Liberace - Wikipedia. Liberace. Liberace in 1.

Born. Władziu Valentino Liberace(1. May 1. 6, 1. 91. 9West Allis, Wisconsin, U. S. Died. February 4, 1. Palm Springs, California, U. S. Cause of death.

Pneumonia(brought on by HIV/AIDS)Resting place. Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery. Other names. Walter Busterkeys. Walter Liberace. Lee. The Glitter Man. Mr. Showmanship. Occupation. Pianist, singer, entertainer, actor.

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Years active. 19. Parent(s)Salvatore Liberace. Frances Liberace (née Zuchowska)Musical career.

Genres. Easy listening. Instruments. Piano, vocals. Labels. Columbia. Dot. Associated acts.

George Liberace, Ignacy Jan Paderewski. Władziu Valentino Liberace[1][nb 1] (May 1. February 4, 1. 98. Liberace, was an American pianist, singer, and actor. Watch The Treasure Of The Living Dead Instanmovie.

A child prodigy and the son of working- class immigrants, Liberace enjoyed a career spanning four decades of concerts, recordings, television, motion pictures, and endorsements. At the height of his fame, from the 1. Liberace was the highest- paid entertainer in the world,[4] with established residencies in Las Vegas, and an international touring schedule. Liberace embraced a lifestyle of flamboyant excess both on and off stage, acquiring the sobriquet "Mr. Showmanship". Early life and education[edit]Wladziu Valentino Liberace (known as "Lee" to his friends and "Walter" to family)[3] was born in West Allis, Wisconsin. His father, Salvatore ("Sam") Liberace (December 9, 1.

April 1, 1. 97. 7), was an immigrant from Formia, Italy. His mother, Frances Zuchowska (August 3. November 1, 1. 98. Polish descent.[1] Liberace was born with a caul, which in some cultures is considered indicative of genius, good luck, or the promise of a prosperous future.[5] He had a twin, who died at birth. He had three siblings, a brother George, a violinist and his sister Angelina, and younger brother Rudy. Liberace's father played the French horn in bands and movie theaters but often worked as a factory worker or laborer. While Sam encouraged music in his family, his wife, Frances, believed music lessons and a record player to be unaffordable luxuries.

This caused family disputes.[6] Liberace later stated, "My dad's love and respect for music created in him a deep determination to give as his legacy to the world, a family of musicians dedicated to the advancement of the art".[7]Liberace began playing the piano at age four. While Sam took his children to concerts to further expose them to music, he was also a taskmaster demanding high standards from the children in both practice and performance. Liberace's prodigious talent was evident from his early years.

By age seven, he was capable of memorizing difficult pieces. He studied the technique of the Polish pianist Ignacy Paderewski. At age eight, he met Paderewski backstage after a concert at the Pabst Theater in Milwaukee. I was intoxicated by the joy I got from the great virtuoso's playing. My dreams were filled with fantasies of following his footsteps…Inspired and fired with ambition, I began to practice with a fervor that made my previous interest in the piano look like neglect". Paderewski later became a family friend.[8]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 and his avoidance of sports and his fondness for cooking and the piano.[9] Liberace concentrated on his piano playing with the help of music teacher Florence Kelly, who oversaw Liberace's musical development for 1. He gained experience playing popular music in theaters, on local radio, for dancing classes, for clubs, and for weddings.

In 1. 93. 4, he played jazz piano with a school group called "The Mixers" and later with other groups. Liberace also performed in cabarets and strip clubs. Though Sam and Frances did not approve, their son was earning a tidy living during hard times. For a while, Liberace adopted the stage name "Walter Busterkeys".[1.

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.[1. Early career[edit]A participant in a formal classical music competition in 1. Liberace was praised for his "flair and showmanship".[1. At the end of a traditional classical concert in La Crosse in 1. Liberace played his first requested encore, the popular comedy song "Three Little Fishies".

He later stated that he played the popular tune in the styles of several different classical composers.[1. The 2. 0- year- old played with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on January 1. Pabst Theater in Milwaukee, performing Liszt's Second Piano Concerto under the baton of Hans Lange, for which he received strong reviews. He also toured in the Midwest. Between 1. 94. 2 and 1.

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". In the early 1. 94. New York City, but by the mid- and late- 1. United States, largely abandoning the classical music altogether. He changed from a classical pianist to an entertainer and showman, unpredictably and whimsically mixing the serious with light fare, e. Chopin with "Home on the Range".[1. 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. In 1. 94. 3, he began to appear in Soundies (the 1.

He recreated two flashy numbers from his nightclub act, the standards "Tiger Rag" and "Twelfth Street Rag". In these films, he was billed as Walter Liberace. Both "Soundies" were later released to the home- movie market by Castle Films.

In 1. 94. 4, he made his first appearances in Las Vegas, which later became his principal venue. He was playing at the best clubs, finally appearing at the Persian Room in 1. Variety proclaiming, "Liberace looks like a cross between Cary Grant and Robert Alda. He has an effective manner, attractive hands which he spotlights properly, and withal, rings the bell in the dramatically lighted, well- presented, showmanly routine. He should snowball into box office".

The Chicago Times was similarly impressed: He "made like Chopin one minute and then turns on a Chico Marx bit the next".[1. 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 (1. He adopted "Liberace" as his stage name, making a point in press releases that it was pronounced "Liber- Ah- chee".[1.

He wore white tie and tails for better visibility in large halls. Besides clubs and occasional work as an accompanist and rehearsal pianist, Liberace played for private parties, including those at the Park Avenue home of millionaire oilman J. Paul Getty. By 1. 94. 7, he was billing himself as "Liberace—the most amazing piano virtuoso of the present day".[1. He had to have a piano to match his growing presence, so he bought a rare, oversized, gold- leafed Blüthner Grand, which he hyped up in his press kit as a "priceless piano".[1. Later, he performed with an array of extravagant, custom- decorated pianos, some encrusted with rhinestones and mirrors.) He moved to the Los Angeles neighborhood of North Hollywood in 1. Ciro's and The Mocambo, for stars such as Rosalind Russell, Clark Gable, Gloria Swanson, and Shirley Temple.