Born Lester Anthony Minnelli in Chicago, Illinois, United States,[1] Minnelli was the youngest surviving child of Mina Mary LaLouette Le Beau and Vincent Charles Minnelli. His father was musical conductor of Minnelli Brothers' Tent Theater. Minnelli's Chicago-born mother was of French Canadian descent and his paternal grandfather was from Sicily.

Following his success in the 1930s as a director and designer for the Broadway theater, Minnelli moved on to Hollywood as a member of Freed's unit at MGM, bringing to this popular genre a fresh approach. Whereas others were reluctant to use Technicolor, Minnelli understood and embraced the new process, showing off the dazzling brightness of its colors. He became one of Hollywood's most accomplished colorists and a master of cinematic musical comedy. Minnelli set a new standard for the genre, smoothly inserting dance numbers into the narrative in a blend of naturalism and fantasy, as realistic characters discover and declare their hopes, fears, or loves. He simultaneously hid and revealed the darker side of domestic America, the fragility of its structure and the terror of possible change.

With his background in theatre, Minnelli was known as an auteur who always brought his stage experience to his films. The first movie that he directed, Cabin in the Sky (1943), was visibly influenced by the theater. Shortly after that, he directed Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), during which he befriended the film's star, Judy Garland, although it is probable the two had met casually earlier. The two began a courtship that eventually led to their marriage in June 1945. Their one child together, Liza Minnelli, grew up to become an Academy Award-winning singer and actress.

Though widely known for directing musicals, including An American in Paris (1951), Brigadoon (1954), Kismet (1955), and Gigi (1958) he also helmed comedies and melodramas, including Madame Bovary (1949), Father of the Bride (1950), Designing Woman (1957) and The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1963). His last film was A Matter of Time (1976). During the course of his career he directed seven different actors in Oscar-nominated performances: Spencer Tracy, Gloria Grahame, Kirk Douglas, Anthony Quinn, Arthur Kennedy, Shirley MacLaine and Martha Hyer. Grahame and Quinn won Oscar for their performances in one of Minnelli's movies. He received an Oscar nomination as Best Director for An American in Paris (1951) and later won the Best Director Oscar for Gigi (1958). He was awarded France's highest civilian honor, the Commander Nationale of the Legion of Honor, only weeks before his death in 1986.

Minnelli's critical reputation has known a certain amount of fluctuation, being admired (or dismissed) in America as a "pure stylist" who, in Andrew Sarris' words, "believes more in beauty than in art."[2] His work reached a height of critical attention during the late 1950s and early 1960s in France with extensive studies in the Cahiers du Cinéma magazine, especially in the articles by Jean Douchet and Jean Domarchi, who saw in him a cinematic visionary obsessed with beauty and harmony, and an artist who could give substance to the world of dreams. Minnelli served as a juror at the 1967 Cannes Film Festival. The MGM compilation film That's Entertainment! showed clips from many of his films.

In July, 1986, Minnelli died at age 83 after struggling with emphysema and bouts with pneumonia that caused him to be repeatedly hospitalized in his final year.[3] He reportedly also suffered from Alzheimer's disease.[4][5] Interment was in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.

Vincente Minnelli's credits at IMDB