Information about Lorna Luft

Lorna Luft
Liza Minnelli driving her half-sister Lorna Luft.
Born	November 21 1952 (1952--) (age 56) Santa Monica, California
Spouse(s)	Jake Hooker (1977-1993) Colin Freeman (1996-present)
Awards Emmy Awards Nominated: Outstanding Miniseries 2001

Lorna Luft (born November 21, 1952 in Santa Monica, California) is an American stage, film and television actress.

She is the daughter of the legendary singer/actress, Judy Garland and Sidney Luft who was Judy's third husband and manager. As Garland's daughter, Lorna is the half-sister of Liza Minnelli.

Childhood and early life

Lorna was born on November 21st, 1952 to parents Sid Luft and Judy Garland. Shortly before giving birth, Judy became convinced she would die giving birth to her daughter Lorna, and even planned a farewell party, inviting many A-listers in Hollywood. Her fears turned out to be unfounded as she gave birth to Lorna through a caesarean procedure.

Luft debuted on her mother’s CBS television series, The Judy Garland Show and was soon asked to join the family act on a summer concert tour, the highlight being Garland’s third and final appearance at New York's famed Palace Theater on Broadway in 1967. In this month-long engagement Judy Garland shared the bill with her children, Lorna (14 years old) and Joe (12 years old). This show was recorded live and subsequently released as Judy Garland At Home At The Palace--Opening Night.

Present day

In January and February 2008, Lorna will tour the UK in her one-woman show - Songs My Mother Taught Me: Live in Concert! A celebration of the music of Judy Garland.

From May 29 through July 7, 2007, Lorna starred as Mrs. Phyllis Owen in the UK production of Rodgers and Hart's Babes in Arms (a stage musical based on the 1932 Broadway production) at the Chichester Festival Theatre in England.

Lorna appeared in 2 episodes of the new 2007 LOGO animated series .

From November 19, 2006 through January 28, 2007, she starred, to critical acclaim, in the UK premiere of Irving Berlin's White Christmas: The Musical (A new stage musical based on the 1954 film). The press said her performance of 'Let Me Sing and I'm Happy' "is Berlin at its best." Lorna will reprise her role in White Christmas from November 19 through December 8, 2007 at the Edinburgh Playhouse, and from December 13, 2007 through January 12, 2008 at Wales Millennium Centre.

In June 2006, she surprised audiences at Carnegie Hall by performing a duet with Rufus Wainwright on the song "After You've Gone" at the end of Wainwright's tribute concert of Judy Garland's triumphant 1961 comeback there.

In October 2005 she toured Ireland with her show "Songs My Mother Taught Me" appearing in The Helix Theatre in Dublin, The Cork Opera House and other major venues.

In addition to performing Lorna also takes pride in her extensive participation in various Children's and AIDS related charities including the annual Los Angeles AIDS Walk and The Children's Wish Foundation International. She's been an advocate for drug rehabilitation and a key speaker for The Council on Alcohol & Drugs.

She lives in Beverly Hills with her husband, musician Colin R. Freeman, and her children Jesse (b. April 1984) and Vanessa (b. September 1990) from her first marriage to musician and artist manager Jake Hooker. Lorna's two children are the only grandchildren of Judy Garland.

Autobiography

She is the author of the 1998 book . Among its more astounding revelations is that she had a romance with Barry Manilow.

Me and My Shadows

In 2001, Luft's autobiography was translated in a television miniseries, titled . It starred Judy Davis as the adult Judy Garland, with Tammy Blanchard playing Judy in her teenage years. Hugh Laurie portrayed Vincente Minnelli, Victor Garber as Sid Luft, and Marsha Mason as Ethel Gumm.

The mini-series was a critical hit was a ratings bonanza for ABC on both nights it aired - something unusual for a television biopic. The show picked up five Emmys, pulling off a rare feat of two actressess winning Emmys in the same year for playing the same roles; Judy Davis and Tammy Blanchard.

Theatrical Credits

Lorna Luft made her Broadway debut in 1971 in the musical Promises, Promises at the Shubert Theatre.

Luft starred in the 1981 National Tour of They're Playing Our Song.

In 1983, she starred as "Peppermint Patty" in the Off-Broadway production of Snoopy and later that year she co-starred in Extremities with Farrah Fawcett.

In 1992 through 1994, she starred as "Adelaide" in the National and World Tour productions of Jerry Zak's Guys and Dolls.

In 1996, she starred in an Irish production of Follies in Dublin with Enda Markey, Dave Willetts and Millicent Martin. Her appearance was critically acclaimed by Irish and British theater critics.

In 2002, she starred as "Mama Rose" in the sold-out University of Richmond production of Gypsy (see .)

In November 2006 through January 2007, she co-starred in the UK premiere of Irving Berlin's White Christmas: The Musical (A new stage musical based on the film.)

She has also appeared in numerous regional theatrical productions throughout the years including Grease, Mame, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, The Boyfriend, Little Shop of Horrors, and Girl Crazy.

May - July 2007 The Musical production of Babes in Arms at The Chichester Festival Theatre.

Films

Lorna is best known for her role as "Paulette Rebchuck" in the camp classic Grease 2.

Other films include Where the Boys Are '84, 54 and My Giant. Lorna (at nine years old) can also be seen in her mother's last film, I Could Go On Singing.

Television

Luft has appeared and performed on just about every major talk/variety show around including Today, The Tonight Show, Larry King Live, Live with Regis and Kathie Lee, The Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon, The Mike Douglas Show, The Merv Griffin Show, CBS This Morning, The Sammy Davis, Jr. Show (Sammy and Company), The Dick Cavett Show, Jack Parr's Tonight, 60 Minutes, The Dinah Shore Show (Dinah!), The Vicki Lawrence Show (Vicki!), The Howie Mandell Show and Ireland's The Late Late Show among others. In addition she has hosted her own show for French Televions called "In Lorna's Eyes" and appears often on television in the UK and Ireland, most recently as a featured guest on the popular Loose Women show.

She's had featured roles on the series Love American Style, Murder She Wrote, Tales From the Darkside, The New Twilight Zone, McCloud, Caroline in the City and The Nanny among others. She played series regular "Nurse Libby Kegler" during the last season of Trapper John, M.D.; a spin-off of M*A*S*H.

Lorna has also performed on The Golden Globe Awards, The Tony Awards, The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and Christmas at Rockefeller Center among others.

Recordings

Singles

• Our Day Will Come (Epic Records single)
• Long Time (European single)
• Born Again (European single)
• Where the Boys Are (CBS Records Single)
• The Whole World's Goin' Crazee (CBS Records Dance Single)

Albums

• Songs My Mother Taught Me (Oct. 2007 - UK only)

Cast Albums and Compilations

• Grease 2 (film soundtrack)
• George and Ira Gershwin's Girl Crazy: Complete Original Soundtrack
• Stairway to the Stars (Live concert recording)
• Cole Porter Centennial Gala (Live concert recording)
• The Christmas Album...A Gift of Hope

Other recording works

She released a single version of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", which was an electronic duet with her mother.

She was briefly a backup singer for Blondie, and appears on their album Eat to the Beat.

External links

• Lorna Luft: Official Site
• Lorna's MySpace Page