Liza Minnelli Said People Don’t Ever Believe She Had a Happy Childhood

TL;DR:

• When Liza Minnelli was young, she said she never felt like a child.
• Though she insists otherwise, people don’t believe Liza Minnelli had a happy childhood.
• Liza Minnelli tried to make it in show business on her own when she was young.

When Liza Minnelli was young, she spent her time on film sets and backstage at concert venues with her father, director Vincente Minnelli, and her mother, actor and singer Judy Garland. Her childhood was nontraditional, but she says it was a happy one. Despite this, she shared that most people don’t seem to believe her when she says she was happy. 

Liza Minnelli said that her mother never treated her like a child when she was young

When Minnelli was growing up, she said that there were extended periods of time when her mother was away for work. This taught her to be self-sufficient, similar to the children’s book character Eloise who Minnelli inspired. She shared that Garland didn’t want to treat her like a child.

“I was always treated like a grown-up,” she told The New York Times in 1984. “There was no baby talk — ever. My mother said, ‘Why start out on the wrong foot? Enough people are going to say goo-goo, ga-ga, when you’re older. In other words, they’ll double-talk you when you’re older. So, I’ll talk to you straight when you’re young.’”

She doesn’t think people believe her when she says she had a happy childhood

Though she grew up faster than many children, Minnelli said that her childhood was a happy one. According to her, people don’t seem very willing to accept this.

“There’s nothing I can say to convince people that I had a happy childhood,” she explained. “They don’t want to believe that, and part of the reason for that is because Mama said, ‘I don’t want them to believe that I’m happy or else they won’t cry when I sing ‘Over the Rainbow.’”

She explained that though Garland wasn’t always around, she worked hard to ensure her daughter’s happiness.

“She ensured my happiness as a kid,” she explained. “I know what happened to me, and I know that I’m fine — you know, working and going forward. And I’m sorry — I’m terribly sorry if I’m not unhappy. It’s not my fault I’m happy and I have been for most of my life.”

Liza Minnelli wanted to make it on her own when she was young

As Minnelli neared adulthood, she decided that she wanted to try to make it on her own in show business, just as her mother had. She left school at the Sorbonne at 16 and moved to New York to pursue work in theater. Her parents did not object to her decision but did not offer any financial assistance. 

According to The Guardian, Frank Sinatra, a family friend, sent Minnelli $500, but she sent it back. Though making it in on her own was challenging — she reportedly had to skip out on a few hotel bills and spend a night or two on a park bench — Minnelli won a Tony award at 19 for her performance in Flora, the Red Menace.