Liza Minelli instead of Natalie Wood - Too Cruel

I agree with posters in another thread, Liza Minnelli would have made a much better Daisy Clover than Natalie Wood. She was a much better singer and closer in age to the character. However, if the casting director new of Liza Minnelli and sent her the script it would have been a cruel blow.

Whether the author was inspired by the story of Judy Garland or not, the parallels between the fictional Daisy Clover and Judy run close. Judy grew up in poverty due to her father's alcoholism and early death. She started singing at seven and started in the movies at 14. She did wait until she was 18 to get married, but the studios pushed pills at her. Maybe Liza would have enjoyed the role, playing in a fantasy that takes a situation close to her mother's and turning it into a fantasy where the character goes on to a normal and happy life. However, making this movie while her mother was relapsing into drug addiction and alcoholism and only four years before her mother died may well have become a miserable and cruel memory.