Unlucky-in-Love Liza Minnelli Falls Fast and Hard, Says Lifelong Pal Mia Farrow: 'Loses All Her Bearings'
The icon and some of her closest friends unpack her romantic history in the new documentary film 'Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story'
According to some of the people who know her best, Liza Minnelli loves fast, hard and a lot. The legendary Oscar winner probably would agree.
She's been married and divorced four times, and she's had high-profile relationships with a number of A-lister over the years. Photos and newspaper reports of some of those past romances flash across the screen in the new documentary Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story.
There's ballet legend Mikhail Barishnikov, French singer Charles Aznavour, Oscar-winning film director Martin Scorsese, fellow second-generation star Desi Arnaz Jr. and Tony winner Ben Vereen. In a clip of Minnelli chatting with two friends, her Cabaret costar Marisa Berenson and Knot's Landing actress Michelle Lee, the subject of her romantic history comes up and Minnelli jokes, "Some of them weren't men at all."
In a new interview for the documentary, when Minnelli, 78, is asked about the loves her her life, she gets cheeky. “Give me a gay break, will you?" she says, breaking into laughter. "I’m sorry. Cut that. Well, I feel wonderful about love because I wanted it to be like it was in the songs.” (Minnelli's first marriage, to Australian entertainer Peter Allen, ended when she discovered he was gay.)
Her longtime friend Michael Feinstein tries to explain what drove her in her romances. “She wanted to consume the fullness of life," he says. "I don’t think she has any regrets in that area.”
Mia Farrow, her friend since they were toddlers, puts it more bluntly: “She loses all of her bearings and all of her judgement: ‘This is great. This person is going to be great. This is it.’ ”
Farrow, 79, also reveals that her favorite Minnelli song is “Maybe This Time” from the musical Cabaret, in part, because it was more than just a song. “You felt when she was singing it," Farrow says. "You hoped that maybe this time would be the time because she sure deserved it.”
Allan Lazare, who was Minnelli's friend from 1973 until his death in February 2024, concurs in the film. “She gets really into people very quickly, so she’s had some really unique relationships lasting a short period of time," he says. "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 have to go on to the next song.”
In a vintage interview clip from the early '70s in the documentary, Minnelli discusses ending things with Desi Arnaz Jr. "The relationship has been deteriorating for some time," she says. "There is no more engagement. That's all called off."
Without missing a beat she continues. "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.” Then in another clip, with Sellers sitting beside her, the interviewer asks if she's bothered by the idea of being the “fourth Mrs. Peter Sellers." She replies, “Oh no, four is my lucky number, my dear.”
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Of course, that wedding never happened. (Sellers died in 1980 at age 54.) “Liza has acknowledged that she didn’t always make the greatest decisions in relationships and laughs about it," Feinstein says. "Because there was genuine love, deep love in every one of those relationships, in different ways.”
And as Feinstein points out, although forever love eluded her, for Minnelli, there are no regrets. In one old clip of her chatting with Rona Barrett, the superstar talks about love. “I was expecting all the pretty things I’d heard about," says. "And I got a lot of them.”
Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story is now playing in select theaters.
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