|
|
| Birth Name(s) : Liberace |
Date of Birth: N/A |
| Status:
Single
|
Partner:
|
| Profession:
N/A |
| << Add Liberace To Your Favorites |
|
Full Liberace Biography
Wladziu Valentino Liberace (May 16, 1919 – February 4, 1987), better known by only his last name Liberace (pronounced )(lib-er-AH-chee), was an American entertainer.
Liberace, known as “Lee” to his friends, was born in West Allis, Wisconsin to Frances Zuchowski, a Polish American, and Salvatore ("Sam") Liberace, an immigrant from Formia, Italy. He grew up in a musical family. He had a twin who died at birth. He was classically trained as a pianist and gained wide experience playing popular music. Liberace followed the advice of famous Polish pianist and family friend Paderewski, and billed himself under his last name only.
Liberace became known for his extravagant costumes, personal charm, and self-deprecating wit. His public image became linked with one ever-present stage prop, a silver candelabrum perched on his piano. By 1955 he was making $50,000 per week at the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas and had over 160 official fan clubs with a quarter of a million member fans (who throughout his career were mostly middle-aged women). He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960 for his contributions to the television industry.
He released several recordings through Columbia Records (later on Dot and through direct television advertising) and sold over 2,000,000 records in 1953 alone. Liberace's highly colored style of piano playing was characterized by some critics as fluid and lyrical but technically careless.
He was at the height of his career in 1955 when he starred in the Warner Brothers feature Sincerely Yours with Dorothy Malone, playing 31 songs. The film (about a concert pianist who loses his hearing) was a commercial and critical failure, which was attributed in part to his having been overexposed on television.
In 1966, Liberace received kudos for his brief role as a casket salesman in the film adaptation of The Loved One, Evelyn Waugh's satire of the funeral business and movie industry in Southern California. It was the only film Liberace made in which he did not play the piano.
For years Liberace had joked, "I don't mind the bad reviews, but George (his brother and business partner) cries all the way to the bank." The £8,000 ($22,400) damages he received from The Daily Mirror led Liberace to alter this catchphrase to "I cried all the way to the bank!"
Liberace's final stage performance was at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on November 2, 1986 with his boyfriend . He died at the age of 67 on February 4, 1987 at his winter house in Palm Springs, California. His obvious weight loss in the months prior to his death was attributed to a "watermelon diet" by his longtime and steadfast manager Seymour Heller. But he had been in ill health since 1985 with other health problems including emphysema from his daily smoking off-stage, as well as heart and liver troubles. How and exactly when he became HIV+ has never been determined, as Liberace vehemently denied that he had AIDS or that he was homosexual. At the end of his life, still convinced that his fans were unaware of his sexuality or the disease he was battling, he confided in Heller his belief that if his fans knew, "that's all they'll remember about me." He is entombed in Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles.
The Liberace Museum in Las Vegas contains many of his stage costumes, cars, jewelry, and lavishly-decorated pianos, along with numerous citations for philanthropic acts.
2. Biographies
- The Liberace Story, by Chester Whitehorn (editor). Screen Publications Inc, New York, 1955 (softcover - #4 in the Candid Profile series)
- Liberace: On Stage and Off, by Anthony Monahan. GRT Music Productions, Sunnyvale California, 1976 (hardcover)
- Liberace: The True Story, by Bob Thomas. St. Martins Press, New York, 1987 (hardcover)
- Behind the Candelabra: My Life With Liberace, by Scott Thorson with Alex Thorleifson. E.P. Dutton, New York, 1988. (hardcover)
- Liberace: A Bio-Bibliography, by Jocelyn Faris. Greenwood Press, Westport CT, 1995
- Liberace: An American Boy, by Darden Asbury Pyron. University of Chicago Press, 2000, (hardcover)
- Liberace (Lives of Notable Gay Men and Lesbians), by Ray Mungo and Martin B. Duberman. Chelsea House Publications
3. Cooking
- Liberace Cooks, by Carol Truax. Doubleday, New York, 1970 (hardcover)
- Cookbook of the Stars, Motion Picture Mothers, Hollywood, 1970. (A collection of recipes by Hollywood stars including Liberace, Bing Crosby, Joan Crawford, Lana Turner, Katharine Ross, Mary Tyler Moore, Don Knotts, and more)
- Joy of Liberace: Retro Recipes from Amercia's Kitchiest Kitchen, by Michael Feder and Karan Feder. Angel City Press, 2007 (hardcover)
- Delicious Recipes from Liberace's #1 Cook, by Gladys Luckie.
4. Poetry
- The Ghost of Liberace - New Writing Scotland 11 (an anthology), A.L Kennedy (editor) and Hamish Whyte (editor), Association for Scottish Literary Studies, 1993. (paperback)
- Why My Mother Likes Liberace: a Musical Selection, by Diane Wakoski. (Comparing poetry to music: 13 poems by Wakoski, with line drawings of pianos by Rebecca Gaver). Sun / Gemini Press, Tucson, Arizona, 1985.
7. Miscellaneous
- Liberace: Your Personal Fashion Consultant, by Michael Feder and Karan Feder. Abrams Image, 2007 (paperback). |
|
|
| Add Liberace Biography (SuperUSERS) + |
| Add Liberace Review/Comment
|
HQ Liberace Pictures (1) | Random Liberace Picture
|
| << Back to the Liberace Homepage |
|
