All About Judy Garland’s 3 Kids, Including Legendary EGOT Winner Liza Minnelli

Giovana GelhorenSun, September 27, 2026 at 12:40 PM UTC

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Judy GarlandCredit: Getty ImagesTHE GIST -

Legendary actress Judy Garland was married five times throughout her life and welcomed three children: daughters Liza Minnelli and Lorna Luft, and son Joey Luft.

All three joined the entertainment industry, with Liza going on to become an EGOT winner.

Garland died from an accidental barbiturate overdose on June 22, 1969. She was 47.

From The Wizard of Oz in 1939 to 1954’s A Star Is Born, Judy Garland is a Hollywood icon and movie star. But behind the scenes and outside of film shoots, Garland was a proud mom to her kids: Liza Minnelli, Lorna Luft, and Joey Luft.

“She was a performer. She was a mother. She loved people,” Joey told The Los Angeles Times in 2014. “She was the most caring person. She had the greatest sense of humor.”

Garland tragically died from an accidental barbiturate overdose on June 22, 1969. She was 47. Her kids were 23, 16, and 14, respectively, when she passed. Despite the limited time Garland’s kids had with their mom, all three have kept her legacy alive and have constantly reminded fans that Garland’s life was not defined by her death or her addiction.

“She had tragedies, but she was not tragic, and she didn’t pass it on to us,” Lorna told Entertainment Tonightin a 2022 interview. “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.”

Below, find out everything there is to know about Judy Garland’s three kids, Liza Minnelli, Lorna Luft and Joey Luft.

Liza Minnelli

Judy Garland and Liza MinnelliCredit: Screen Archives/Getty Images

Garland’s only child with director Vincente Minnelli was their daughter, Liza Minnelli. Garland and Vincente were married from 1945 to 1951, and welcomed Liza on March 12, 1946.

At a very young age, Liza followed in her mother’s footsteps in the entertainment industry. Her movie debut was alongside her mom in the 1949 movie, Good Old Summertime. She was only 3 years old at the time. By 17, Liza made her professional stage debut in the 1963 Off-Broadway revival of Best Foot Forward. Two years later, she made her Broadway debut in Flora the Red Menace in 1965. For the role, she won her first Tony for Best Actress in a Musical, becoming the youngest woman to win that award at the time.

In 1972, Liza starred in one of her most well-known and celebrated roles to date as Sally Bowles in Cabaret. For that role, she won her first Academy Award for Best Actress. Other movies of Liza’s over the years include Arthur, New York, New York, The Sterile Cuckoo and The Muppet Show.

Liza MinnelliCredit: Getty Images

That same year, Liza continued winning awards as she earned an Emmy and a Peabody Award for her 1972 concert special Liza with a Z. In 1990, she earned her first Grammy when she was chosen as a recipient of the Grammy Legend Award (Living Legend Award). With the award, she became one of only 28 people to achieve an EGOT for winning each award.

As for her personal life, Liza has been married and divorced four times. “I’ve been married to wonderful people… I’m friends with everybody,” Liza told Access Onlinein 2012.

She was first married to Australian entertainer and singer-songwriter Peter Allen in 1967, and they divorced in 1974. That same year, Liza married film director and producer Jack Haley Jr. The two were married until 1979. Liza’s third marriage was to sculptor and stage manager Mark Gero from 1979 to 1992. Liza’s fourth marriage was to TV producer David Gest from 2002 to 2007.

After her split from Gest, Liza swore she wouldn’t get married again. “You try and accommodate because you love someone… [and] nowadays why get married? Nobody else does,” she told Access Online. “It’s not like I want to have children; I tried that, didn’t work unfortunately.”

Lorna Luft

Liza Minnelli and Lorna LuftCredit: Getty Images

Lorna Luft was born in 1952 to Garland and her third husband, film producer Sidney Luft. Much like her sister, Lorna got into the entertainment industry.

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Lorna made her TV debut on The Judy Garland Show at age 11, when she performed “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” in 1963. In an interview with People in 1980, Liza said that Lorna felt pressure to make a name for herself in the industry. “When your mother was the greatest, I mean, it was a little heavy,” Liza told the outlet. “Lorna has to deal with that and with me.”

Lorna made her debut on Broadway in Promises, Promises in 1971 and later joined a production of Grease in 1980. Lorna later joined touring productions of shows like Guys and Dolls, Gypsy, They’re Playing Our Song and White Christmas from 1992 to 2007.

Lorna also landed roles in shows like Murder, She Wrote and Trapper John, M.D. Her movie credits include Grease 2, Where the Boys Are, My Giant and 54.

Lorna LuftCredit: JC Olivera/Variety via Getty Images

Speaking to The Guardian in 2015, Lorna talked about the journey with grief she dealt with after her mother’s death. She was 16 at the time. “I couldn’t go into a library and check out a book called How to be a Legend’s Child,” she told the outlet.

As a way to cope, Lorna “ran away from a legend” and tried to redefine herself. “I dyed my hair purple, sang backing vocals with Blondie, then in my 30s I was having my children, and in my 40s I was raising them,” she said. In her 50s, however, she realized that she’d been running away from her mother’s legacy, and that she should rather embrace it instead.

That’s when Lorna became an author, penning her 1998 memoir, Me and My Shadows: A Family Memoir. The book was subsequently adapted into the 2001 television miniseries Life With Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows, which Lorna served as co-executive producer.

On the podcast Tom and Mickey, Lorna explained that she wrote the book because of the countless “myths” she’s heard about her mother and family over the years. “I felt like when somebody asked me a question, I could whip out that book and say, ‘Here, read it!’” Lorna said.

As for her personal life, Lorna was married to musician Jake Hooker from 1977 to 1993. Together, they welcomed two children, son Jesse Richards, born in 1984, and daughter Vanessa Hooker, born in 1990.

In 1996, Lorna then married her second husband, British musical director Colin Freeman. In September 2026, Lorna and Freeman celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary. “30 years ago today, I married the love of my life,” she wrote on Instagram. “It was one of the most beautiful days I have ever spent. Our wedding was spectacular.”

Joey Luft

Lorna Luft, Joey Luft and Liza MinnelliCredit: Rick Rowell/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images

In 1955, Garland and Luft welcomed a son, Joey Luft. While he dipped his toes in the acting world like his siblings, appearing on Garland’s 1963 Christmas television special and in the 1963 film I Could Go On Singing, Joey ultimately pursued a career in photography and sound. “I’ve been more behind the camera,” he told the Los Angeles Times in 2014.

Despite being only 14 when Garland passed away, Joey has fond memories of their time together. “I have a life that has been fascinating,” he told the outlet. “I can tell stories for days.”

Speaking of stories, Joey debuted a one-man show, A Judy Garland Concert with Joey Luft, in 2013, which combined footage of Garland with his own stories and memories of her. “They know The Wizard of Oz, but people don’t even know Judy,” he said. “The show is to educate people and show who she was and what she did and what she was all about—one of the world’s greatest entertainers.”

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