
James Taylor-Singer -59
Jon Provost-Actor -57
Jerry Levine-Actor -50
Courtney B. Vance-Actor -47
Titus Welliver-Actor -46
Julia Campbell-Actress -44
Samm Levine-Actor -25