Lorna Luft (born November 21, 1952) is an American actress and singer. She is the daughter of Judy Garland and Sidney Luft, the sister of Joey Luft and the half-sister of Liza Minnelli.
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Early life
Luft was born on November 21, 1952, at Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California to Judy Garland and Garland's third husband, Sidney Luft. She attended University High School in Los Angeles during her senior year and was a member of the school choir. She studied theatre at HB Studio in New York City.
Career
Stage and television
Luft made her show business debut at age 11, singing "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" on the 1963 Christmas episode of Garland's CBS television series The Judy Garland Show. Siblings Liza Minnelli and Joey Luft also appeared. Garland sang the song "Lorna" to Luft on episode 19 of The Judy Garland Show in 1964: an original number composed by Mort Lindsey and Johnny Mercer especially for Luft at Garland's request. The song was later featured on the 2006 Garland compilation Great Day! Rare Recordings from the Judy Garland Show.
Luft soon joined the family act on a summer concert tour, the highlight of which was Garland's third and final appearance at New York's famed Palace Theatre on Broadway in 1967, two years before her mother's death. In this month-long engagement, Garland "shared" the bill with Luft (then 14 years old) and Joey (12 years old). The show was recorded live and released on ABC Records as Judy Garland at Home at the Palace.
Luft made her Broadway debut in 1971 at the Shubert Theatre as a replacement cast member in the musical Promises, Promises, adapted from the classic 1960 Billy Wilder film The Apartment. It is best known for the hit song "I'll Never Fall in Love Again".
On October 7, 1981, Luft performed at Carnegie Hall in New York, which was said to be the culmination of a lifelong dream. She starred in the 1981–82 national tour of They're Playing Our Song, and in 1982 she played Paulette Rebchuck in Grease 2. In 1983, she played Peppermint Patty in the off-Broadway production of Snoopy! The Musical, a sequel to You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. Later that year, she costarred in Extremities with Farrah Fawcett.
Luft appeared as Nurse Libby Kegler on the CBS television series Trapper John, M.D. during its final season of 1985–1986. She also appeared as Patti Bristol in "Broadway Malady", a 1985 episode of Murder, She Wrote. In the episode, Luft played the daughter of Vivian Blaine, who had originated the role of Adelaide in Guys and Dolls on Broadway, while Luft would go on to play the same role in the 1992–1994 national and worldwide tours.
In 1996, Luft appeared in a production of Follies in Dublin with Mary Millar, Alex Sharpe, Christine Scarry, Aidan Conway, Enda Markey, Dave Willetts and Millicent Martin. In 2002, she starred as Mama Rose in a University of Richmond school production of Gypsy.
Film
Luft has appeared in the films Grease 2 (1982), Where the Boys Are '84 (1984), Fear Stalk (1989), 54 (1998) and My Giant (1998). She and her brother Joey made cameo appearances in the 1963 film I Could Go On Singing.
Author
Luft is the author of the 1998 book Me and My Shadows: A Family Memoir. Among its revelations is the fact that she had an affair with Barry Manilow in 1971. In 2001, the book was adapted as an Emmy-winning TV miniseries titled Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows. It stars Judy Davis as the adult Judy, Tammy Blanchard as the teenage Judy, Hugh Laurie as Vincente Minnelli, Victor Garber as Sid Luft, and Marsha Mason as Ethel Gumm. Luft is the co-author, along with film historian Jeffrey Vance, of the 2018 book A Star Is Born: Judy Garland and the Film That Got Away, which she states is "a vivid account of the film classic's production, loss, and reclamation."
Personal life
Luft participates in events which are held by various children's and AIDS-related charities, including the annual Los Angeles AIDS Walk and The Children's Wish Foundation International. Luft and her first husband Jerry Mamberg, also known as Jake Hooker, divorced in 1993. They had two children together, a son, Jesse, a daughter, Vanessa, and have four grandchildren. She currently resides in Palm Springs, California, with her second husband, the British-born composer and arranger, Colin Freeman.
Health
Luft was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2012 and she finished her last chemotherapy treatment in 2013. Two years later, the U.K. tour of Judy - The Songbook of Judy Garland concluded early on July 11, 2015, and she returned to the U.S. for surgical treatment following a re-emergence of the breast cancer.
In March 2018, Luft was diagnosed with a brain tumor after she collapsed following a performance in London.
Later that month, Luft underwent successful surgery to remove the tumor.
Discography
Filmography
Published works
Luft, Lorna (1998). Me and My Shadows: A Family Memoir. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0671019006., autobiography
Luft, Lorna; Fricke, John (2003). Judy Garland: A Portrait in Art & Anecdote. Bulfinch Press. ISBN 978-0821228364., biography
Luft, Lorna; Vance, Jeffrey (2018). A Star Is Born: Judy Garland and the Film That Got Away. Running Press. ISBN 978-0762464807., biography
