Liza Minnelli Checks Into Rehab For Alcohol Abuse, Now Making Progress
Broadway star Liza Minnelli has temporarily set aside her dancing shoes as she once again checked into a rehabilitation center in Malibu, California. The entertainer has decided to undergo treatment for alcohol abuse, her main issue, and is currently making “excellent progress,” her spokesperson confirmed.
The 69-year-old movie actress has been battling alcohol and drug addictions in the past years and has checked into rehab countless times before; her most recent in 2004. This time, however, the movie actress seems to be more determined to turn over a new leaf. Spokesman Scott Gorenstein said in a statement Wednesday night, "Liza Minnelli has valiantly battled substance abuse over the years and whenever she has needed to seek treatment she has done so," quoted by Us Magazine. "She is currently making excellent progress at an undisclosed facility," he added.
Minnelli, most known for her role Sally Bowles in the film version of “Cabaret,” had previously opened up about her struggle to fight substance abuse. Her late mother, renowned actress Judy Garland, passed away at age 47 after a drug overdose in 1969. With this, Minnelli admitted in a 2008 interview that the addictions have been there her whole life, but she has always asked for help to overcome them, Yahoo! stated.
She also revealed that she first sought help at the Betty Ford Center in 1984 for Valium and alcohol addiction, as encouraged by friend and fellow actress Elizabeth Taylor. She was also offered half a million dollars in 2010 to do VH1’s reality show “Celebrity Rehab,” which she turned down.
The legendary entertainer, who won an Oscar, a Tony, an Emmy, and a Grammy for her performances, has been facing health issues for more than a decade. Last year alone, she canceled several concerts in May due to an unspecified condition, and was not able to attend close friend Joan Rivers’ funeral in September as she was scheduled to have her broken back on surgery. She also broke her leg in three places in 2007 after tripping over her dog, and was diagnosed with viral encephalitis in 2000 which caused her stroke-like symptoms, including paralysis on one side of her body, slurred speech, and drooping facial muscles.
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