Judy Garland was still a teenager when she starred in the 1939 Hollywood classic “The Wizard of Oz” as Dorothy Gale, a young Kansas girl who fought alongside a trio of unlikely friends against the Wicked Witch of the West .

Both the film and the children’s books by L. Frank Baum on which The Wizard of Oz was based served as inspiration for Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West From then on it was a hit The Broadway musical “Wicked” came out in 2003 and now there is a blockbuster Hollywood adaptation.

Garland, who was born Frances Ethel Gumm, spent her childhood on stage in a family vaudeville act. She rose to fame for her role opposite Mickey Rooney in a number of popular Hollywood musicals before landing the role of Dorothy.

Garland received a special award from the Academy Juvenile for her portrayal of Dorothy and went on to star in box office hits such as “Meet Me in St. Louis,” directed by future husband Vincente Minnelli, and “Easter Parade,” starring Fred Astaire. She was later nominated for an Academy Award for her dramatic performances in A Star is Born (1954) and Judgment at Nuremberg (1961).

The actress and singer, who struggled with addiction and mental health issues, gave birth to her first child, Liza Minnelli, with director Vincente Minnelli in March 1946.

Garland and her third husband, manager and producer Sidney Luft, had a daughter, Lorna Luft, in November 1952 and a son, Joey Luft, in March 1955.

Read on to learn more about Judy Garland’s three children.

Liza Minnelli

Garland welcomed her first child, daughter Liza Minnelli, with her second husband, Vincente Minnelli, in 1946.

Liza Minnelli, who became a stage and screen superstar in her own right, showed talent from a young age. She appeared as an entertainer on her mother’s CBS variety show “The Judy Garland Show.”

Liza Minnelli, now 78, won several Tony Awards, an Emmy, an honorary Grammy and an Oscar for best actress in the Hollywood adaptation of the musical “Cabaret” (1972).

According to The Guardian, over the years Liza Minnelli has shared memories of her childhood with her famous mother, who apparently died of an accidental barbiturate overdose in 1969.

“One of the biggest misconceptions about my mom is that she didn’t give me a happy childhood,” Liza Minnelli told Vogue Arabia in 2019. “There were certainly ups and downs, but I can say that I was very happy. If people decide whether they believe that or not, it’s up to them, but I know I was happy.”

She added: “My fondest memory of my mum was the conversations we had. As a teenager, I became her best friend and confidante. We laughed and talked for hours. “Sometimes in person, sometimes on the phone, depending on where we were.”

Minnelli and her half-sister Lorna Luft told Entertainment Tonight in a joint interview in 2022 that their family home was visited by Hollywood legends. including Humphrey Bogart and Lana Turner.

“But it was so funny, when mom was in the room, no one cared,” Liza Minnelli said of her mother’s charisma. “She was so funny. She was fun.”

The sisters also protested the media’s portrayal of Garland as a “tragic” figure.

“That’s what bothers me the most,” Liza Minnelli said. “They said ‘tragic,’ Judy Garland, and I said, ‘Oh, shut up.’ It was her humor and her kindness. … She was hilarious with her family.”

When Liza Minnelli was asked in a 2020 interview with Variety about her fondest memory of her late mother, she answered “everything.”

“We had so much fun because she was so funny. She was funny and loved her children so much. She was protective and very strict. She wanted you to do the right thing, like every mother. It’s that simple,” shared Liza Minnelli.

The actor was married and divorced four times. Her second husband was Jack Haley Jr., the son of actor Jack Haley, who played the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz.

Liza Minnelli, who has no children, is the subject of the upcoming documentary “Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story,” scheduled for release in January 2025.

Lorna Luft

Garland’s younger daughter Lorna Luft, who turned 72 on November 21, also followed in the Hollywood legend’s footsteps and pursued a career in show business.

Lorna Luft, whose father was Garland’s third husband, Sidney Luft, starred on the Broadway stage in “Promises, Promises” and toured in the national productions of “Guys and Dolls” and “White Christmas.”

Lorna Luft also appeared in the 1982 film “Grease 2” and appeared as a featured star in hit TV shows such as “Murder, She Wrote,” “Trapper John, MD,” “The Nanny” and “Caroline in the City.” on.

During their joint interview with Entertainment Tonight in 2022, Lorna Luft agreed with her sister Liza Minnelli that Garland was a “fun” mother.

“Our mother had such an extraordinary sense of humor and that was her guide to survival. I can tell you that finding the funny – just finding the funny – was my lifeline,” Lorna Luft explained. “And we do, we just think it’s funny because I think that’s how we were raised and raised and we watched a woman who found that funny.”

She wrote lovingly about her home life with Garland in the 1998 tell-all novel “Me and My Shadows: A Family Memoir,” which was adapted into an Emmy-winning television movie. She also co-authored the 2018 book “A Star is Born: Judy Garland and the Film That Got Away.”

Lorna Luft has a son and a daughter, both of whom she has posted about on social media, and is married to composer Colin Freeman.

Joey Luft

Garland’s only son, Joey Luft, was just 14 years old when his mother died in 1969.

Joey Luft, the son of Garland and Sidney Luft, has spent most of his life out of the spotlight, although he too has dabbled in entertainment.

The younger Air appeared on a special holiday episode of Garland’s CBS variety show “The Judy Garland Show” in 1963, singing the song “Where Is Love?”

“(Garland) opened the show with ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,'” Joey Luft recalled to the Los Angeles Times in 2014. “Our living room (at the Luft family home) on Rockingham Avenue was copied so that the Christmas show looked like our living room.”

Garland’s youngest child later studied photography and sound, telling the outlet, “I was more behind the camera.”

Joey Luft, his sister Lorna and his half-sister Liza made headlines when they appeared together at the 2014 Academy Awards for a special 75th anniversary tribute to The Wizard of Oz.

Like his siblings, Joey Luft has fond memories of growing up with Garland.

“She was a performer. She was a mother. She loved people,” he told the LA Times. “She was the most caring person. She had the greatest sense of humor.”

In honor of his mother, Joey Luft collected footage and stories about her to create the stage show “A Judy Garland Concert with Joey Luft,” which premiered at the Pasadena Playhouse outside Los Angeles in 2014, according to the LA Times.

“It’s just so much fun to go out and talk about them and let people know, ‘This really happened,'” he told the publication.

“(Audiences) know ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ but people don’t even know Judy,” he added. “The show is designed to educate people and show who she was, what she did and what she stood for – one of the greatest entertainers in the world.”