Liza Minnelli's Real Name: Liza May Minnelli

Quick answer: Liza Minnelli's full name is Liza May Minnelli. She was born on March 12, 1946, in Hollywood, California, the daughter of entertainer Judy Garland and director Vincente Minnelli. She performs under her real name. She won an Academy Award as Sally Bowles in Cabaret (1972), an Emmy for Liza with a "Z", and several Tony Awards (Britannica; Library of Congress).

Real name and early life

The Library of Congress name authority files her as "Minnelli, Liza," citing "b. Liza May Minnelli, 3-12-46, Los Angeles, Calif.; actress, singer and dancer." Britannica gives her birthplace as Hollywood, which is part of Los Angeles. Minnelli is her father's surname. Her mother, Judy Garland, used a stage name; Liza did not.

Britannica says Minnelli first wanted to be an ice skater. In 1963 she won a supporting role in the Off-Broadway revival of Best Foot Forward, which led to appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show and The Tonight Show. Her partnership with songwriters John Kander and Fred Ebb began in 1964, as she prepared her first recording. For the next 40 years they supplied her best-known material.

Career highlights

At 19 she starred in Kander and Ebb's first musical, Flora, the Red Menace (1965). The show closed after 87 performances, but she won the Tony for best actress in a musical and remained its youngest winner into the 21st century. After Charlie Bubbles (1968), she earned a best actress Oscar nomination for The Sterile Cuckoo (1969).

As the "divinely decadent" Sally Bowles in Bob Fosse's Cabaret (1972), she created a sensation. Britannica says she was the first performer to appear on the covers of Time and Newsweek in the same week. In 1973 she won the Academy Award for best actress and an Emmy for the TV special Liza with a "Z". She also won a Tony for a concert engagement at Broadway's Winter Garden Theatre.

Martin Scorsese's New York, New York (1977) lost money but gave her the signature songs "Theme from New York, New York" and "But the World Goes 'Round." She was a hit opposite Dudley Moore in Arthur (1981). Her third Tony came with Kander and Ebb's The Act (1977–78). Liza's at the Palace… (2008–09) won the Tony for best special theatrical event. Her albums include Results (1989), Gently (1996), Liza's Back (2002), and Confessions (2010). She also had a recurring role on Arrested Development.

Name notes for searchers

Liza is her given first name, not a short form or stage name. May is her middle name, and Minnelli comes from her father. Searchers looking for her mother's birth name should see our Judy Garland page.