Liza Minnelli Says Mom Judy Garland Was ‘Strict’: ‘It Depended on What Mood She Was In’

Liza Minnelli is the daughter of one of the most legendary performers, Judy Garland, but she admitted that she experienced some “challenges” during her childhood.

“My mother was strict, and it depended on what mood she was in or whether she was working too hard and they were pushing her too much,” the Cabaret actress told Interview Magazine on Wednesday, October 16. “Or whether she didn’t like who she was married to at the time. Stuff like that. Every kid goes through that. But my father, he treated me like a princess.”

Judy welcomed Liza with her second husband, Vincente Minnelli, on March 12, 1946. Liza had a very close relationship with her father throughout her childhood.

“He was enchanted that he had made such a little girl,” the Academy Award winner said. “That’s really the way to explain it. He’d work all week and take me to the movies on Saturdays. I was always at his house.”

Liza explained that her relationship with her mother was a bit different.

“Mama was interested in a different way because she was very interested in detail, like most mothers,” she said. “Then when Lorna and Joey arrived, I became freer. Everyone took care of them because they were nine and seven years younger than I was, so I got to stay with my dad a little bit more. But I loved my mom. She was funny.”

Michael Feinstein, Liza’s longtime friend, conducted the interview and shared a story about Vincente supporting his daughter.

“I went to the Greek Theatre when you were performing, and your dad was there and he was transfixed,” Michael recalled. “You sang ‘The Man That Got Away’ [a song that Judy sang in 1954’s A Star Is Born], which is something you’d never done before. It was part of a salute to showstoppers or something like that. And your father said to me, ‘She sang that better than her mother.’”

“Oh, I love that. That was Daddy,” Liza replied. “Thank you for telling me that story. It means a lot. He was so proud of me. So was Mama, but Mama was Mama. Everybody’s mother has things that they adore about their kid and things that drive them crazy.”

Liza previously revealed that she and her mother grew their bond as she got older.

“As I grew up, we became incredibly close,” she revealed. “I became her best friend and confidante. We would laugh and talk for hours. Sometimes in person, sometimes on the phone, depending where we were.’’

And she acknowledged that her childhood was rather unconventional as the prodigy of the Wizard of Oz starlet and the director.

“I grew up with the most interesting people,” Liza said. “But you see, that kind of childhood was fine with me because all my other girlfriends had famous parents, too.”

Judy died on June 22, 1969, at age 47 from an accidental barbiturate overdose. In addition to Liza, she is survived by kids Lorna Luft and Joey Luft from her marriage to Sidney Luft.

“We had such fun because she was so funny. She was funny, and she loved her kids so much,” Liza remembered. “She was protective and very strict. She wanted you to do the right thing, like any mother. It’s that simple.”