Liza Minnelli Reveals What She Learned From Mom Judy Garland and Father Vincente 

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Liza Minnelli is reflecting on the lessons she learned from her famous parents, Judy Garland and Vincente Minnelli, and how their influence helped shape her career in entertainment.

The 80-year-old actress and singer opened up about her family’s legacy in an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, published Monday, Nov. 9.

Minnelli shared how both parents helped her become the performer she is today, with her mother teaching her how to connect with audiences and her father encouraging her creativity.

“My mother taught me the importance of connecting with an audience. I’ve often said she gave me my drive,” Minnelli told the outlet.

She recalled how Garland could make everyone in a theater feel as though she was singing directly to them, whether she was making them laugh or cry.

“She was always in control, gave everything she had, and she taught me how much love to give each person in the audience,” Minnelli said. “Once the love is there? It’s all magical.”

Her father, an acclaimed Hollywood filmmaker, taught her something different.

“My father taught me to use my own imagination,” she explained, adding that he encouraged her to see the possibilities in everything around her.

Minnelli said both parents also taught her to care deeply about her work and the people she was performing for.

Liza Minnelli Reflects on Working With Her Father Vincente Minnelli

Minnelli’s comments come ahead of “The Minnellis,” a retrospective celebrating her career alongside her late father’s at New York City’s Museum of the Moving Image.

The event, which runs from Nov. 13, 2026, through Jan. 24, 2027, will feature 31 films showcasing their work.

Minnelli described having their careers celebrated together as “a dream realized,” especially since they only worked on one movie together.

That film was 1976’s “A Matter of Time,” which starred Minnelli alongside Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer. It was also Vincente’s final film as a director.

In a separate PEOPLE interview, published Nov. 6, Minnelli explained why the experience remains special to her.

“It gave me the opportunity to work with my father,” she said. “It was his final film, and being part of it with him, and with the wonderful Ingrid Bergman, is something I treasure.”

Minnelli also praised her father’s work on classics such as “An American in Paris,” “Meet Me in St. Louis” and “The Bad and the Beautiful.”

She credited him with bringing imagination to filmmaking through his use of music, dance, color and storytelling.

Liza Minnelli Celebrates Her Parents’ Hollywood Legacy

Garland and Vincente married in 1945 and welcomed Minnelli the following year. The couple divorced in 1951.

Garland, best known for starring in “The Wizard of Oz,” died in 1969 at age 47. Vincente died in 1986 at age 83.

Minnelli has continued their entertainment legacy through her own successful career, including her Oscar-winning performance as Sally Bowles in the 1972 musical “Cabaret.”

She previously described working with director Bob Fosse on the film as a life-changing experience.

The actress also expressed her love for “Meet Me in St. Louis,” which starred her mother and was directed by her father.

“How could I resist Mama and Papa together?” she said, praising Garland’s performance and Vincente’s filmmaking.

As she prepares to celebrate the upcoming retrospective, Minnelli is also looking forward to spending time with loved ones and finding new ways to share music and stories with audiences.

She even hinted that more announcements could be coming.

“There are some exciting things ahead, and I can’t wait to tell you more when the time is right,” Minnelli told PEOPLE.