Scott Thorson recounts his relationship with pianist and musician Liberace.
From the 1950s through today, Corky has amassed a long list of performance and recording credentials, including sessions, TV shows and concerts with Liberace, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Elkie Brooks, Tony Bennett, Billie Holiday, Harry James, Peggy Lee, James Brown, George Michael and Björk, to name a few.
Duchin had no formal music training—which was said to frustrate his musicians at times—but he developed a style rooted in classical music that some saw as the forerunner of Liberace's ornate, gaudy approach.
The Bellerive, once a hotel on Armour Boulevard, gained notoriety after opening the Casbah Room, a lounge that attracted headliners such as Billie Holiday and Liberace.
The Celebrity Showroom, first known as the Circus Room, was constructed in the 1960s and played host to big name entertainment like Liberace, Sergio Franchi, The Osmond Brothers, Robert Goulet, and more.
In August 2007, Kashi Kicks announced the release of the Liberace shoe, to honor “the King of Bling”.
The modest-length production (97 minutes) traces Liberace's life, as played by Canadian actor Victor Garber, from his humble beginnings in a Milwaukee suburb, through his major life highs and lows culminating with the highly publicized palimony lawsuit filed against him by his former limo driver and alleged live-in boyfriend of five years, Scott Thorson played by Michael Dolan, and his failing health ending with his death at age 67 on February 4, 1987, from AIDS complications.
He signed to Liberace's label, AVI Records, and released an album in late 1979 entitled Lowrell.
As an actor Ford has appeared in San Francisco in the title role in Behind the Candelabra – My Life with Liberace (2002) a play adapted by Jennifer Blowdryer from the memoir of Liberace chauffeur/paramour Scott Thorsen.
The Vegas locale allows for an ongoing parade of barely dressed showgirls in glitzy Bob Mackie costumes, Sonny and Cher, Elvis Presley, Liberace, and Siegfried and Roy impersonators, and a two-bit stand-up comic acting as emcee against a background of flashing neon lights and accompanied by the sound of ever-jangling slot machines.
Liberace classically-trained pianist and comedian known for his elaborate costumes (the entertainer was known to have counseled the young Elvis on being a twinless twin and the desire to "live for two").
Shows she saw included Liberace, Dame Joan Sutherland, Billy Joel, Lindsay Kemp and a myriad of other internationally acclaimed artists, each leaving a profound and indelible impression on the young Avra.
Behind the Candelabra is a 2013 American drama film directed by Steven Soderbergh about the last ten years in the life of pianist Liberace and the secret affair he had with the younger Scott Thorson, based on Thorson’s memoir, Behind the Candelabra: My Life with Liberace (1988).
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Director Steven Soderbergh first spoke with Michael Douglas about the idea of doing a Liberace film during the production of Traffic (2000), but had trouble figuring out an angle for it that would differentiate it from a traditional biopic.
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Not long thereafter (in December 1986), Scott receives a phone call from Liberace telling him that he is very sick with what is later revealed to be AIDS, and would like Scott to visit him again.
Behind the Candelabra: My Life with Liberace is a memoir by Scott Thorson and Alex Thorleifson, published in 1988 by Dutton.
After returning home following the war, Leyden worked as a radio announcer on KMPC in Los Angeles and later served announcer for the syndicated radio series The Liberace Program (1954–55) before moving over to television, where he hosted several game shows, the most successful of which was It Could Be You.
Since 1988, Dahn has headlined the showrooms of Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, Cunard’s QM2 and Queen Victoria, Princess Cruises, Seabourn Cruises, and Silversea Cruises with tributes to Elton John, Jerry Lee Lewis, Winifred Atwell, Lady Gaga and Liberace.
He has worked with many personalities of the day, from rock and pop stars, actors and TV performers, to politicians, princes, to luminaries such as Frank Sinatra, Adam Faith, Sean Connery, Liberace, the Beatles, Shirley Bassey, Barbra Streisand, Robert Redford, Cilla Black, Tony Blair and members of the Royal Family.
Liberace attended a showing of Aruba Liberace, and was so impressed he invited Famous People Players to perform with him in Las Vegas.
He helped to develop the careers of many famous performers such as Shirley Bassey, Maurice Chevalier, Morecambe and Wise, Tony Hancock, Arthur Askey, the Crazy Gang, George Formby and Liberace.
In 1956, during Elvis' first engagement in Las Vegas, visitors to the shows included Judy Spreckels, Hal Wallis (who had just signed Elvis to his first movie deal) and entertainers Ray Bolger, Phil Silvers and Liberace.
In the 1970s he appeared in hit programmes including the Harry Worth Show, Crossroads, Z-Cars, The Good Old Days, and The Liberace Show, as well as the famous sitcom Nearest and Dearest.
Arnett is also known for introducing Liberace to future partner Scott Thorson.
In 2014 Ryan will be returning to the broadway stage in the musical All That Glitters, a biographical musical based on the life of Liberace, playing the role of, Miss Bea Haven, Liberace's secretary and nurse.
Steve went on the produce other TV programs for KTHV, including "Eye On Arkansas," which showcased such celebrities as Liberace, Ronald Reagan (before he was Governor of California and later President), Roy Rogers, the cast of the popular TV programs, "The Beverly Hillbillies," and "Ponderosa," Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., and many other notables.
Throughout the 1970s, along with television appearances with Julie Andrews, The Ed Sullivan Show, Kraft Music Hall, and their own television special with Lorne Greene, The Young Americans began concert tours in the United States and abroad at venues that included Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Madison Square Garden, the Hollywood Bowl, and with Liberace in Las Vegas.