In 1977, Halston hosted a white-themed party for Jagger at the nightclub, where she and Minnelli released white doves. She, Halston, Warhol, and Bianca Jagger became seemingly inseparable, and their clubhouse was Studio 54. "She's managed to hold on to them through several divorces.") ("That's the first thing you see: She opens the door and there's like five Lizas staring at you," says Cumming. He would get what he wanted very quickly he had an idea." Minnelli still has her Warhols hanging in the foyer of her Upper East Side apartment. "It was so busy down there," she remembers. Curious about everything, very nice man, wouldn't harm a fly." She says that sitting for him was not a drawn-out affair, since the Factory was a bustling social outpost where she'd bump into stars like John Lennon. "He was fascinated by things around him, and I admired him for that. "It was the period when Warhol wore a tuxedo and carried a camera," she continues. "Whenever there was a dinner or something at H.'s house, he would be there," she says. She didn't dare utter a word to him until later, when Halston introduced them properly and they became close. "He would be there in his leather jacket, and I never approached him, never told him my name or anything. Before that, she'd visited the Factory a few times but had been too shy to introduce herself. It was through Halston that Minnelli got to know Warhol. She'd do fittings with Elizabeth Taylor-"We'd laugh and giggle," she remembers-and carry on into the night at "101," as habitués including Andy Warhol, Truman Capote, and Bianca Jagger called the pad. Halston taught Minnelli how to dress, accompanied her to parties-from Studio 54 to society galas-and made his notoriously glamorous home at 101 East 63rd Street her own. "We got along instantly, and he became my fashion mate. And I thought, Oh, wow, this is great." Seeing the spark, Thompson took Minnelli to meet Halston at his studio. "It was cut differently-thinner and longer," she says. Out of the corner of her eye, she glimpsed a Halston sweater-and-pants ensemble on display. Her "aha" moment happened, she says, when she and Thompson were shopping at Bloomingdale's together. Today it's a rich red cashmere sweater set over the black leggings and knee-high boots. Like a real-life fairy godmother, Thompson introduced a young Minnelli to Halston, who became her confidant, partner in crime, and, most important, fashion guru until his death in 1990. She's just a bundle of energy, and she doesn't have a sort of cynicism, and that can sometimes be useful as an adult," says actor Alan Cumming, her friend. The hotel's miniature jam pots and tea sandwiches elicit delight, and she'll happily trill a line or two of song. And I said, 'Now I know why!'''Įven as she turns 65 this month, Minnelli brings to mind Eloise, the character created by her beloved godmother, Kay Thompson, and often said to be based on her. And I said to her, 'How come nobody is taking your picture?' She said, 'Well, watch.' She took her scarf off, straightened her shoulders, and draped something another way, and we were surrounded. She was going to actors' studio, and she was taking me to show me what it was all about. Seating is inspected and rejected, music is adjusted, and high tea is served.īut back to Marilyn: "I was walking down Broadway with her and nobody was stopping us. The staff lines up to greet her, and she bestows a kiss on the general manager. As she sweeps into the Plaza Athénée hotel with members of Team Liza-her publicist and indefatigable assistant-everything in the lobby stops. And she's often treated like a queen, though she doesn't demand it. It's classic Minnelli: Just when you think that she might be just like us, out comes something that reminds you she's Hollywood royalty. After all, if anyone knows how to go incognito, it's her she learned from the best. Just her, taking a stroll offstage, out of the spotlight. The next time you see a petite figure striding down New York's Madison Avenue, clad in black leggings and red lipstick with a baseball cap on her head, it might be Liza Minnelli window-shopping.
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