Minnelli's first film appearance was at the age of three in the final scene of the 1949 musical In the Good Old Summertime, starring her mother and Van Johnson. Minnelli started performing at age 16, in 1963, in an Off-Broadway revival of the musical Best Foot Forward, for which she received good notices. The next year, her mother invited Minnelli to perform with her at the London Palladium. The audience loved her, launching her musical career. She returned to Broadway at 19, and won a 1965 Tony Award for Flora the Red Menace. Minnelli would also receive Tony Awards for The Act in 1978 and a special Tony in 1974. She was nominated in 1984 for The Rink but lost to her costar, Chita Rivera.
The film The Sterile Cuckoo (1969), in which Minnelli starred as a love-seeking teenage misfit, garnered the young actress her first Academy Award nomination. In 1972, Minnelli won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role as Sally Bowles in the movie version of Cabaret, along with Joel Grey who won an Oscar reprising his role from the original Broadway production (that of the Emcee).
Minnelli has the distinction of being one of the few Academy Award winners whose parents are both Academy Award nominees. She has also won an Emmy Award for the 1972 TV special Liza with a Z. Minnelli received a 1990 Grammy Legend Award. She received Golden Globe Awards for Cabaret and for the TV movie A Time to Live.
Minnelli, like her mother, is known for her powerful vocal style, as in her trademark songs "Cabaret" and "Theme from New York, New York". Minnelli's original version of the latter, for the film in which she was a co-star with Robert DeNiro, preceded Frank Sinatra's successful cover version (for his Trilogy album), by two years.
After her performance as leading lady to Dudley Moore in 1981's Arthur, Minnelli made fewer, and fewer successful, film appearances.
She returned to Broadway in 1997, taking over the title role in the musical Victor/Victoria, replacing Julie Andrews. In his review, New York Times critic Ben Brantley commented, "her every stage appearance is perceived as a victory of show-business stamina over psychic frailty... She asks for love so nakedly and earnestly, it seems downright vicious not to respond."
Following her 2002 wedding to David Gest, Minnelli and Gest signed with the American cable network VH1 to star in their own reality series, but production of the series was cancelled at the last minute.
In 2004 and 2005 she appeared as a recurring guest star on the critically acclaimed TV sitcom Arrested Development as the lover of sexually and socially awkward Buster Bluth.
On January 1, 2006, she sang "New York, New York" at the second inauguration of New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. Other famous performances were at the 1978 Studio 54 party honoring New York City's revival, at which a guest was Mayor Ed Koch; the reopening of the Statue of Liberty on July 4, 1986; and at a 2001 New York Mets baseball game that was the metro area's first major sporting event after the September 11 attacks.
In 2013, she guest-starred on the NBC musical drama Smash, where she performed the number A Love Letter From the Times. She also reprised her role in the fourth season of Arrested Development.
Mein Herr
Liza Minnelli Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A tiger is a tiger, not a lamb, mein herr
You'll never turn the vinegar to jam, mein herr
So I do what I do
When I'm through, then I'm through.
and I'm through.
Tootle-oo.
Bye bye mein lieber herr
it was a fine affair, but now it's over
And though I used to care, I need the open air
you're better off without me mein herr.
don't dab your eye, mein herr
or wonder why, mein herr
I always said that I was a rover
You musn't knit your brow
you should have known by now
you've every cause to doubt me mein herr
The continent of Europe is so wide, mein herr.
Not only up and down, but side to side, mein herr.
I couldn't ever cross it if I tried, mein herr.
But I do what I can
inch by inch
step by step
mile by mile
man by man
Bye bye mein Herr.
Bye bye mein lieber Herr.
Auf wiedersehen, mein Herr.
Es war sehr gut, mein Herr, und vorbei.
Du kennst mich wohl, mein Herr.
Ach, lebe wohl, mein Herr.
Du sollst mich nie mehr sehen mein Herr.
bye bye mein lieber herr
farewell mein lieber herr
it was a fine affair but now it's over
and though I used to care
I need the open air
You're better off without me mein herr
Don't dab your eye mein herr
or wonder why mein herr
I've always said that I was a rover
You musn't knit your brow
you should have known by now
you've every cause to doubt me mein herr
bye bye mein lieber herr
farewell mein lieber herr
it was a fine affair but now it's over
and though i used to care
i need the open air
you're better off without me
you're better without me
you're better without me
bye bye
mein herr
mein herr
The song "Mein Herr" by Liza Minnelli is written from the perspective of a woman who is bidding farewell to her lover, whom she addresses as "mein herr" throughout the song. The lyrics convey that the woman is a free spirit who cannot be tamed or tied down, and the relationship has run its course. She acknowledges that her lover may be upset, confused or hurt by her departure, but assures him that he is better off without her because she is unable to change the way she is. Even though she used to care for him, she needs to move on and explore the continent of Europe, which is so wide that she couldn't cross it even if she tried. The woman urges her lover not to be sad or doubt himself, as it was always clear that she was a rover.
Through the use of metaphors such as "a tiger is a tiger, not a lamb" and "you'll never turn vinegar to jam," the woman emphasises that she is who she is and cannot change, no matter how hard her lover may try. She also uses repetition of "bye bye mein lieber herr" and "farewell mein lieber herr" to underscore the finality of their relationship, and the contrast between "mein lieber herr" and "mein herr" in the chorus denotes a shift in the woman's attitude towards her lover from affectionate to more formal.
Overall, "Mein Herr" is a bittersweet song about coming to terms with the end of a relationship and accepting that some things cannot change.
Line by Line Meaning
You have to understand the way I am, mein herr
I have a certain nature that you must learn to accept
A tiger is a tiger, not a lamb, mein herr
I am fierce and strong, not meek and mild
You'll never turn the vinegar to jam, mein herr
You cannot change who I am
So I do what I do
I behave in the way that is true to my nature
When I'm through, then I'm through.
Once I have made my decision, I stick to it
and I'm through.
I have decided to end our relationship
Tootle-oo.
Goodbye
Bye bye mein lieber herr
Farewell, my dear sir
farewell mein lieber herr
Goodbye, my dear sir
it was a fine affair, but now it's over
We had a good time, but it's time to move on
And though I used to care, I need the open air
Although I had feelings for you, I need my freedom
you're better off without me mein herr.
It's for the best that we part ways
don't dab your eye, mein herr
Don't cry, my dear sir
or wonder why, mein herr
Don't question my decision
I always said that I was a rover
I have always been honest about my desire to explore and move on
You musn't knit your brow
Don't worry or be upset
you should have known by now
You should have understood my nature
you've every cause to doubt me mein herr
You have reason to question my intentions
The continent of Europe is so wide, mein herr.
Europe is vast and expansive
Not only up and down, but side to side, mein herr.
It stretches in all directions
I couldn't ever cross it if I tried, mein herr.
Even if I wanted to, I could not traverse it entirely
But I do what I can
I make the most of what I am able to do
inch by inch
Slowly and steadily
step by step
Gradually and carefully
mile by mile
Over long distances
man by man
With the help of others
Auf wiedersehen, mein Herr.
Goodbye, my dear sir
Es war sehr gut, mein Herr, und vorbei.
It was very good, my dear sir, but it's over
Du kennst mich wohl, mein Herr.
You know me well, my dear sir
Ach, lebe wohl, mein Herr.
Oh, farewell, my dear sir
Du sollst mich nie mehr sehen mein Herr.
You will never see me again, my dear sir
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, ROUND HILL CARLIN, LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: FRED EBB, JOHN KANDER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@trainliker100
In some interview, Josh Brolin said that having a celebrity parent can get you a job, but not a career. Liza Minelli is an example of someone who had the talent to make it a career.
@DancingQueenie
Have you seen her in Arrested Development? OMG she is hilarious.
@dkelly26666
Absolutely. She isn't a coattail kid celebrity. She has amazing talent, herself.
@shahramkhodadadi9542
So R u telling me that jaden smith is a talented dude or purely in showbiz because of his dad ????
@littlesongbird1
Exactly and if anything Judy wouldn't have have helped her get a job because Judy was forced into show biz by her mom. Liza made the choice on her own to be a performer and take this path.
@emiliebrooklyn3963
@@shahramkhodadadi9542 the Smith kids & a lot of celebrities child are not talented, they just have money to develop they passion and of course a lot opportunities that "normal" people will never have.
@LauraLegends
This is what I do at every restaurant before I sit down in my chair
@ramona3840
Omg, I thought I was the only one!
@tatianamelendez490
If you didn't, the world would be very disappointed in you. 😂😂😂😂😂
@fancysenpai7406
Including the intro dialogue and all