Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role 1973
Liza Minnelli Cabaret 1973
SEX WORKER ROLE
Della Roberts in Rent-A-Cop 1987
Sloppy Jo in Sam Found Out: A Triple Play 1988
Both Characters Are Prostitutes
Liza Minelli in Rent-A-Cop 1987 & Sam Found Out 1988
In the late 80s, Liza played two hooker characters back-to-back. In 1987, Liza played a hooker who witnessed a murder. It’s a film plot moviegoers have seen countless times. Burt Reynolds portrays a former police officer who transitions into a private investigator. Liza hires Burt to protect her, as the killer wants to silence her permanently. Despite the star power of the two leads (the L.A. Times would write, “B Picture With Two A Stars”), this film received brutal reviews from the critics. The New York Times would write that Minnelli deserves better than this vehicle. Because of the humongous pan this film took, it flopped at the box office.
Watch clip of the film “Rent-A-Cop”
Liza would follow her prostitute role on film by playing another prostitute on television. “Sam Found Out” was a television special starring Liza playing three characters in three different stories. All use the same catchphrase, “Sam Found Out.” In the first segment, written by Landford Wilson, Liza plays a junkie prostitute just out of rehab. She confronts her pimp (played by Ryan O’Neal) with the opening line, “Sam found out.”
Watch The 15 Minutes Short Film “Sam Found Out”
To read more about other Oscar-winning actresses playing characters working in the sex trade industry, please continue perusing Oscar Hookers