Liza Minelli’s Ex-Husband Found Dead in Luxury London Hotel

Happier Times: David Gest and Liza Minnelli together in 2002, the year they were married. Image by Getty Images
(JTA) — David Gest, an American Jewish reality television star and the ex-husband of actress Liza Minnelli was found dead in a five-star London hotel.
Police and paramedics were called to the luxury Four Seasons Hotel early on Tuesday to find the 62-year-old’s body, The Sun, a British tabloid, reported.
The former contestant on Britain’s “Celebrity Big Brother” show and Minnelli married in 2002, but separated after a year. However, the two officially divorced only in 2007.
Gest, who was born in Los Angeles and became a music producer, had been due to tour the United Kingdom in a musical show called David Gest Is Not Dead, But Alive with Soul, starting in York on July 1. He was also known for being a close friend of the late Michael Jackson.
According to The Sun, a British tabloid, his company, David Gest Limited, accumulated a $500,000 debt after he became addicted to gambling in his final months.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news. All donations are still being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000 until April 24.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.

