Best Actress 1969: Liza Minnelli in The Sterile Cuckoo

Liza Minnelli received her first Oscar nomination for playing Pookie Adams in The Sterile Cuckoo. Pookie is a very eccentric person who meets Jerry Payne (Wendell Burton) on the way to college and the two immediately become friends and eventually lovers. Liza won the Oscar two years later for playing Sally Bowles in Cabaret and while Sally and Pookie are very similar, Liza definitely doesn't give the same performance. In The Sterile Cuckoo, Liza gives a brilliant performance. In the very beginning, she is a little annoying, but that's the way Pookie is supposed to be played and Liza makes us fall in love with her. She really nails the cemetery scene and she and Burton have flawless chemistry through out the whole film. Liza always gives Pookie a beautiful vulnerability which is the key to her character and her performance. The scene with her on the phone is just outstanding. Liza always shows Pookie's feelings so well and that's what makes the phone scene work so well. Liza is great in every scene of The Sterile Cuckoo and she completely is the movie. So, a remarkable performance, which is great on every level , which gets