‘Liza' is a captivating portrait. Why does she still feel elusive?

A friend of Liza Minnelli recalls asking the star whether she had enjoyed a dinner party. 'Oh, it was okay,' Minnelli replied. 'They wanted her' — meaning the hurricane of limbs with the saucer eyes gleaming under the spotlight, rather than the woman underneath.
So, which version do viewers get from 'Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story'? After the documentary premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival last June, Minnelli told People magazine that she planned to release a memoir, expected next spring from Grand Central Publishing. Among her inspirations, the 79-year-old cited 'a sabotaged appearance at the Oscars,' in 2022, and 'a film with twisted half-truths.' Presumably, she was referring to 'Liza,' which debuts Tuesday as part of the PBS American Masters series, though the film appears to have been made with Minnelli's enthusiastic involvement.

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Boston Globe

7 hours ago

• Boston Globe

William Cran, ‘Frontline' documentarian, is dead at 79

He began his career with the BBC, but he mostly worked as an independent producer, toggling between jobs on both sides of the Atlantic. He was most closely associated with WGBH's 'Frontline,' for which he produced 20 documentaries on a wide range of subjects -- some historical, like the four-part series 'From Jesus to Christ' (1998) and 'The Secret Life of J. Edgar Hoover' (1993), and some focused on current events, including 'Who's Afraid of Rupert Murdoch' (1995). Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up He won a slew of honors, including four Emmys, four duPont-Columbia University awards, two Peabodys, and an Overseas Press Club Award. Advertisement In 1986, he produced 'The Story of English,' an Emmy-winning nine-episode series for the BBC and PBS about how English became the world's dominant language. He, with journalists Robert MacNeil, the PBS news anchor, and Robert McCrum, turned it into a book. Mr. Cran produced two multipart documentaries based on books by historian Daniel Yergin: 'The Prize' (1990), a Pulitzer-winning history of oil, and 'The Commanding Heights' (1998, with Joseph Stanislaw), about the history of the modern global economy. Advertisement These were complicated stories, but Mr. Cran was able to frame them around characters and narrative threads that kept viewers engaged over several nights. 'I learned from him that less is more, that the script is not a shortened version of the book, but rather captions to go with the picture,' Yergin wrote in an email. 'He always stuck to the facts, but he always wanted dramatic tension.' Both documentaries were well-received, despite their potentially dry material. 'Using every familiar element of the documentarian's art, producer-director William Cran has created a masterpiece,' The Washington Post wrote of 'The Commanding Heights.' William Cran was born Dec. 11, 1945, in Hobart, on the island state of Tasmania, Australia. His mother, Jean (Holliday) Cran, was a teacher, and his father, John, was a science lecturer. The family moved to London when William was 6. He studied classics at Oxford, and though he knew early on that he wanted to make documentaries, he also dabbled in theater, directing two plays in London. After graduating in 1968, he became a trainee at the BBC, where he rose to producer, using then-novel techniques such as reconstructed scenes, and pursuing new genres including true crime. One early documentary was '1971 Luton Postmaster Murder,' about two men who were wrongly convicted of killing a British postmaster. But Mr. Cran grew tired of being what he called a 'company man,' and left the BBC after eight years. He moved to Toronto in 1976, becoming a senior producer for the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.'s investigative news program 'The Fifth Estate.' Two years later, David Fanning, an executive at WGBH in Boston, reached out to him about a documentary program he was creating called 'World.' Advertisement Mr. Cran flew to Boston for a meeting -- and got stuck in the blizzard of 1978. While holed up at Fanning's home, the two cooked up an idea for Mr. Cran's first documentary for the program, 'Chachaji: My Poor Relation,' a story of modern India told through the family of writer Ved Mehta. 'What was particular about Bill is that each one of his films is different,' Fanning said in an interview, adding, 'He would do these surprising things. He would say: 'I think I want to build a set. I want to build a bedroom in the studio.'' Fanning trusted Mr. Cran so much that in 1983, when 'World' was rebranded as 'Frontline,' with a tighter focus on current events, he asked Mr. Cran to produce its first two documentaries, with the first about corruption in the NFL. The next 'Frontline' subject, '88 Seconds in Greensboro,' probed the 1979 deaths of five people after a pro-communist march was attacked by members of the Ku Klux Klan and American Nazi Party in North Carolina. Four local camera crews had filmed the bloodshed. Mr. Cran and his team 'edited the combined footage into an amazingly complete anatomy of a murder,' wrote TV reviewer David Bianculli in the Akron Beacon Journal. In 1993, Mr. Cran led a 'Frontline' documentary team that looked into possible abuses and compromises by the longtime FBI director in 'The Secret File on J. Edgar Hoover.' The four-part series built a case that Hoover, who led the agency (and its forerunner) from 1924 to 1972, potentially made concessions to organized crime and other groups to avoid public disclosures of his gay relationships. Advertisement 'Our investigation found that this master of political blackmail was wide open to blackmail himself,' Mr. Cran said. 'There is overwhelming evidence that the mob knew it had nothing to fear from Hoover's FBI.' One of Mr. Cran's most historically expansive documentaries, the series 'From Jesus to Christ' (1998), took shape after Fanning met with a WGBH producer, Marilyn Mellowes, who was working on a documentary to bring more cultural and political context to the life of Jesus and the New Testament. Fanning agreed to bring aboard additional resources, including Mr. Cran as a senior producer and director. 'We make no judgment about faith, and we make no judgments about divinity,' Fanning told journalists. The documentary framed the life of Jesus in the wider realities of Roman-controlled Galilee, described by scholars as a center of Jewish resistance and activism. Jesus, meanwhile, was not raised amid a pastoral idyll - as portrayed in some accounts - but mingled with people from across the Roman world and was probably well aware of the political foment around him, the documentary suggested. Mr. Cran's first marriage, to Araminta Wordsworth, ended in divorce. His second wife, Stephanie Tepper, who worked with him as a producer on several films, died in 1997. His third wife, Polly Bide, died in 2003. He married Vicki Barker, a CBS journalist, in 2014. She survives him, as do three daughters from his second marriage, Jessica, Rebecca and Chloe Cran; his sister, Vicki Donovan; and a granddaughter. Many of Mr. Cran's films continue to be watched. 'Two months ago,' Yergin said, 'I was walking up Madison Avenue and someone -- out of the blue, startled to see me -- stopped me to say that watching 'Commanding Heights' had changed his life.' Advertisement Material from The Washington Post was used in this obituary.

Yahoo

17 hours ago

• Yahoo

She Felt 'Deeply Alone' in Her Previous Marriage. Now She Shares Her Polyamorous Relationship Online (Exclusive)

Hayley Folk is in an ethical, non-monogamous relationship with her husband She makes videos and writes about her relationship and partners to raise awareness and fight stigmas Folk shares her relationship online in hopes to help others like her feel less aloneHayley Folk is very open about her relationship. Folk, 30, is a bisexual polyamorous woman who is in an ethical, non-monogamous relationship with her husband. Folk "spent the almost past 10 years coming to terms with being polyamorous, ethically non-monogamous, and finding relationships that suit me." Folk talks with PEOPLE exclusively about her lifestyle, why she shares her content and what she hopes people learn and take away from her videos and articles. In her first marriage, her husband opened their relationship because he believed it was what she wanted. "I was going in blind and had no clue what I was doing, but through two years of being in an open relationship and then an open marriage, when we got married, I realized I was polyamorous," she explains to PEOPLE. "The relationship ended for multiple reasons, one of them being that my ex-husband realized he was monogamous, and we realized we didn't [work] for each other. We got married young, and then I moved to New York." Once Folk moved to New York, she began dating and met her now-husband, Kyle, with whom she has been open since the beginning of their relationship. Then, Folk began writing professionally about her life online, and for her, it felt like a "therapeutic processing piece." This year, she started sharing videos about her polyamorous lifestyle online and grew her following, sharing an honest look at her life. She receives a lot of comments on her content, both positive and negative. Through her platform, she has built a community of people who discovered they are polyamorous and interested in ethical non-monogamy. Folk has been able to quell misconceptions about what polyamory and ethical non-monogamy look like, including the idea that "polyamory is a way to say out loud that you want to cheat, and that is not the case." "Ethical non-monogamy is an umbrella term, and being polyamorous is having the ability to love multiple people at once. Someone can be polyamorous and be in a closed relationship. The ability to be polyamorous and ethically non-monogamous is so that you can be honest about what you want." In making her content, Folk hopes that ethical non-monogamy can be normalized. "It doesn't have to be something that's taboo. It doesn't have to be something that's a conversation starter, something that everyone else can gawk at," she continues. "What I've come to find over time is that, like queerness, polyamory can be a normal thing. To embody this lifestyle, there is the ability also eventually to come to terms with it, and we're all living our lives in the way that we know how best [to]." Though it varies from relationship to relationship, Folk shares that she and her husband have rules for each other, and she acknowledges that "the rules do fluctuate over time." "We always check in with each other before and after dates with other people. Check-in can be done over text, FaceTime, or in person," she explains. "We like to take the time beforehand to set intentions and check in with each other, and that's something that we strictly abide by." Folk also explains that during these check-ins, they conduct a temperature check on the relationship to ensure they're spending enough time together. Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. One of Folk's most significant pieces of advice for those who have been in a monogamous relationship for a while and are looking to open up is to "take your time." "Slower is better. Maybe create a dating profile together and swipe through profiles together, imagining going on dates. Sit down and write out every possible scenario that you are afraid of happening, and talk about those things openly," she details. "Sometimes, people open up as a way to save their relationship or fulfill their partner's needs, but they don't discuss their fears. If you can access those conversations together before you do anything and continue to have those conversations, that's the healthiest way." She also recommends that couples consider investing in a couples therapist who specializes in and understands alternative relationship styles. "You need someone who can truly understand and is coming at it from a completely non-biased perspective." There are many things that Folk enjoys about her relationships, including "not having to hide anything about myself from my primary partner." "There is a level of freedom and transparency that happens when you can truly say anything, and you don't have to filter yourself," Folk shares. "I can be myself openly, honestly and authentically, including the connections I want with other people, and it's okay. It doesn't mean anything is wrong with our relationship or that it's bad." The hardest part about her relationship, Folk shares, is the "judgment from society." "I've developed a very thick skin over the years. I discuss this online for a reason, and some comments are quite harsh," Folk recalls. "I would be lying if I said it didn't affect me at all. I could see for other new [polyamorous] people; maybe that fear of judgment could be the worst part." "I want to help other people. When I opened my previous marriage, I felt so deeply alone. I was searching through Reddit and was following the advice of strangers. I was trying to find any resources," Folk shares. "People don't get it more often than not, so I want to make sure that one person can feel less alone. That's what matters to me. I want to help folks. If I can help at least one person through embarrassing, cringy or sometimes sentimental videos, then that's what I'll do." Read the original article on People

Yahoo

a day ago

• Yahoo

The Oscars Finally Fell in Love With Tom Cruise. It's About Time

Congratulations are clearly in order. After decades of being overlooked, underestimated and sometimes just flat-out ignored, a Hollywood mainstay is finally getting some richly deserved recognition. Bravo! No, not to Tom Cruise for that honorary Oscar — to the Academy for making sure the world's last remaining movie star will turn up for its next broadcast. More from The Hollywood Reporter Film Academy Taps Tom Cruise, Debbie Allen and Wynn Thomas for Honorary Oscars, Dolly Parton for Hersholt Award Box Office: 'How to Train Your Dragon' Roars to Record $84M U.S. Opening, $198M Globally Natalie Portman-Produced French Animated Film 'Arco' Wins Annecy Let's face it, at this point the Oscars need Cruise more than Cruise needs an Oscar, particularly an honorary one, which frequently go to stars of more mature vintage (Mel Brooks got one last year, at 97). In recent times, the show's numbers — to say nothing of its cultural relevance — have been on the same spiraling trajectory as that biplane Cruise dangled from in the latest Mission: Impossible movie. Viewership has fallen some 66 percent since the Oscars' peak in 1998 (Titanic year), with only about 20 million tuning in these days, about the same audience that turns out for a run-of-the-mill midseason NFL game. Meanwhile, Cruise, at 62, continues to draw arena-size crowds to his tentpoles. The most recent Mission: Impossible – the Final Reckoning, grossed $500 million worldwide last month, while Dead Reckoning Part 1 grossed $550 million in 2023. And then there's 2022's Top Gun: Maverick, the film that proved the pandemic hadn't entirely crushed the theatrical business. It grossed a stratospheric $1.5 billion, Cruise's personal best. The dramatic flip here is almost as jaw-dropping as one of Ethan Hunt's mask-pulling reveals. For decades, the Academy seemed to keep Cruise at a vaguely disdainful distance, dismissing him as more of an action figure than a serious ack-TOOR. Sure, they'd occasionally toss him a polite nomination — in 1989 for Born on the Fourth of July, in 1996 for Jerry Maguire and in 1999 for Magnolia — but they never invited him up to the podium to collect a statuette. He'd always remain stuck in the audience with the other losers, gamely flashing that famous 500-watt smile for the reaction shot. Honestly, the honorary Oscar announced this week feels like too little, too late. Because over the years, when he wasn't climbing Burj Khalifa or jumping motorcycles off cliffs, Cruise has turned in some truly nuanced, brave and definitely Oscar-worthy performances. And we're not just talking about the roles the Academy deigned to nominate — at least one of which, by the way, probably should have won (how Michael Caine's largely unremarkable performance in Cider House Rules beat Cruise's unforgettable turn as the toxically masculine 'respect the cock' motivational speaker in Paul Thomas Anderson's underrated 1998 drama Magnolia is a mystery for the ages). There were also Cruise's unnominated but award-worthy performances in Rain Man (opposite Dustin Hoffman), in Interview With a Vampire (opposite Brad Pitt) and in the late Stanley Kubrick's final film, Eyes Wide Shut (opposite some actress named Nicole Kidman). A reasonable argument could even be made that Cruise's fat-suited, Diet Coke-swilling, profanity-spouting studio exec in Tropic Thunder — the scene-stealing Les Grossman — was a performance worthy of some sort of award (at least the Golden Globes gave it a nom). As for why it's taken the Oscars so long to pay Cruise his due, one can only speculate. Perhaps it's all that gleaming charisma — he's always been too smooth, too slick, too commercial for the Academy's insular voters. Maybe it was Cruise's unabashed embrace of movie stardom over methody self-flagellation. Or maybe the Academy just couldn't bring itself to hand a gold statue to someone who once made a movie called Cocktail. Whatever the reason, the Oscars can no longer afford the luxury of snobbery. Because at this point, Cruise doesn't need an Oscar to cement his legacy. But the Oscars might just need him to save theirs. Best of The Hollywood Reporter Hollywood's Most Notable Deaths of 2025 Harvey Weinstein's "Jane Doe 1" Victim Reveals Identity: "I'm Tired of Hiding" 'Awards Chatter' Podcast: 'Sopranos' Creator David Chase Finally Reveals What Happened to Tony (Exclusive)