Liza set for TCM special about parents

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- Entertainer Liza Minnelli has been booked to discuss her parents' legacy with TCM interviewer Robert Osborne for a new U.S. television special.

"Private Screenings: Liza Minnelli" is to air Dec. 11. Rather than focusing on Minnelli herself, the special is intended to take the unique approach of centering on the lives and careers of Minnelli's famous parents, Judy Garland and Vincente Minnelli, the cable network said.

In conjunction with the premiere, TCM said it will run two nights -- Dec. 11 and Dec. 14 -- filled with films starring Garland, directed by Vincente Minnelli and/or starring Liza Minnelli.

"Liza Minnelli has a perspective about Hollywood unlike anyone else," Osborne said in a statement. "She is an Academy Award-winning actress with parents who both were also Oscar winners. Her playground was soundstages, where she watched her parents and other film icons work, so she has insights into their world, which became her world. Her story is at once fascinating, dramatic and touching and has never been extensively told before. We're very excited to be able to devote two nights to celebrating the lives and work of this extraordinary family."

Liza Minnelli won the best actress Oscar for "Cabaret" in 1972.

Vincente Minnelli won the directing Oscar for "Gigi" in 1958.

Garland won a special award for outstanding performance as a screen juvenile in 1939.