Liza Minnelli Reveals the One Thing Most People Don’t Know About Legendary Mother Judy Garland

Minnelli spoke about growing up in her famous family during the Liza Minnelli in Conversation event in Los Angeles on March 17

Liza Minnelli; Judy Garland.Credit : Ben Hider/Getty; Getty

Liza Minnelli, 80, revealed the one thing most people don’t know about her legendary mother, Judy Garland
Minnelli shared the insight while speaking during a career retrospective event in Los Angeles on March 17
Minnelli previously delved into her complicated relationship with her mother in a recent exclusive interview with PEOPLE

Liza Minnelli recently revealed the one thing most people don’t know about her legendary mother, Judy Garland.

Minnelli, 80, dished on growing up in the spotlight as well as her decades-long career during the Liza Minnelli in Conversation event at the Million Dollar Theater in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday, March 17.

 At one point in the conversation, the Cabaret actress said that while most people know Garland as an iconic singer, they don’t realize that The Wizard of Oz star was also incredibly funny.

Liza Minnelli with her mother, Judy Garland.Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty

Minnelli previously emphasized her mother’s comedic chops during an exclusive interview with PEOPLE published on March 10.

“Mama had been pushed around so much. You try growing up at MGM,” she said, referring to Garland’s contract with the movie studio from the time she was a child.

“[Her experience was] horrendous, but she was funny,” Minnelli added.

Garland notoriously suffered from alcohol and substance addiction throughout much of her life, and Minnelli said that she served as her mother’s emotional caretaker from an early age because of it.

Liza Minnelli and Judy Garland.Getty

However, the EGOT winner said that she believes the experience made her a more empathetic human.

“It gave me more patience,” Minnelli told PEOPLE while recalling her time with her mother. “Listening, as opposed to pretending you’re listening, really listening for what somebody’s trying to get across.”

“So, with my mom, I think about what she went through every day, how she felt. I was a big comfort to her,” she said, before quipping, “Everybody has problems with their mother. It ain’t just me — and you know it.”

 Minnelli delved further into her complicated relationship with Garland in her new memoir, Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!, which came out March 10.

She wrote that, at 13, “I was my mother’s caretaker — a nurse, doctor, pharmacologist and psychiatrist rolled into one. I lost count of the times I called doctors to say she’d run out of pills. I’d say, ‘I’m a kid, please fill my mama’s prescription!’ ”

She went on to add that as close as she was to her mother, Garland seemingly grew to see her as a professional threat as Minnelli’s own musical talents evolved.

“She could become so competitive,” Minnelli recalled.

“She was my mother. And then all of a sudden she turned into Judy Garland,” she added.