Liberace

American entertainer Liberace (1919-1987) is most remembered for his extravagant costumes and trademark candelabra placed on the lids of his Baldwin piano decorated with small mirrors. Liberace was loved by his audiences for his virtuoso talent on the piano and unique showmanship. While wildly successful and good-natured outwardly, Liberace was a complicated man whose political, social and religious conservatism existed side-by-side with a lifetime of secretive homosexuality.


British postcard in the Greetings series. Photo: Warner Bros.

A honky tonk pianist on a South Sea island

Liberace was born as Wladziu Valentino Liberace in 1919, into a musical family, in West Allis, Wisconsin. His mother, Frances Liberace (née Zuchowski), whose parents were Polish, played the piano. His father, Salvatore Liberace, an immigrant from Formia, Italy, played the French horn for the Milwaukee Symphony. His siblings, George Liberace, Angie Liberace and Rudy Liberace, also had musical abilities.

Liberace's own extraordinary natural talent became evident when he learned to play the piano, by ear, at the age of four. Although Salvatore tried to discourage his son's interest in the piano, praises from Ignacy Jan Paderewski, a famous Polish pianist, helped the young musician follow his musical career. As a teenager, Liberace earned wages playing popular tunes at movie theatres and speakeasies.

Despite being proud of his son's accomplishments, Salvatore strictly opposed Liberace's preference for popular music over the classics. Pianist Florence Bettray Kelly took control of Liberace's classical training when he was 14. He debuted as a soloist with the Chicago Symphony, under the direction of Dr. Frederick Stock. At age 17, Liberace joined the Works Progress Administration Symphony Orchestra.

He received a scholarship to attend the Wisconsin College of Music. In 1939, after a classical recital, Liberace's audience requested the popular tune, 'Three Little Fishes'. Liberace seized the opportunity and performed the tune with a semi-classical style which the audience loved. Soon, this unique style of playing the piano got Liberace bookings in large nightclubs.

By 1940, Liberace was travelling with his custom-made piano, on top of which he would place his candelabrum. He then took Paderewski's advice and dropped Wladziu and Valentino to become simply Liberace. He made his film debut in South Sea Sinner (H. Bruce Humberstone, 1950), with Macdonald Carey and Shelley Winters. Liberace played a honky tonk pianist on a South Sea island.


Vintage promotion card. Photo: Philips.


American Arcade card.

Flamboyant costumes and expensive ornaments

The Liberace Show (1952), a syndicated television program, turned Liberace into a musical symbol. It began as a summertime replacement for The Dinah Shore Show (1951), but after two years, the show was one of the most popular on TV. 217 American stations carried the show and it could be seen in 20 foreign countries. Sold-out live appearances at Madison Square Garden enhanced the pianist's popularity even more.

When he opened Las Vegas' Riviera Casino-Hotel in 1954, he was the city's highest-paid entertainer. That concert was the first one where he wore extravagant costumes - in this case, a gold lame jacket. Liberace added flamboyant costumes and expensive ornaments to his already unique performances. His second film was Sincerely Yours (Gordon Douglas, 1955) with Joanne Dru and Dorothy Malone.

The episodes of the television series Batman (1966) on which he guest-starred as Chandel/Harry, The Devil's Fingers (1966) and The Dead Ringers (1966), were the highest-rated in the series' history. In 1972, Liberace wrote his best-selling autobiography, 'Liberace', in 1972. His first book, 'Liberace Cooks', went into seven printings. In 1977, Liberace founded the non-profit Liberace Foundation for the Performing and Creative Arts. The year 1978 brought the opening of The Liberace Museum in Las Vegas, Nevada, which serves as key funding for the Liberace Foundation. The profits from the museum provide scholarship money for financially needy college musicians.

Liberace continued performing until the fall of 1986, despite suffering from heart disease and emphysema during most of the 1980s. A closeted homosexual his entire life, Liberace was secretly diagnosed with AIDS sometime in August 1985, which he also kept secret from the public until the day he died. His last concert was at Radio City Music Hall in 1986. He died in his Palm Springs home in 1987, at age 67. Liberace was bestowed with many awards during his lifetime including Instrumentalist of the Year, Best Dressed Entertainer, Entertainer of the Year, two Emmy Awards, six gold albums, and two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In 'The Guinness Book of World Records', he has been listed as the world's highest-paid musician and pianist. Liberace was an extremely talented and versatile man. He not only played the piano but sang, danced and joked during his performances. In fact, one of Liberace's biggest accomplishments was his ability to turn a recital into a show full of music, glitter and personality. In the cinema, he was portrayed by Victor Garber in Liberace: Behind the Music (David Greene, 1988), Andrew Robinson in Liberace (William Hale, Tommy Groszman, 1988) and Michael Douglas in Behind the Candelabra (Steven Soderbergh, 2013). Many of his pianos, cars, jewellery and costumes are now on display in the Liberace Museum in Las Vegas.


American promotion card for Nugget by Mike Roberts Color Productions, Berkeley, California, no. SC11815.


American postcard by Coral-Lee, Rancho Cordova, CA, # 100. Photo: Annie Leibovitz / Contact, 1981.

Sources: Gilbert Lee (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.