Liza Minnelli is in rehab for substance abuse

Liza Minnelli has entered rehab for substance abuse, her rep confirmed Wednesday.

The 69-year-old actress “has valiantly battled substance abuse over the years, and whenever she has needed to seek treatment she has done so,� said her spokesman, Scott Gorenstein.

“She is currently making excellent progress at a facility I will not be disclosing.�

Gorenstein told People that the “Cabaret� star, who turned 69 last Thursday, was “doing so well, we expect that she’ll be released shortly.� He told Page Six that no major incident had triggered his client’s decision to seek help.

According to TMZ, which first reported the news, Minnelli started treatment -- primarily for alcohol issues -- in Malibu several days ago.

Minnelli, whose mother, Judy Garland, died of an overdose in 1969, was accused of being an alcoholic in divorce papers filed by her fourth husband, David Gest, in 2003. At the time, she told People in a statement that she was working on her sobriety and characterized the accusations as “without merit.�

Her first of multiple trips to rehab came in 1984, when she sought Valium- and alcohol-abuse treatment at the Betty Ford Clinic in Rancho Mirage, Calif. She’d been encouraged to do so at the time by her friend Elizabeth Taylor.

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