Liza Minnelli and Lorna Luft Discuss Mom Judy Garland's Legacy Ahead of Late Star's 100th Birthday
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Judy Garland's children are keeping her legacy alive ahead of what would have been the late star's 100th birthday.
Liza Minnelli and Lorna Luft said that their mother was anything but "tragic" as they reminisced about the Wizard of Oz star last week during a joint appearance on Entertainment Tonight, more than 50 years after Garland's death in 1969.
"That's the thing that bugs me the most," Minnelli, 75, said. "They would say tragic Judy Garland and I'd say, 'Oh shut up.' It was her humor and her kindness. ... With her family, she was hilarious."
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Luft, 69, shared a similar sentiment. "I've always said this ... we've all had tragedies in life, but we're not tragic. And she had tragedies, but she was not tragic, and she didn't pass it on to us," she said.
"Our mom had such an extraordinary sense of humor, and that was her survival guide. That is what I can tell you has been my lifeline is to find the funny — just find the funny," Luft added. "And we do, we just find the funny because I think that is the way that we were raised and brought up and we watched a woman who found the funny."
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Garland also shared son Joey Luft, 66, with her late ex-husband Sidney Luft.
Born June 10, 1922, Garland performed as a child with her older sisters in their vaudeville group The Gumm Sisters, before Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer signed her as a teenager. She rose to fame for her beloved performance as Dorothy Gale in 1939's The Wizard of Oz, earning herself a Juvenile Award at the Oscars, before going on to star in such classics as Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), Ziegfeld Follies (1945) and A Star Is Born (1954).
Garland continued performing into her later years, during which she faced financial ruin, in addition to her drug and alcohol addiction. She was found dead from an accidental drug overdose in her rented London home on June 22, 1969.
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Minnelli and Luft are paying tribute to their mother with the fragrance, Judy, by chemist Vince Spinnato, launching in June to mark Garland's 100th birthday. They planted 1,000 Judy Garland Roses for the occasion. "And it smells like Momma," Minnelli told ET.
