Love... I wanted it to be like it was in the songs

Liza Minnelli opens up on her mum Judy, her addictions and why her four unions all failed

- BY MARK JEFFERIES and PETER DYKE

WITH four failed marriages, Liza Minnelli could be forgiven for being cynical about relationships.

But the singer, actress and dancer is a cheerleader for romance, saying: "I feel wonderful about love. I wanted it to be like it was in the songs."

In the film Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story, the star and her tight circle of friends open up about her life and her multiple husbands.

Being the daughter of Wizard of Oz icon and singer Judy Garland and director Vincente Minnelli put Liza in the spotlight from the very beginning and her love life was something that always made headlines.

Her mum Judy married five times and Liza, 79, has notched up four.

Her first marriage, to entertainer Peter Allen in 1967, lasted only a few years because she found him in a compromising position with another man."

Liza says in the Bruce David Kleindirected biopic: "Peter was so much fun to be with but I think he felt restricted. He needed, literally, to come out!"

Friends adored the Aussie and Liza's actress pal Mia Farrow reveals: "It was the happiest I saw her in her private."

The star's second husband, from 1974 to 1979, was actor Jack Haley Jnr, whose father also starred in The Wizard of Oz, leading pals to joke "the daughter of Dorothy has married the son of The Tin Man".

From 1979 to 1992 Liza was married to sculptor Mark Gero. Friends claim he was "a solid rock" in her life because he was not from the showbiz world.

A decade later she wed US producer David Gest. The pair separated in 2003 and divorced in 2007.