Judy Garland’s Daughter Lorna Luft Diagnosed With Brain Cancer

Lorna Luft, daughter of iconic Hollywood actress Judy Garland and half-sister of Liza Minnelli has been diagnosed with brain cancer, according to a report from the Associated Press.

Luft collapsed backstage at the Pizza Express Jazz Club in London on Friday and was rushed to the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital where she received the initial diagnosis of brain cancer. Her rep, Victoria Varela, told The Wrap that her husband Colin Freeman had been worried about Luft lately after she’d been forgetting lyrics and monologues during performances.

“Further information will be available following additional medical tests and examination,” Valera said.

Luft was previously diagnosed with breast cancer back in 2012 and completed her chemotherapy in 2013. The cancer re-emerged in 2015, though it’s reportedly in remission.

At 65 years old, Luft has an impressive career as an Emmy-winning television producer, singer and Broadway star. Her filmography includes Grease 2, Where the Boys Are ’84, 54, My Giant, Murder, She Wrote, The Nanny and The Twilight Zone.

In a 2017 interview with Good Housekeeping, Luft admitted her own issues with substance addiction, similar to what her mother went through during her acting career.

“I do think my mother was a victim of the studio system,” Luft said. “It also gave her the ability to channel her talent to all of us. It was a real double-edged sword.”

“We were doing cocaine, we were doing all sorts of things,” she said. “I’ll never forget, somebody came up to me and said, ‘Do you not think that maybe you’re doing the same thing that your mom did?’ I said, “‘No no no, she had a problem. I only do it at night.’”

In her later years, Luft made a name for herself singing many of the same songs that made Garland famous during her career with songs from films like The Wizard of Oz and A Star is Born.

“If there was a tiny word in any song that had the word ‘rainbow,’ I didn’t want anything to do with it. I’d run for the hills,” she said. “It wasn’t until I was near my 40s that I thought, I’ve really gotta stop running.”