Lorna Luft
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| Lorna Luft | |
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| Born | November 21, 1952 Santa Monica, California |
| Occupation | singer, actress, author, producer |
| Spouse(s) | Jake Hooker (1977-1993) Colin Freeman (1996-present) |
Lorna Luft (born November 21, 1952 in Santa Monica, California) is an American television, stage and film actress and singer. She is the daughter of the singer/actress Judy Garland and Sidney Luft who was Garland's third husband and manager. She is the half-sister of Liza Minnelli.
Lorna Luft lives in Beverly Hills with her husband, musician Colin R. Freeman, and her two children from her first marriage to musician and artist manager Jake Hooker. Her children, Vanessa and Jesse Richards, are the only grandchildren of Judy Garland.
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[edit] Childhood and early life
Luft debuted in December, 1963 on her mother’s CBS television series, The Judy Garland Show and soon joined 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 two of her children, Lorna (14 years old) and Joe (12 years old). The show was recorded live and subsequently released as Judy Garland At Home At The Palace--Opening Night.
[edit] Television
Lorna appeared in 2 episodes of the new 2007 Logo animated series Rick & Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple In All The World.
[edit] Stage
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 played Peppermint Patty in the Off-Broadway production of Snoopy and later that year she co-starred in Extremities with Farrah Fawcett.
From 1992 through 1994, she played Adelaide in the American and world tour productions of Guys and Dolls. In 1996, she appeared in an Irish production of Follies in Dublin with Enda Markey, Dave Willetts and Millicent Martin.
In 2002, she starred as "Mama Rose" in a school University of Richmond production of Gypsy.
[edit] Recent activity
In November 2006 through January 2007, she performed in the UK premiere of Irving Berlin's White Christmas: The Musical, a new stage adaptation based on the film. Lorna reprised her role in White Christmas the next year, playing the Edinburgh Playhouse from November 19 to December 8, 2007 and the Wales Millennium Centre in the Donald Gordon Theatre from December 13, 2007 through January 12, 2008.
In October 2007, she released her debut CD Lorna Luft: Songs My Mother Taught Me in the United Kingdom. Produced by Barry Manilow and Colin R. Freeman, the album celebrates the music of her legendary mother,Judy Garland. In 2005 she toured Ireland with her stage show, "Songs My Mother Taught Me."
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 at Carnegie Hall.
[edit] Films
In film, Lorna Luft played "Paulette Rebchuck" in the camp classic Grease 2. Other films include Where the Boys Are '84, 54 and My Giant.
[edit] Autobiography
She is the author of the 1998 book Me and My Shadows: A Family Memoir. Among its revelations is that she had a romance with Barry Manilow.
In 2001, the book was translated in an Emmy-winning television miniseries Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows. It starred Judy Davis as the adult Judy Garland, with Tammy Blanchard as Judy in her teenage years. Hugh Laurie portrayed Vincente Minnelli, Victor Garber as Sid Luft, and Marsha Mason as Ethel Gumm.
[edit] Charitable work
In addition to performing Luft participates in various children's and AIDS related charities including the annual Los Angeles AIDS Walk and The Children's Wish Foundation International. She has been an advocate for drug rehabilitation and has spoken for The Council on Alcohol & Drugs.
[edit] Recordings
[edit] 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)
[edit] Albums
- Songs My Mother Taught Me (October 2007 - UK)
[edit] 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
[edit] Other recordings
- She released a single version of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", an electronic duet with her mother.
- She was briefly a backup singer for Blondie, and appears on their album Eat to the Beat.
- She performed "After You're Gone" with Rufus Wainwright for Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall in June 2006.
