LEEZA Gibbons has snagged an exclusive interview with Lorna Luft, daughter of Judy Garland and sister of Liza Minnelli.
On tonight’s “Extra” (7 p.m. on Ch. 4), Luft describes to Gibbons how she mended fences with her half-sister Minnelli, from whom Luft had been estranged for six years after a falling out over how to market Garland’s name.
The sisters reconciled when Minnelli was in the hospital last October, hovering near death after contracting deadly encephalitis.
Minnelli eventually recovered and has resumed performing.
“I think that when someone is sick, you put, especially if you love that person, everything else doesn’t matter anymore,” says Luft, who describes the sisters’ relationship as “great.”
The relationship was so solid, in fact, that Minnelli, 54, had planned on spending last Thanksgiving with Luft – but had to cancel when she couldn’t leave her bed in Florida.
Luft’s father was Hollywood producer Sid Luft, while Minelli’s dad was film director Vincent Minnelli.
Luft recently produced the ABC miniseries, “Me & My Shadows,” which gives a childhood view of life growing up with her mother and Minnelli.
Luft says Garland was proud of both of her daughters.
“That is the biggest compliment,” she says.
Over the past several years, Liza Minnelli – who starred in movies like “Cabaret” and “Arthur” – has suffered from a variety of ailments, but has always pulled through.