Stepmother sues Liza for abuse

Liza Minnelli is being sued by her 94-year-old stepmother who claims the newlywed entertainer is trying to throw her out of her Los Angeles home.

Lee Anderson Minnelli shared the Sunset Boulevard house with Liza’s father, film director Vincent Minnelli, until his death. The action claims she was guaranteed housing in his will.

The action, which alleges abuse against the elderly, was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court. It claims Liza, 56, has not paid her step mother’s housekeeper and other staff, or her utility bills.

‘‘So, while the defendant is honeymooning all over the world, having fed 850 of her closest friends a 12 foot cake, (the widow) is alone in a cold, dark house at age 94,’’ the lawsuit charges.

The lawsuit said the Mrs Minnelli believes Liza has already sold the house ‘‘out from under her,’’ and ‘‘attempted to cause her to sign away her estate.’’

The breach-of-contract charge stems from a 1988 agreement - a year after Vincent Minnelli’s death - that gave the widow the home. The elder-abuse charge arises from alleged nonpayment of bills.

Also suing for breach of contract, the step mother alleged the house’s electricity was cut off on March 27 - 11 days after Liza’s lavish and star-studded wedding in New York.

She said her ‘‘unpaid housekeeper’’ had to take a bus to pay the utility bills from Lee Minnelli’s ‘‘meagre funds’’ as Liza Minnelli travelled to London for her honeymoon and last night’s concert at the Royal Albert Hall.

She claims Liza fired the gardener and the pool attendant and that ‘‘the pool is an unhealthy swamp and has become an insect breeding pool.’’

The neglect to the home’s interior and exterior, she alleged, ‘‘has caused extreme stress, humiliation, embarrassment and worry.’’

Lee Minnelli, who claimed in the court papers that if she was forced to move, it would ‘‘no doubt be the death of her,‘‘ asked that a constructive trust for one million dollars be placed on any proceeds from the sale of the house.