For young readers who may think of Liza as just this crazy old woman with a bazillion celeb friends who marries strange Michael Jackson-like men and inexplicably commands much tabloid/media attention, you'll have to travel back to the 1970s to find out why she's one of those titanic stars who pop culture will never be able to completely expurgate. The drama, the bad choices in men, the neediness, the crushing weight of her mother's legend, and her own blazing talent have been gifts that have kept on giving (for better or worse) for decades now.
There will never be another Liza. No seriously. There won't. The list of ingredients involves: gay icon mother, closeted gay Hollywood powerhouse father, "the trolley song", huge heaps of talents everywhere in all directions, growing up on movie sets, Peter Allen, addictions, infant fame, Broadway stardom, and coming into full bloom during a Hollywood cycle wherein atypical looks were all the rage (Hoffman, Streisand, etc...) See?! Unrepeatable. Since there won't be another, it's best to appreciate the one we have now while she's still kicking.
If you haven't told Junie Moon that you love her lately, get yourself to the couch (for the ladies: your gay boyfriend's couch) for a mini-festival to include these essentials: The Sterile Cuckoo (69, Oscar nomination), "Liza with a Z" (72, legendary TV special --finally arriving on DVD next month), Cabaret (72, Oscar for Best Actress and one of my 10 fav films of all time), and New York, New York (77, underappreciated Scorsese gem)
previous Liza-related moments @ The Film Experience
Johnny Weir * Toni Collette * Favorite Actresses (All Time) *
