Under The Rainbow: The Real Liza Minnelli

Secaucus, NJ: Birch Lane Press, 1996. First edition. Fine/fine. First edition/printing. A fine, fresh, unread copy in equally fine color pictorial dust jacket. Hardcover. 248 pp. with index. Illustrated with color and black and white photographs. A touching biography of entertainment superstar Liza Minnelli. The daughter of Judy Garland and Vincent Minnilli, the young Liza was immersed in trauma and passion--her mother's repeated suicide attempts, her parents' repeated tantrums and arguments, the need to become her "mother's mother" in dealing with the drugs Judy took to keep her weight down and her spirits up. But Liza became an immensely talented performer in her own right---an actress, singer and dancer who emerged as a commanding stage presence with a powerful alto voice. She won the first of her three Tony Award for Best Actress in 1965 (as the lead in "Flora The Red Menace"), a recording star, and a major film talent, her most famous role as Sally Bowles in "Caberet" (1972). Mair's biography, however, goes far deeper into Liza's life-- the psychological ramifications of being Garland's daughter, her romances, her marital mistakes, her descent into the Studio 54 crowd scene and subsequent struggles with substance abuse, her grief in the time of AIDS.