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Liza Minnelli
Liza Minnelli, actress/singer, CBS News (June 26, 2009)
He was such a good friend. And he was just a really splendid man. And a brilliant performer who changed theatrical history. I will miss him, I cannot tell you. I saw him all the time. He was so fascinated with everything. He wanted to learn. Once a week he'd have dinner - when he was in Hollywood he'd have dinner with Gregory Peck, and then another night he'd have dinner with Fred Astaire, and another night with Gene Kelly," Minnelli told Smith.
"And then every Tuesday night we had dinner. He was passionate about learning and about everything. My father adored him. He knew every word of every song in every film my father ever made. He burst into triplets and three little unexpected children, that thing when he was around my dad. He was so curious. When I took him to Martha Graham's for rehearsal, he was absolutely riveted and we went home, and he wanted to learn all of those steps. So I taught him. He was such a student of everything. The spacewalk was really done in vaudeville, but he took it and changed it and made it his own. If you notice in his early videos, his feet are kind of flat. You know, when he has the diamond outfit on. His feet are kind of flat. As you go on, he took Gene Kelly's socks, threw some glitter on them, and wore those. So you saw them all the time," she remembered.
"He wore just a silk shirt on stage. He didn't need anything," Minnelli said. "He was passionate about learning. And we used to dance together all the time. It just. I loved him. He was just sensational. He's a great, great friend and a curious, curious man. And a dear, dear friend."
“Larry King Live” (June 26, 2009) (archived)
What was your -- how did you hear about it, Liza?
LIZA MINNELLI, AWARD-WINNING ENTERTAINER, MICHAEL'S FRIEND: Oh, Larry, I couldn't believe it, honey. I -- I got a call at 2:00 in the morning telling me that -- from a lawyer telling me some that some -- a lawyer, telling me that he's gone into cardiac arrest -- they said what had happened was that he had been complaining of chest pains, you know?
This was not on purpose. He was complaining saying there's really something wrong. And the doctor was with him and he went into cardiac arrest. You know? And all I remember is what a -- he was such a good friend. He was such a good man. You know, he was a lovely, lovely man and a genius. He changed show business history.
You know that. You celebrate it all time. And I'm going to miss him. I don't know. It hasn't hit me. You know what I mean?
KING: Yes, Liza...
MINNELLI: I have to perform tomorrow night in Paris.
KING: How did you first meet him? How did you first meet him?
MINNELLI: I met him when he was about 5.
(LAUGHTER)
MINNELLI: And we met -- we met through a friend of his and his family was a mutual friend of mine. And I loved him right away. You know? He had no childhood. You know, he was pushed on stage by that father every second. They all were. And he was never allowed to be a kid. You know...
KING: Did you...
MINNELLI: He was always in front of the camera or rehearsing.
KING: Liza, did you draw the similarity between Michael Jackson and your mother? Fame early?
MINNELLI: Yes, except she had more -- she had more of a personal life. You know, I mean, she came home and we'd talk and dance and carry-on and laugh and she was there for me. She was there for me. I don't know what Michael had. But I don't think it was swell.
KING: Yes. Well, it didn't have a happily ever after wedding. Your marriage to David Gest, that ended but more important than that, Michael was involved in that, wasn't he?
MINNELLI: Oh, he was the best man. But, you know, I saw him right after, you know, (INAUDIBLE), and I said, Michael, why didn't you tell me something? Why didn't you tell me? And he said, because I thought you knew. I said, did you think I was crazy? I don't know anything.
And we started to laugh. You know, that was our relationship. We talked all the time. All the time. In fact...
KING: Well, you're...
MINNELLI: I thought maybe that he would come to the -- see me, you know, and -- but this thing is just a stunner and a lot of people are going to say a lot of things, but nobody knows for sure yet. There's no real...
KING: You are, Liza, you are a great performer in your own right. What, from a show business standpoint...
MINNELLI: Thank you, Larry.
KING: From a show business standpoint, what was his greatness?
MINNELLI: He changed show business. He changed show business. He suddenly -- he hit with a force that was spectacular as he started to grow up. And then he grew and grew and grew. All the time. He grew all the time.
You know, like I said, he had dinner with all these people all the time and he learned -- you can see from one song where his feet are kind of flat. Then you look at "Thriller" and you look at the arch in his dance foot. It was spectacular.
He was constantly learning and growing. He just loved it. And he did change history. Nothing was the same after Michael and I'm afraid nothing is going to be the same ever really again. It won't be for me.
...KING: Liza, you look unhappy. We don't want to make you unhappy. What are you feeling?
MINNELLI: No, no, no, sweetheart. I was just thinking how repulsive that reporter [who bugged Michael and defense attorney Mark Geragos’ plane], man, whoever it was -- that's just -- that will come. All right? That will all come. Everybody's going to flip. That's the way it is now. That sells papers now.
KING: Yes, sadly.
MINNELLI: For ten minutes let's celebrate. Yes, please.
KING: Well said, Liza.
MINNELLI: [To defense attorney Mark Geragos] Thank you for getting him released. Thank you for getting him off. He was not guilty, folks.
“Today” (August 30, 2009) (archived)
“He was a wonderful guy. He was a good man and for those of us who really knew him, we knew all that and (we knew) what that kid had to go through between his family and everybody else just using him so much,” Minnelli continued. “And he tried to do so much for everybody. He was always at hospitals.”
The star said she would continue to feel the loss of Jackson in the days ahead.
“I loved him, I respected him and I’ll miss him for the rest of my life,” she said.
Minnelli added that Jackson would have enjoyed her “Drop Dead Diva” role, which sees the real-life diva starring as Lilly Wells, a book-smart psychic, who engages in a legal war with her sister, played by Delta Burke. Rosie O’Donnell also appears in Minnelli’s episode with series star, Brooke Elliott.
“He would love it. I’m serious,” Minnelli said. “He would laugh. He had the best sense of humor ever.”
Think about it, that kid did more good for people than anybody will ever know, and all of his friends know it.