Minnelli affectionately called Ol’ Blue Eyes “Uncle Frank” throughout her lifetime.

Liza Minnelli refers to mom Judy Garland’s relationship with Frank Sinatra as more than an ‘affair’ in new book

Minnelli affectionately called Ol' Blue Eyes "Uncle Frank" throughout her lifetime.

By Marina Watts

Marina Watts is a news writer for with seven years experience covering entertainment, pop culture and celebrity news. Her previous work appears in PEOPLE, Bustle and *Newsweek*.

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March 10, 2026 12:41 p.m. ET

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Liza Minnelli in 2009; Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland in 1958. Credit:

Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic; Al Morch/Graphic House/Archive Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty

- Liza Minnelli called her mother Judy Garland's relationship with Frank Sinatra a "passionate love."

- She called Sinatra and Garland "very complicated, mercurial, intense human beings."

- *Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!* is available for purchase wherever books are sold.**

Liza Minnelli is pulling back the curtain on her mother Judy Garland's relationship with Frank Sinatra.

In her new memoir, *Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!*, Minnelli detailed the "passionate love" between the *Wizard of Oz *star and the man she affectionately referred to as “Uncle Frank."

Minnelli recalled how Sinatra was among the guests her parents Garland and Vincente Minnelli would invite over for parties. She also "spent hours" in her room, "learning songs" Sinatra sang. She also said he was one of the first people to hold her when she was born, calling him "always present in our lives" and loving her family — especially Garland.

"During the time my parents were married, I eventually figured out that there was more between Frank and Mama than friendship. Much more," wrote Minnelli. She called Sinatra and Garland "very complicated, mercurial, intense human beings."**

Liza Minnelli and Judy Garland in 1963.

Minnelli said that Garland would "always back away from a deeper commitment." "Yet it diminishes their relationship to call it an 'affair.' It was certainly more than that, and deeply romantic," Minnelli wrote. Despite Garland being married several times throughout her life, Minnelli said that Sinatra was "one of the greatest loves, if not the greatest love, of her life."

The *Cabaret *actress also said that Sinatra once bought her mother a dazzling and "terribly chic" Tiffany & Co. Sixteen Stone Ring by Jean Schlumberger, dripping in diamonds. Garland wore it, but never on the finger Sinatra had hoped for.

When Garland died in 1969, Sinatra offered to pay for her funeral and burial, added Minnelli. "He was always there for us," she wrote.**

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Elsewhere in her memoir, Minnelli recalled touring with Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. in the 1980s, stepping in for Dean Martin after he fell ill. She became close with Ol' Blue Eyes during this time, but she did note that he could be difficult.

"He got cranky some nights, and when that happened I’d just leave the room," she wrote, noting that no one wanted to be in his presence "when he got into one of those moods," even if you weren't at fault.

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Minnelli also claimed that he "snapped" one night before a performance when she was holding a microphone and he wasn't given one. "What kind of cheap joint is this, with only one mic?" he said at the time. The moment quickly passed after a staffer handed him a microphone, and Minnelli and Sinatra stepped on stage. Sinatra died in 1998.

The cover of Liza Minnelli's 'Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!'.

Grand Central Publishing

Minnelli's memoir is packed with anecdotes from throughout her many years in showbiz. *Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!* is available for purchase wherever books are sold.**

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