Who

The child of an alcoholic legend, Minnelli is Hollywood royalty, a serial bride, and a total nut.

Backstory

The daughter of Judy Garland and director Vincent Minnelli, Liza made her film debut at age three in 1949's The Good Old Summertime, starring alongside her mother. After a childhood spent on movie sets, Minnelli made the move to Broadway in the 1960s, winning a Tony at the age of 19 for her turn in Flora the Red Menace. Minnelli's career peaked in the early '70s when she played the epically flamboyant Sally Bowles in Bob Fosse's Cabaret; her performance earned her an Academy Award for Best Actress and led to her own Fosse-directed TV show called Liza with a "Z". Scorsese's New York, New York followed as did a memorable role opposite Dudley Moore in 1981's Arthur, and she's since appeared in countless theatrical productions, films, and TV programs.

Her personal life, meanwhile, has become the blueprint for celebrity excess, redemption, and relapse. (Lindsay Lohan, take notes.) Following decades of abuse, in 2000 Minnelli's career appeared to be over when she came down with encephalitis and doctors told her she might never walk, talk, or sing again. She recovered, of course, and she's since played dizzy socialite Lucille Austero on cult series Arrested Development, made various TV guest appearances (such as Law & Order: Criminal Intent), and even performed "New York, New York" at Mayor Bloomberg's second inauguration in January 2007.

Personal

The first of her four marriages was to (gay) Australian cabaret singer/songwriter Peter Allen, whom she wed in 1967 and divorced seven years later. Next up was Jack Haley Jr., son of The Wizard of Oz's Tin Man. The couple divorced in 1979, partly on account of Minnelli's affair with Martin Scorsese; a few months later, she got married for a third time, to sculptor and stage manager Mark Gero. The two stayed together for 12 years, her longest-lasting love connection. In 2002, she married the bizarre (and very likely gay) music producer David Gest; their over-the-top wedding ceremony featured Michael Jackson as the best man and a doddering Liz Taylor as maid of honor. After 16 months of conjugal bliss, the couple separated and the mud-slinging began.

Drama

Minnelli's no stranger to the tabloids—like her mother, she's had a lifelong battle with booze and pills. But she made exceptionally lurid headlines during her messy divorce from Gest, which Minnelli says drove her back to drugs and into rehab. During divorce proceedings, Gest alleged Minnelli beat him during her booze-fueled rages. She countered that Gest was siphoning money from her and trying to poison her. Gest upped the ante by putting her bodyguard on the stand, who claimed she had beaten him too, and had threatened to fire him if he didn't have sex with her. After years of litigation, the couple settled and officially divorced in 2007. But that doesn't mean there's no longer any acrimony. When asked about ex-hubby Gest's appearance on a wilderness reality show, Liza said, "I hope he gets fucked by kangaroos and eaten by crocs in the jungle."

Habitat

Liza keeps her fake eyelashes and sequined Bob Mackie pantsuits on East 69th Street.