Biography
American musician and entertainer known for his music, his trademark
candelabra, his flamboyant lifestyle and highly affected mannerisms. Gay
and over-the-top, he was well-liked by people who worked with him; they
found him considerate and unpretentious. He was an early television
performer who was considered TV's first "matinee idol," winning
two Emmys, six gold albums, two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and a
listing in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's highest paid
musician and pianist, once earning more than $2 million for a 26-week
season. Liberace's style earned him the title of "Mr.
Showmanship."
Liberace was born Wladziu (Polish for Walter) Valentino Liberace, one
of four children of a family where music was the heart. His Italian father
was a classically trained musician and a member of the Milwaukee
Philharmonic, playing the French horn: later, he never cared for his son's
popular music. His beloved Polish mother (who died in 1980) played the
piano and his brothers and sister were also talented. He started playing
the piano by ear at the age of four, received lessons at seven. Liberace's
talent was evident early on, and when the renowned Polish pianist Ignace
Paderewski visited the family, he recommended him to receive a scholarship
to the Wisconsin College of Music. Liberace attended West Milwaukee High
School where he played with his first band, "The Mixers." He was
a soloist with the Milwaukee Symphony at age 13, and at age 16 with the
Chicago Symphony. He alternated between the classical music he loved with
the jazz and popular music that also exerted a pull on him. While playing
with symphonies, he was also performing in Milwaukee's honky-tonks. He
used two names to keep his musical personalities separate: He was Walter
Liberace when he played with the Milwaukee Symphony, but Walter Busterkeys
when he played in dance bands.
He moved to New York in 1940, and began to play in clubs around the
city. The night club bookings took him to the Persian Room in the New York
Plaza Hotel as an intermission pianist. Seven years later, he returned to
the Persian room, this time with an oversized grand piano and the first
appearance of his trademark candelabra, inspired by the 1945 movie,
"A Song to Remember." He had also followed Paderewski's advice
and changed his name to simply "Liberace." In 1948, he was hired
to perform at the Last Frontier in Las Vegas, one of two hotels there at
the time.
In 1950, he made his film debut as a honky-tonk pianist in "South
Sea Sinner" with Shelley Winters. Then, while playing at a club in
San Diego, a television producer discovered him and a television show was
created as a summer replacement for the Dinah Shore show. The 15-minute
weekly show appeared in 1952 at NBC and managed to get a large national
audience. The next year, he filmed a weekly half-hour show that ran for
five years and made his name a household world, earning him two
Emmys.
He became famous for gaudier and gaudier clothes -- some of his
performance costumes weighed as much as 300 pounds -- and jewels that he
made fun of openly. Audiences enjoyed hearing about his five houses, the
swimming pool shaped like a piano, ornate automobiles, and exotic dogs and
paintings. Liberace played a number of live engagements between 1953 and
1955, and in the latter year opened in Las Vegas as the highest paid
entertainer in the city's history. He also made another movie,
"Sincerely Yours." In 1960, Liberace went to daytime television,
with an ABC series. In 1978, he had his first American TV special for CBS,
and a second one in February 1979.
He was acclaimed "Pop Keyboard Artist of the Year" for three
years (1976-1979) by Contemporary Keyboard Magazine. In 1980, he was named
both Star of the Year and Entertainer of the Year in Las Vegas, and won
the "Golden Mike" award in 1981 from the Pacific Pioneer
Broadcasters. In 1982, he was voted to the Keyboard Magazine Hall of Fame
by its readers, and that same year he had a showcase appearance at the
Academy Awards, performing all five nominated films.
Even in the mid-'80s, Liberace was breaking records, such as his 1984
engagement at Radio City Music Hall which broke sales and attendance
records of the 51-year-old institution. In April 1985, he returned to
Radio City Music Hall to break his own record by grossing more than $2
million. His final performances there were in the fall of 1986.
Liberace also authored several books, including a cookbook, his
biography, "Liberace," and "The Things I Love,"
followed by "The Wonderful Private World of Liberace," published
in 1986. He had founded the non-profit Liberace Foundation for the
Performing and Creative Arts in 1977, which funds scholarships for schools
and colleges across the nation. He considered this one of his greatest
achievements. On 4/15/1979, he opened the Liberace Museum in Las Vegas,
which serves as the funding arm for the Foundation.
Liberace never married, and it is said that his homosexuality was one
of the worst-kept secrets in show business. In 1959, he had won a libel
suit against a London columnist who had hinted at his sexual preference.
In 1982, Scott Thorson, a former companion, filed a $113 million palimony
suit against Liberace. Thorson said that Liberace had promised him $70,000
income for life, among other things. Eventually, there was a $95,000
out-of-court-settlement of the breach-of-contract suit.
A chain smoker, Liberace suffered from advanced emphysema and heart
disease, along with AIDS. His weight loss became noticeable in the
mid'80s. His final performances were at Radio City Music Hall 10/16/1986
through 11/02/1986. He followed that up with a tour to promote his fourth
book, then returned to his Palm Springs, California home where he died of
complications from AIDS at 2:05 PM on 02/04/1987.
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