Władziu Valentino Liberace (May 16, 1919 – February 4, 1987) was an American pianist, singer, and actor. A child prodigy born in Wisconsin to parents of Italian and Polish origin, he enjoyed a career spanning four decades of concerts, recordings, television, motion pictures, and endorsements. With established concert residencies in Las Vegas and an international touring schedule. He embraced a lifestyle of flamboyant excess both on and off stage, earning the nickname "Mr. Showmanship". At the height of his fame from the 1950s to 1970s, he was the highest-paid entertainer in the world.
Flamboyant and glittering in style, he was a topical repeated reference for Mork in regards to extravagant moments and dress style, as well as (not so) subtle in-jokes as to Liberace's private life. [1]
About Liberace[]
Known as "Lee" to his friends and "Walter" to family, Liberace was born in West Allis, Wisconsin, on May 16, 1919. His father, Salvatore ("Sam") Liberace (December 9, 1885 – April 1, 1977), was an immigrant from Formia in the Lazio region of central Italy. His mother, Franciszka Zuchowska (August 31, 1892 – November 1, 1980), was Polish. Liberace had an identical twin who died at birth. At the time of his death, he had three surviving siblings: a brother George (who was a violinist), a sister Angelina, and younger brother Rudy (Rudolph Valentino Liberace, named after the actor due to his mother's interest in show business)
Liberace began playing the piano at the age of four. Liberace's prodigious talent was evident from his early years. By the age of seven, he was capable of memorizing difficult pieces. The Depression was financially hard on the Liberace family. In childhood, Liberace suffered from a speech impediment, and as a teen, from the taunts of neighborhood children, who mocked him for his effeminate personality, his avoidance of sports, and his fondness for cooking and the piano. Though Sam and Frances did not approve, their son was earning a living during hard times. For a while, Liberace adopted the stage name "Walter Busterkeys." He also showed an interest in draftsmanship, design, and painting, and became a fastidious dresser and follower of fashion. By this time, he was already displaying a penchant for turning eccentricities into attention-getting practices, and earned popularity at school, despite some making him an object of ridicule.
Starting as a classical performer in the late 30s', he was praised for his "flair and showmanship", by the early 40s however, Liberace moved away from straight classical performance and reinvented his act to one featuring "pop with a bit of classics" or as he also called it "classical music with the boring parts left out". He changed from a classical pianist to an entertainer and showman, unpredictably and whimsically mixing the serious with light fare, e.g., Chopin with "Home on the Range". For a while, he played piano along with a phonograph on stage. The gimmick helped gain him attention. He also added interaction with the audience—taking requests, talking with the patrons, making jokes, giving lessons to chosen audience members. He also began to pay greater attention to such details as staging, lighting, and presentation. The transformation to entertainer was driven by Liberace's desire to connect directly with his audiences, and secondarily from the reality of the difficult competition in the classical piano world. During this time, Liberace worked to refine his act. He added the candelabrum as his trademark, inspired by a similar prop in the Chopin biopic A Song to Remember (1945). He adopted "Liberace" as his stage name, making a point in press releases that it was pronounced "Liber-Ah-chee"
Liberace created a publicity machine which helped to make him a star. Despite his success in the supper-club circuit, where he was often an intermission act, his ambition was to reach larger audiences as a headliner and a television, movie, and recording star. Liberace began to expand his act and made it more extravagant, with more costumes and a larger supporting cast. His large-scale Las Vegas act became his hallmark, expanding his fan base, and making him wealthy.
By 1955, he was making $50,000 per week at the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas and had over 200 official fan clubs with a quarter of a million members. He was making over $1 million per year from public appearances, and millions from television. Liberace was frequently covered by the major magazines, and he became a pop-culture superstar, but he also became the butt of jokes by comedians and the public. He had his own short lived TV show in the 50s that was massively popular especially in Britain, and also made significant appearances on other shows such as The Ed Sullivan Show, The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford, Edward R. Murrow's Person to Person, and on the shows of Jack Benny and Red Skelton, on which he often parodied his own persona. His dual persona appearance on Adam West's Batman was also the highest rated episode of that show.
He made movie appearances in South Sea Sinner (1950), Footlight Varieties (1951) Merry Mirthquakes (1953), featured Liberace as master of ceremonies, and was the lead in Sincerely Yours (1955), a remake of 1932's The Man Who Played God. And made cameo appearances in When the Boys Meet the Girls (1965), starring Connie Francis, and as a casket salesman in The Loved One (1965)
Liberace spent lavishly, incorporating materialism into his life and his act. In 1953, he designed and built his first celebrity house in Sherman Oaks, California on Valley Vista Blvd., located in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles. The house with its piano theme appearing throughout, included a piano-shaped swimming pool which remains today.
Liberace was recognized during his career with two Emmy Awards, six gold albums, and two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Liberace released a book on his life and performed 56 sold-out shows at Radio City Music Hall which set box-office records a few months before his death in Palm Springs, California, on February 4, 1987.
His personal life, never marrying, and his effeminate persona (augmented by the glitz of his dress sense) led to constant speculation about his private life and numerous legal cases, with Liberace always winning against allegations of homosexuality, leading him to coin the famous phrase "I cried all the way to the bank". His closeted homosexuality remained a pervasive rumor swirling around his career. With confirmation from friends and former paramours, especially, Scott Thorson, after his death. Liberace was secretly diagnosed HIV positive in August 1985 by his private physician in Las Vegas, 18 months before his death. Liberace died of pneumonia as a result of AIDS on the late morning of February 4, 1987, at his retreat home in Palm Springs, California, at the age of 67.[1]
Mork's Multiple References[]
- Mork's First Christmas - Mork gives Cora a 3D portrait of Liberace made out of old bubblegum.
- Hold That Mork - Mork comments on the glittering, sequined cheerleading outfits, of the Bronco's Cheerleaders saying he didn't realize Liberace had any children.
- Gunfight at the Mork-Kay Corral - Playing hide and seek with Billy, Mork hides himself in the Armoire, and not realizing that the youngster has snuck out, he offers him a clue of 'Liberace', being in the closet.
- Long Before We Met - Keen to see if Mindy might have fallen in love with him back when she was younger, Mork retrieves his time travel shoes, which are covered in red sequins, Mork declaring them 'Liberace's Lounge Slippers'
Note:[]
Ironically In the early 2000s, Warren Beatty was interested in directing, writing and producing a film based on Scott Thorson's autobiography. Beatty initially wanted Robin Williams as Liberace and Justin Timberlake as Thorson. The project never materialized.[1]