Liza Minnelli seriously ill

Liza Minnelli is said to be in a serious condition in a Florida hospital, suffering from viral encephalitis. The 54-year-old singer and actor was admitted to hospital on Thursday night after collapsing at her home in Fort Lauderdale. Although no longer unconscious, she is reported to be still very weak but on the mend. Minnelli, the daughter of Judy Garland, won an Oscar for her role as Sally Bowles in the 1972 movie Cabaret. She also starred with Dudley Moore in Arthur and recently with Julie Walters in Stepping Out. Lorna Luft, Minnelli's sister, is believed to be at her bedside, marking an end to a feud between them which had gone on for many years. Minnelli has spent the last few years struggling with alcohol and drug dependency, hip problems and pneumonia. Her live tour ‘Minnelli on Minnelli’, a tribute to her late father, the director Vincente Minnelli, was cut short this year because of her continuing ill health.