Lorna Luft

Lorna Luft
Luft in May 2010
Born	(1952-11-21) November 21, 1952 (age 59) Santa Monica, California, US
Occupation	Actress, author, singer
Years active	1963–present
Spouse	Jake Hooker (1977–1993) Colin Freeman (1996–present)

Lorna Luft (born November 21, 1952) is an American television, stage, and film actress and singer. She is the daughter of singer and actress Judy Garland and Sid Luft, and the half-sister of singer and actress Liza Minnelli.

Biography

Luft was born in Santa Monica, California to Judy Garland (who was of English, Scottish and Irish descent) and her third husband, Sid Luft (who was of German Jewish descent). She made her showbusiness debut at age 11 singing "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" on the 1963 Christmas episode of her mother's CBS television series, The Judy Garland Show^[1]. Siblings Liza Minnelli and Joey Luft also appeared in this episode.

She soon joined the family act on a summer concert tour, the highlight being Garland’s third and final appearance at New York City's famed Palace Theatre on Broadway in 1967.^[2] In this month-long engagement, Judy Garland "shared" the bill with Lorna (then 14 years old) and son Joey (12 years old). The show was recorded live and released on ABC Records as Judy Garland: At Home At The Palace.^[3]

Luft is married to her second husband, musician Colin R. Freeman.^[4]

Luft has two children, Vanessa and Jesse Richards, born during her first marriage to musician and artist manager Jake Hooker.

Stage and television career

Luft appeared as Nurse Libby Kegler on the CBS television series Trapper John, M.D. during that show's final season, 1985–1986. She appeared in two episodes of the 2007 Logo animated series Rick & Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple In All The World. Luft made her Broadway debut in 1971 at the Shubert Theatre as a replacement cast member in the musical Promises, Promises,^[5] adapted from the classic 1960 Billy Wilder film The Apartment. The show is best known for the hit song "I'll Never Fall in Love Again".

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!!! The Musical^[6] (a sequel to You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown^[7]) and later that year she co-starred in Extremities with Farrah Fawcett.^[7][8]

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 Mary Millar, Alex Sharpe, Christine Scarry, Aidan Conway, Enda Markey, Dave Willetts and Millicent Martin. In 2002, she starred as Mama Rose in a University of Richmond school production of Gypsy.

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 her husband Colin R. Freeman, the album celebrates the music of her mother. 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 Garland's triumphant 1961 comeback at Carnegie Hall.

Luft appeared in The Wizard Of Oz, the stage show of the movie that made her mother famous, at The Lowry Centre in Manchester, England. She portrayed the role of the Wicked Witch of the West, played by Margaret Hamilton in the 1939 film.

In April 2009, Luft completed a successful UK tour of the critically acclaimed Hugh Whitemore play Pack of Lies, in which she played the role of Helen Kroger. She starred alongside Jenny Seagrove, Simon Shepherd and Daniel Hill. In May 2009, she appeared in W magazine as a special guest performer for the acclaimed avant-garde Theo Adams Company's latest project, 'Performance', photographed by David Sims.^[9]In July 2009, she appeared at the Mermaid Theatre, London to record for the radio series Friday Night is Music Night. Lorna Luft and Friends – A Tribute to Judy Garland also featured John Barrowman, Frances Ruffelle and Linzi Hateley.

Luft participates in various children's and AIDS-related charities, including the annual Los Angeles AIDS Walk and The Children's Wish Foundation International.^[10] She has been an advocate for drug rehabilitation and has spoken for The Council on Alcohol & Drugs.

Film career

In film, Luft played Paulette Rebchuck in the feature film Grease 2 (1982). Other films include Where the Boys Are '84 (1984), Fearstalker (1998), 54 (1998) and My Giant (1998).

Published works

She is the author of the 1998 book Me and My Shadows: A Family Memoir. Among its revelations is that she had a romantic crush on Barry Manilow.^[4] In 2001, the book was adapted as an Emmy-winning^[11] TV miniseries Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows. It stars Judy Davis as the adult Judy, Tammy Blanchard as the teenage Judy, Hugh Laurie as Vincente Minnelli, Victor Garber as Sid Luft, and Marsha Mason as Ethel Gumm.

Recordings

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)

Albums

• Songs My Mother Taught Me (October 2007, UK)

DVDs

• Lorna Live in Oz (2009, Australia)

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

Other recordings

• She released a single version of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", an electronic duet with her mother.
• She sang backing vocals on the Blondie album Eat to the Beat.
• She performed "After You've Gone" with Rufus Wainwright for Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall in June 2006.

Stage appearances

• Judy Garland: At Home at the Palace (July 31 – August 26, 1967) (Palace Theater) (one-woman show)
• The Boy Friend (July 5 – August 14, 1970) (Banff Centre)
• Promises, Promises (cast member from October 1971 – January 1972) (replacement for Jill O'Hara)
• Grease (July 8–13, 1980) (Dayton, Ohio)
• Carnival! (November 1980) (Club Benet, New Jersey)
• They're Playing Our Song (February–April 1981) (national tour)
• Snoopy!!! The Musical (February 21 – May 1, 1983) (Lamb's Theatre)
• Extremities (cast member from July–September 1983) (West Side Arts Center/Cheryl Crawford Theater)
• Little Shop of Horrors (April 1986) (Santa Barbara, California)
• Mame (December 5, 1986 – January 9, 1987) (Jupiter, Florida)
• The Unsinkable Molly Brown (June 16 – July 12, 1987) (Jupiter, Florida)
• A Bawdy Evening (August 1987) (Village Cabaret Theater, California)
• Girl Crazy (May 17–27, 1988) (Birmingham, Michigan)
• Jerry Herman's Broadway Years (March 18 – May 7, 1990) (national tour)
• Hollywood & Broadway (February 27 – May 24, 1992) (UK/European tour)
• Guys and Dolls (September 1992 – April 1994) (national and world tour)
• Magical World of Musicals (April 12 – July 9, 1995) (UK/European tour)
• Follies (May 26, 1996) (Dublin, Ireland)
• Songs My Mother Taught Me (1999–present) (one-woman show)
• Caged (February 19, 2001) (New York City Hall)
• Gypsy (November 21–24, 2002) (Richmond, Virginia)
• White Christmas (November 19, 2006 – January 12, 2008) (US national tour, UK/Scotland tour)
• Babes in Arms (May 25 – July 7, 2007) (Chichester Festival Theatre)
• The Wizard of Oz (November 29, 2008 – January 4, 2009) (The Lowry)
• Pack of Lies (February–April 2009) (UK tour)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Lorna Luft

• Official website
• Lorna Luft at MySpace
• Lorna Luft at the Internet Movie Database
• Lorna Luft at the Internet Broadway Database
• Lorna Luft at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• July 2008 interview with Lorna Luft on BroadwayWorld.com