Liza Minnelli

Nobody expected her to escape her parents' shadow. Born to Judy Garland and director Vincente Minnelli, she arrived in Hollywood with impossible expectations baked into her name before she'd done a single thing. Broadway at 19, an Oscar nomination for The Sterile Cuckoo at 23, but Cabaret in 1972 is where she stopped being someone's kid. The film won 8 Oscars, she took Best Actress at 27, and Time and Newsweek both put her on their covers the same week. Her mother died in 1969 never having won a competitive Oscar.

At 80, she still rejects the word 'retired.' Since surviving viral encephalitis in 2000, when doctors predicted she'd never walk or speak again, she's relied on a wheelchair for most appearances. A 2024 documentary (Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story) reignited interest in her career, and her memoir Kids, Wait Till You Hear This! came out in early 2026. The moment that defined her current public image came at the 2022 Oscars, where Lady Gaga visibly helped her through the Best Picture presentation. Whether that reads as fragile or defiant depends entirely on who's watching.

Her marriage record reads like a fever dream. Judy Garland introduced her to first husband Peter Allen, who turned out to be gay. Second husband Jack Haley Jr. was the son of the actor who played the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz, the same film that made Judy famous. The fourth wedding cost $3.5 million and had Michael Jackson as best man and Elizabeth Taylor as matron of honor. Backing vocals on My Chemical Romance's The Black Parade in 2006 round out a biography that barely needs the help.