Profile: Catching up with Liza Minnelli

Daughter of director Vincente Minnelli and the incomparable Judy Garland, Liza Minnelli forged her own place among the icons of entertainment. She has achieved the rare EGOT — winning an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony (four times). She's also been awarded two Golden Globes.

A multitalented super-celebrity at 64, Minnelli continues to create with enthusiasm. Her newest CD, intriguingly titled "Confessions," is out on the Decca label. It was recorded in her home while she recovered from knee surgery. The production quality has a very intimate feel. For more of Minnelli, mark your calendars for Dec. 11, when she will discuss her parents and her extensive career with TCM host Robert Osborne on an installment of "Private Screenings."

An interview:

Q: Your new CD "Confessions" is very intimate. Did you feel vulnerable?

A: Well, the thing is they are songs that — I'm not performing. I'm just doing what we do at parties. I've been around music my whole life. I give parties on a Saturday or Sunday sometimes and people come over. Musicians like Tony Bennett or Janet Jackson, just a bunch of people who are pals of mine, you know? We have a good dinner, and eventually we all end up at the piano and everybody sings something. We sing it for the fun of it — to each other. We know we don't have to perform. That's really what this album is, and they really had a little bit of trouble trying to talk me into it. (Laughs) I said, "Are you sure people would be interested in this?" And Billy Stritch (her longtime pianist) said, "I think they will be." I had a knee replacement, and so we did it after that. I was homebound anyway, and there was nothing else to do. So Billy came over and we just recorded it. (Laughs) We did it in my house for the fun of it.

Q: Liza, do you find yourself thinking of someone in particular when you sing certain love songs?

A: Oh, I think you sing about every lover you ever had. Or just the beauty of the song, like if you saw it in a movie or something — the memory of watching the film. Yeah, it's just private. It's so hard to explain. Some of it is just for fun, like "He's a Tramp," from "Lady and the Tramp." I love "Confession," which I heard when I was about 11. It was on a Judy Holliday album with Jerry Mulligan, and she was working with my dad on "Bells Are Ringing." He brought it home, and he played it. I used to love to learn songs because they said what I couldn't say. I was too shy. So I collected lyrics the way some kids collect stamps. (Laughs)

Q: Is there any song that you find too hard to sing emotionally and so you would never sing it?