Minnelli On Minnelli Quotes & Sayings

My family's been in show business since the 1700s. I traced them. I'm bred to this. Like a racehorse. A thoroughbred. Look at my parents, my God. But it was my curiosity that made me do this. Because you could also say: "Look at Frank Sinatra Jr." It's not like a natural thing that happens. You gotta work. — Liza Minnelli

Certainly, I've loved musicals for a while, so I did some short films in college that had musical numbers and things like that, so I've kind of been obsessed with Fred and Ginger and Vincente Minnelli and Stanley Donen and Jaques Demy forever. — Damien Chazelle

Well, I've known Elizabeth almost all of her life and almost all of my life. And I love her with all of my heart and she's always been there for me. She's a wonderful, wonderful dame. She's a great lady. — Liza Minnelli

Sometimes I defy flower anatomy & other times I try and replicate it intricately! — Minnelli Lucy France

Why didn't you tell me?" Vera looked cautious. "Tell you what? I said he was talented.""Talent? That's not talent. Talent is Liza Minnelli tap-dancing and singing at the same time. What I just saw was devastation. Dying man on the cross. Salvation in B minor. An ejaculation of truth. — Tiffanie DeBartolo

West Side Story was terribly important because of the style of the dancing and the gangs of New York. — Vincente Minnelli

It was no great tragedy being Judy Garland's daughter. I had tremendously interesting childhood years - except they had little to do with being a child. — Liza Minnelli

I rely on regular chiropractic care to keep in shape for my strenuous type of acting and singing. — Liza Minnelli

I've said it before, but it's absolutely true: My mother gave me my drive, but my father gave me my dreams. Thanks to him, I could see a future. — Liza Minnelli

(on Marilyn Monroe) I was walking down Broadway with her and nobody was stopping us. She was going to (Stella Adler's) actors' studio, and she was taking me to show me what it was all about. And I said to her: "How come nobody is taking your picture?" She said: "Well, watch." She took her scarf off, straightened her shoulders, and draped something another way, and we were surrounded. It must have been 400 people. And I said: "Now I know why!" — Liza Minnelli

What good is sitting all alone in your room? — Liza Minnelli

Maybe what a gay icon is, is a person who is rooted for - in other words, cheered on - by people who feel different. — Liza Minnelli

But I went down to Venezuela and spend a few weeks going through jungles. It's fantastic looking. — Vincente Minnelli

I have a degree in cinema studies and the big paper I wrote at the end of that was about Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli. So I thought that I knew quite a bit about Judy Garland, but I read in passing that the Stonewall riots were a reaction to her death and I had never really read enough to know what that meant or how that could be true. I was interested in that I knew so much about Judy Garland, but I really didn't know this story. — Karina Longworth

There is a reason that both have had the longevity in their careers that they have had. They have each done very different things throughout their careers and lived really interesting lives. There is a reason why they are up there still. After all, there is only one Barbra Streisand and one Liza Minnelli. — Sarah Brightman

Once you find the right idea, then go ahead and embellish it. — Vincente Minnelli

I seem to be drawn to things that actually happen. — Vincente Minnelli

I started out to be a painter and was born into the theater. — Vincente Minnelli

What I'm saying is that I tried very hard to give them my reality and my reality is kind of interesting. — Liza Minnelli

The only street I like is Rue Honore de Balzac, because 'Balzac' sound so gay, and I love my gays. I might like Parisians more if they named their streets only for gay icons, like Rue Liza Minnelli or Rue Bette Midler or, my favorite, Rue McClanahan. — Joan Rivers

So I would dance and she would sing, and it was kind of a family thing. Performing was part of our world. — Liza Minnelli

I feel myself trying to be charming, and then I realize I'm obviously trying to be charming, and then I try to be even more charming to make up for the fake charm, and then I've basically turned into Liza Minnelli: I'm dancing in tights and sequins, begging you to love me. There's a bowler and jazz hands and lots of teeth. — Gillian Flynn

I see wonderful films by Bertolucci, Visconti, and Fellini. — Vincente Minnelli

I walk fast. Keep moving. Always be a moving target. Marilyn Monroe taught me that. — Liza Minnelli

Bleeding feet will bond us. — Liza Minnelli

I use colors to bring fine points of story and character. — Vincente Minnelli

Well, I'll tell you something, this wedding is something that I will always, always cherish. It was a show of love and support and kindness like I'd never seen from the people, and that's who I entertain. I entertain the people. — Liza Minnelli

I've worked with an awful lot of people. Katy Hepburn, Spencer Tracy. — Vincente Minnelli

I had a one day slip, Matt. So what do you do? You get up and you go on, and you try not to do it again. — Liza Minnelli

Color can do anything that black-and-white can. — Vincente Minnelli

Whenever we were on a plane, we had a family. — Liza Minnelli

Initially, I wanted to be an ice skater, but then when I was 13 I saw Bye Bye Birdie, and that was it - I wanted to be on Broadway. — Liza Minnelli

He was doing - Ray was designing the clothes for my mom's show from California. And one of the first appearances I ever made on television was on my mother's show and Ray and Bob did the clothes for that. It has been a long time. — Liza Minnelli

I love finding talent. Just to encourage people is a good thing. Every night, the audience encourages me. I'm just passing it on. — Liza Minnelli

It was like Mama suddenly realized I was good, that she didn't have to apologize for me. It was the strangest feeling. One minute I was on stage with my mother, the next moment I was on stage with Judy Garland. One minute she smiled at me, and the next minute she was like the lioness that owned the stage and suddenly found somebody invading her territory. The killer instinct of a performer had come out in her. — Liza Minnelli

Well, we have theatrical parties. It's not me singing. People like to get up and jam on the piano. — Liza Minnelli

Ben Vereen is going to be on the show with me, too. — Liza Minnelli

I got arrested once on stage in Memphis for looking too much like Liza Minnelli. — David Johansen

Talent? That's not talent. Talent is Liza Minnelli tap dancing and singing at the same time. What I just saw was devastation. Dying man on the cross. Salvation in B minor. — Tiffanie DeBartolo

We go in and sit on the sofa by the fire to dry out, and she plays her favourite records, lots of Rickie Lee Jones and Led Zeppelin and Donovan and Bob Dylan - even though she was sixteen in 1982, there's definitely something very 1971 about Alice. I watch as she jumps around the room to 'Crosstown Traffic' by Jimi Hendrix, then when she's out of breath and tired of changing records every three minutes she puts a crackly old Ella Fitzgerald LP on, and we lie on the sofa and read our books, and steal glances at each other every now and then, like that bit between Michael York and Liza Minnelli in Cabaret, and talk only when we feel like it. — David Nicholls

But God really did bless me, you know? He really said, All right. Come on. I'm still waiting for you. Get over here. Get over here. — Liza Minnelli

Growing up in Hollywood it seemed like every kid was the child of some star. — Liza Minnelli

In Hollywood now when people die they don't say, 'Did he leave a will?' but 'Did he leave a diary?' — Liza Minnelli

Dream on it. Let your mind take you to places you would like to go, and then think about it and plan it and celebrate the possibilities. And don't listen to anyone who doesn't know how to dream. — Liza Minnelli

I thought maybe, just by never preaching, never doing any of that stuff because it doesn't work. By just maybe the power of example and some laughs, maybe somebody might go take a walk. — Liza Minnelli

I had the drink after I fell out of bed. It hurt. — Liza Minnelli

I believe all drunks go to heaven, because they've been through hell on Earth. — Liza Minnelli

Now, having had this experience, I can't say really what they were looking for. I don't know their minds. But every time I see a reality show, it seems that the most entertaining parts on other reality shows are when they make their guests look foolish. — Liza Minnelli

If anybody reads a story in a magazine or book, different pictures compete in their minds. — Vincente Minnelli

It's always the story that interests me. — Vincente Minnelli

The regrets of yesterday and the fear of tomorrow can kill you. — Liza Minnelli

My mother gave me my drive but my father gave me my dreams. — Liza Minnelli

It's like being an athlete; you get into a certain shape where you really have the right wind, because it's all to do with breath. Because singing and dancing at the same time is not easy! — Liza Minnelli

The director, of course, was Bob Fosse. But again, I worked with my father to prepare for the role. — Liza Minnelli

No, I'm a theatrical, live performer or a movie performer. — Liza Minnelli

I've been a big believer in musicians turned actor, going back to Sinatra winning the Oscar for 'From Here To Eternity.' David Bowie in 'Man Who Fell to Earth,' Kris Kristofferson's been great in a bunch of films. Liza Minnelli, Barbra Streisand, Mariah Carey, I thought was great in 'Precious.' — Peter Berg

Half the time, I feel like I'm 12. And the rest of the time, I feel like I'm 80. So I guess I'm somewhere in between. No, I feel great. I've got my health, and that's the most important thing. — Liza Minnelli

No, I mean, I most certainly date and go out. — Liza Minnelli

I love visual stylists like Bob Fosse and Vincente Minnelli and Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger with The Red Shoes and The Tales of Hoffman. — Alfonso Gomez-Rejon

I learn new things all the time. — Vincente Minnelli

Cedric Gibbons was the grand cardinal of the art department. — Vincente Minnelli

Audiences are the same all over the world, and if you entertain them, they'll respond. — Liza Minnelli

I worked very hard, but I think it's unfair to make it all sound like it's all David's fault. — Liza Minnelli

It's the story that counts. — Vincente Minnelli

Well, when I was growing up it was Ozzie and Harriet on TV - nobody's parents were like that. — Liza Minnelli

You don't know how to handle anything today, because you have to go to jail to get some press or fall down drunk. — Liza Minnelli

I made three films with Douglas, two with Charles Boyer. — Vincente Minnelli

First I wanted to be an ice skater, and then I saw 'Bye, Bye Birdie,' and everything changed. I'm glad I learned through the process of theater. — Liza Minnelli

I was sitting on my mom's lap across from my father to see Kay Thompson at Ciro's. And I always remember this energy force, this woman flying around the room and singing these harmonies so everyone went, 'Wow!' So I thought, 'That's what I want to do.' — Liza Minnelli

Sometimes when I am painting large flowers, I imagine that I am the bee. — Minnelli Lucy France

You have to work hard for it, but first you have to want it, and then you have to dream on it. — Liza Minnelli

I consider myself an actress first, a dancer second, and a singer third. Why? Because the dancer needs a reason to move-that's the actor informing the dancer. So I worked on my acting and gradually developed a singing voice. — Liza Minnelli

American films are terribly popular all over the world and American movie stars are terribly important. I don't know why. — Vincente Minnelli

I don't sing as well as my mother. I'm a good actress. I'm not that good a singer. — Liza Minnelli

The male gay community seems to be very into female singers. I think it could be the songs we sing. They're more open with their feelings. And they have good taste! — Liza Minnelli

That's what I think musicals will come to. No backstage stories, nothing of that sort. — Vincente Minnelli

My mother was an artist and highly strung, whereas my father was much calmer. — Liza Minnelli

He [Gene Kelly] once told me dancing was a man's game, as much of a sport as baseball itself. And he made us believe that. He changed our minds and suddenly, all of America wanted to dance just like Gene Kelly. — Liza Minnelli

But I don't think there's any reason to get married again, especially after what I've been through. — Liza Minnelli

Fortunately, John Houseman is a marvelous writer and he sat in on so many story conferences. He worked with Welles, you know, and he's a marvelous man. — Vincente Minnelli

On daughter Liza Minnelli: I think she decided to go into show business when she was an embryo, she kicked so much. — Judy Garland

(on Judy Garland) She was a friend of mine, a trying friend, but a friend. That is what I tell myself: She did everything she ever wanted to do. She never really denied herself anything for me. See, I say, she had a wonderful life; she did what she wanted to do. And I have no right to change her fulfillment into my misery. I'm on my own broom now. — Liza Minnelli