Liberace gay
Liberace really was gay?
Muad_Dib1
Holy crap, I swear that I did not know.
I never really gave it any thought but I always believed that it was a large in-joke. I thought that the guy had a lispy voice and a flamboyant style and that once he became renowned and those qualities became his signature, that he played them up for all that they were worth.
Sheesh, all this moment I figured that he was probably very straight-laced in his personal being and that the huge flaming side-show aspect was a sort of self-aware mocking of stereotypes.
Stratocaster2
And the Pope’s Catholic, in case you’re keeping score.
Amp3
Ok, Ok… but do bears still shit in the woods?
Sage_Rat4
The odd thing is that I know (and knew) that Liberace is homosexual. But have no notion who Liberace is.
Must be a bit of a let down for him to have his legacy amount to “I don’t know anything else, but he was one Homosexual dude.”
Superdude5
Holy crap, I swear that I did not know.
Well, he HAS been embroiled in the odd legal battle. In 1982, his chauffeur and bodyguard, Scott Thorson, filed a $113mil palimony suit. The suit was later “mostly” thrown out of court. The court stated that contra
Debbie Reynolds: We all knew Liberace was gay
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - In the new film "Behind the Candelabra," veteran entertainer Debbie Reynolds has just three major scenes to flesh out one of the most complicated figures in piano-playing showman Liberace's life: his loving but sometimes manipulative mother Frances.
The Oscar-, Tony- and Emmy-nominated Reynolds didn't need to carry out any homework for the part. She knew Frances. Reynolds joined Liberace's inner circle while both were doing stage shows in Las Vegas.
"I tell the story when Lee called me one night after work," Reynolds remembered, using Liberace's nickname. "I was at the Desert Inn, he was at the Hilton, and he said, 'Debbie, I'll pick you up after the exhibit, and we'll take Tom Jones. It's his birthday.'"
"I have never had a better time than entity Liberace's date," the 81-year-old Reynolds continued. "We all knew he was queer. That was a friend: You know what they love and the people that they love, and what they are."
"Behind the Candelabra" picks up the story of Liberace, played by Michael Douglas, in the '70s and focuses on his six-year connection with the much younger Scott Thorson, portrayed by Matt
What Liberace reveals about the march of gay rights
Many younger activists, fighting to challenge stereotypes about their sexual orientation, resented the way he constructed a neutered, effeminate persona constructed not to frighten or challenge the mainstream, argues Pyron.
"Nothing about him speaks to a modern queer man," Pyron adds.
"He's a political conservative, he goes to the Ronald Reagan White House - he's very sympathetic to the values of mid-western America."
Despite his huge fame at the peak of his career, Liberace - unlike contemporaries like Elvis Presley or Frank Sinatra - has few committed followers today. In 2010 the Liberace Museum in Las Vegas closed its doors, although it is due to reopen at a new location in 2014.
Likewise, says Kopelson, some modern gay men find it difficult to relate to him - in contrast, he says, with the actor Rock Hudson, another famous closeted celebrity of the era. Hudson's image as a ruggedly masculine romantic steer was far more significant in terms of challenging stereotypes and changing attitudes, the author argues.
Still, Liberace's supporters say he can and should be remembered as a homosexual
"An entertaining and rewarding biography of the pianist and entertainer whose fans' adoration was equaled only by his critics' loathing.…Pyron tells an immensely entertaining story that should be fascinating and pleasurable to anyone with an interest in American popular culture."—Kirkus Reviews
"Nothing less than a social and cultural history of the United States from the end of the First World War to the presidency of Ronald Reagan, with a pair of flashy fingers holding it all together. Far from feeling too extended, the book reads fond of a miracle of compression.…This is a wonderful manual, what biography ought to be and so seldom is."—Kathryn Hughes, Daily Telegraph
"[Pyron] achieves what many readers might consider impossible: a persuasive case for Liberace's life and times as the embodiment of an important cultural moment."—Publishers Weekly
"Pyron uses pianist Liberace to explore the bundle of contradictions embedded in the American dream.…Fascinating, thoughtful, exhaustive, and well-written, this publication will serve as the standard biography of a complex icon of American popular culture. Highly recommended for general readers, mus
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