# Were all four of Liza Minnelli's husbands gay? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 20, 2003, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-four-of-liza-minnellis-husbands-gay/220216 "2003-12-20T22:16:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-four-of-liza-minnellis-husbands-gay/220216/21 "2003-12-21T19:55:46Z")
Whoever calls it an immaculate conception ought to know that that terms means a conception by normal biological means, but with a soul “immaculate” of original sin. Is that what Garland’s studio colleagues meant? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-four-of-liza-minnellis-husbands-gay/220216/22 "2003-12-21T19:58:37Z")
You’re being obtuse. The idea that there actually _is_ testimonial evidence of Minnelli’s homosexuality (or at least bisexuality) too much for you to take in? Whether or not they meant it in the classic Catholic manner or not is irrelevant. The meaning is clear in the context. Quibbling over whether people who said something 50 years ago meant what they appeared to mean in context or meant a particular theological concept is kind of, I don’t know…diversionary? Let it go. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-four-of-liza-minnellis-husbands-gay/220216/23 "2003-12-21T20:44:24Z")
Leaving aside the rather dippy diversion into the meaning of “immaculate conception,” I notice **Walloon** that you haven’t answered my question. > [@](#): > > Walloon, what will you accept as “evidence” other than a declaration from Minnelli himself that he was gay? ---
**Author:** ![LabRat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/898d66/32.png) [@LabRat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LabRat)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-four-of-liza-minnellis-husbands-gay/220216/24 "2003-12-21T20:50:11Z")
**Eve** I knew you’d be posting in here. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-four-of-liza-minnellis-husbands-gay/220216/25 "2003-12-21T21:51:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jayjay \* > \*\*I’ve definitely heard rumors about Jack Haley, Jr. Not unlike the rumors I’ve heard about Jack Haley, Sr. > > Whether either one is/was verifiably homosexual, no clue. Sorry. \*\* And as long as we’re spreading rumors, how many of Lisa Marie Presley’s husbands have been gay? ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-four-of-liza-minnellis-husbands-gay/220216/26 "2003-12-21T23:34:23Z")
What I am complaining about is how evidence of Vincente Minnelli’s heterosexual side is willfully ignored in a rush to declare, “He’s gay!” Any evidence presented in that direction (and I’ll repeat, he was married **four times** and had two children) is dismissed as a coverup. Under that double standard of evidence, it’s easy to bias the case. Much of Gerald Clarke’s evidence sounds second hand (“who told friends of Judy”), presumptive (“the common assumption at the studio”), or unattributed (“homosexual or mostly homosexual”), leaving only Lester Gaba as what could be called un-hearsay evidence. If you apply the same rules of evidence to both sides of the argument (and read Minnelli’s autobiography), you might get a more balanced perspective on the question. ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-four-of-liza-minnellis-husbands-gay/220216/27 "2003-12-21T23:37:01Z")
- - - Ehhhh… [http://www.norcom2000.com/users/dcimper/assorted/avrunketl/bad\_monkey/bad\_monkey.html](http://www.norcom2000.com/users/dcimper/assorted/avrunketl/bad_monkey/bad_monkey.html) … - I keep this photo only because a certain immature and uncouth web forum I frequent occasionally has “most disgusting photos” threads. ~ ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-four-of-liza-minnellis-husbands-gay/220216/28 "2003-12-21T23:40:32Z")
Well, **Walloon** , at the very least, it sounds like he was most certainly BIsexual, if not outright gay. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-four-of-liza-minnellis-husbands-gay/220216/29 "2003-12-21T23:45:02Z")
Hehehe… **supervenusfreak** just got a magazine this week with recreations of the Minnelli/Gest wedding photo with Jack Black as Minnelli and Will Farrell as Gest. I’ve been looking desperately for an online version of the photo for the last half hour… ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-four-of-liza-minnellis-husbands-gay/220216/30 "2003-12-22T00:15:46Z")
Anybody seen today’s _Opus_ cartoon? (It’s not online or I’d link to it.) It’s got a slam on Liza and her last hubby (for starters it shows **her** carrying **him** over the threshold of the wedding suite!) ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-four-of-liza-minnellis-husbands-gay/220216/31 "2003-12-22T00:21:00Z")
Jack Black and Will Ferrell’s [Liza-and-David](http://i.timeinc.net/ew/dynamic/imgs/031217/1798__blackfarrell_l.jpg) show. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-four-of-liza-minnellis-husbands-gay/220216/32 "2003-12-22T00:38:56Z")
Heh! Thanks, **Walloon**. The actual wedding picture recreation is strikingly scary. Where they got a celebrity impersonator who actually looked like Michael Jackson, I have no idea… ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-four-of-liza-minnellis-husbands-gay/220216/33 "2003-12-22T02:03:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Walloon \* > \*\*And you _have_ seen her naked? > > Liza could be quite [sexy](http://www.angelfire.com/musicals/lizaminnelli/cabnewcover.jpg) when she was younger. Heck, she can even look sexy [today](http://www.angelfire.com/musicals/lizaminnelli/up.jpg). \*\* That “today” pic looks suspiciously like a Photoshop project to me. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-four-of-liza-minnellis-husbands-gay/220216/34 "2003-12-22T02:10:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dantheman \* > \*\*That “today” pic looks suspiciously like a Photoshop project to me. \*\* The lighting is all wrong. The skin tone is all wrong. That is not her body. Hell, I don’t even know (on enlarging the pic) that anything from the neck down is _real_. There’s no depth to the fabric of the dress at all…it’s just absolutely matte black. ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-four-of-liza-minnellis-husbands-gay/220216/35 "2003-12-22T11:26:55Z")
- - - That “later” Liza picture looks like a cartoon, it’s so over-done. To illustrate my point, I have added a Czech Photoshop advertisement: [http://www.norcom2000.com/users/dcimper/assorted/avrunketl/bad\_monkey/bad\_monkey.html](http://www.norcom2000.com/users/dcimper/assorted/avrunketl/bad_monkey/bad_monkey.html) ~ ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-four-of-liza-minnellis-husbands-gay/220216/36 "2003-12-22T20:14:12Z")
I saw Liza on _Arrested Development_ last night and she looked like a pretty, slightly overweight middle-aged lady (and, I might add, she gave a pretty good comic turn—has she found her niche as a sitcom actress?). ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-four-of-liza-minnellis-husbands-gay/220216/37 "2003-12-22T20:34:49Z")
Here I thought her “niche” was as an Academy-, Tony-, Emmy-, and Grammy-winning performer with an amazing voice (although not someone who selects songs to my taste). ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-four-of-liza-minnellis-husbands-gay/220216/38 "2003-12-22T20:34:56Z")
Well, I don’t think anyone was saying that she was one fugly thing (I wasn’t, at least), just that the “recent” pic posted in this thread was way not real… ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-four-of-liza-minnellis-husbands-gay/220216/39 "2003-12-22T21:15:50Z")
I meant her middle-aged niche, **Otto**. I think her Broadway and movie-star days are behind her. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2003, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-four-of-liza-minnellis-husbands-gay/220216/40 "2003-12-23T15:12:05Z")
Middle aged? How many women do you know who live to be 114? I have a feeling we’re going in about 5-10 years see Liza back on Broadway, doing an Elaine Stritch-style one-woman show. Stripped down stage, a dearth of chorus boys, just a stool and a spotlight. And she will be hailed as an underappreciated genius and the debacles of her past will be forgiven as America (and by “America” I mean of course “New York theatre-goers”) will gather her to its collective bosom and tell her that it loves her. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-four-of-liza-minnellis-husbands-gay/220216.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-four-of-liza-minnellis-husbands-gay/220216.md?page=3)