Liberace

[BamaDeathHag]

I was 9 when he died; I remember it well because we were having a satellite system installed and our installer said, "Well look there, Liberace died." I remember looking at the tv and thinking to myself oh what pretty clothes he wears. I have watched the movie with Mike & Matt and I really enjoyed it. And I watched the last interview he did with Oprah on youtube and I don't know why, but I love to hear him talk. My Mom says I get it from my Grandma, that she loved him, too. I just wish there were still showmen like this today. I'm only 35, but i'm an old soul.

[Aries65]

Someone on the IMDB board said besides Scott's age - another possible attraction for Liberace was what he was packing in his pants. I guess some of those slacks he wore on stage as Lee's chauffer were tight enough to reveal it...he was packin' apparently.

[Mansfield67]

Packing what ? (call me Rose Nyland) LOL ... a friend of mine saw him when he played here in the late 70's, slipped and said in front of his mother " Wow, this guy's got a basket on him ! " Lucky for him she wasn't familiar with the lingo !

[Ms. K]

I had to chuckle a bit, at the end of Behind The Candelabra, at the funeral. The priest says "May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you," and the congregation responds, "And with your spirit."

Um, no. Not in 1987 they didn't. The response was, "And also with you." Let me tell you, that's one way you can pick out the Catholics (and Lutherans, and Episcopalians) who are into Star Wars, you say, "May the Force be with you," and we reflexively respond, "And also with you." But, "And with your spirit" was introduced in 2011 with the new translation of the Roman Missal.

[DietCokeofEvil]

I just recently saw the Liberace movie too. I never paid him much mind before- he died when I was 15 or so- and I didn't know much about him at the time. Now I wish I had. I feel a bit of kinship with him because he grew up in Milwaukee- so did I, and my parents and my grandparents. I've been watching some of the videos on YouTube- the one with him and Jack Benny is awesome! Looks like a scaled down museum will be opening up...

http://www.lasvegassun.com/blogs/kat...#axzz2WnM8gguQ

[artymorty]

I saw the film yesterday and thought the acting was brilliant .The make up dept did a great job on both Damon and Douglas and Debbie Reynolds, who was unrecognisable as Liberace's mum .

[radiojane]

I really had no idea that was Debbie Reynolds at all until I read the credits looking for the name of another actor that was escaping me.

[coconn04]

Matt Damon was way too old for the part. Thorson was a teenager when he met Liberace and Thorson was 18 when he had the plastic surgery. Thorson said that after him that Liberace might have infected has many as four other people that he knew of. I don't know whether the network was afraid to go with a teenager because of the political implications of a guy 40 years older then Thorson going after him. I just felt they could have gone with someone other than Damon.

[radiojane]

I doubt they were fearful of any implication; they made a biographical film, it was fact that there was a huge age gap.

[artymorty]

I thought they had made Matt Damon look extremely young for that first part of the film. He did a great job I think.

[MagnusDippytack]

Did they show Liberace's mother getting beat up by homophobes?

[coconn04]

Matt Damon is 42. He is more than twice the age of what Scott Thorson was. Knowing how old Matt was did not make him a convincing teenager. I guess the audience went with it. I somehow think the scenes with him and Liberace in a bathtub and then he is giving him diet drugs to stay thin would have a more child predator thing about Liberace.

[hank chinaski]

I went to the same high school as Liberace.

[Stu Pidasso]

I went to the same high school as Liberace.

The thought of Liberace in high school has me laughing.

[Bidmor]

Well Lee's nearly 15,000 square foot home is up for sale. It's listed at...get this...$529K! That works out to about $35 psf. As it turns out, the house is now a bit of a fixer-upper.

http://omg.yahoo.com/blogs/celeb-new...192156378.html

[neilmpenny]

Well Lee's nearly 15,000 square foot home is up for sale. It's listed at...get this...$529K! That works out to about $35 psf. As it turns out, the house is now a bit of a fixer-upper.

http://omg.yahoo.com/blogs/celeb-new...192156378.html

I find it perfectly weird that the ceiling from which the chandaliers are hanging from is perfectly flat. I would have expected a coffered ceiling, as well as the space being a double volume.

[geekygirl]

I find it perfectly weird that the ceiling from which the chandaliers are hanging from is perfectly flat. I would have expected a coffered ceiling, as well as the space being a double volume.

The lack of coffered ceilings don't really bother me, but the fact that the ceilings appear to be of a standard height do. In the 1960's and 70's, chandeliers became in style again and construction during this time in the United States didn't use a great deal of crown molding, coffers or other architectual details. But there was a design formula for determining how large of a chandelier should be hung in a given space. I don't remember it exactly, but it was something along the lines of a chandelier not being any taller than 1/3 the height of the room, the chandelier had to occupy the upper third of the height of the room, and the bottom of the chandelier could not be lower than 10 feet. The exception was that if the chandelier was placed directly over an immovable object, such as a piano, or in the case of my parent's house, over a large fireplace mantle, the chandelier could hang lower, but still had to conform to the maximum height of 1/3 the height of the room or whatever the formula was.

To me, a couple of the chandeliers are too big for the height of the room AND also hang too low. I have read different reports on Liberace's height. Some say he was very short but others say he was 5'10.'' My guess is he was on the short side but that is only speculation. He could have had the chandeliers hanging over an immovable object which could explain why they were hanging so low, but the height of the chandeliers themselves were just too big. Maybe he bought the chandeliers because they were beautiful without any thought as to whether they would look good in his house?

[neilmpenny]

The lack of coffered ceilings don't really bother me, but the fact that the ceilings appear to be of a standard height do. In the 1960's and 70's, chandeliers became in style again and construction during this time in the United States didn't use a great deal of crown molding, coffers or other architectual details. But there was a design formula for determining how large of a chandelier should be hung in a given space. I don't remember it exactly, but it was something along the lines of a chandelier not being any taller than 1/3 the height of the room, the chandelier had to occupy the upper third of the height of the room, and the bottom of the chandelier could not be lower than 10 feet. The exception was that if the chandelier was placed directly over an immovable object, such as a piano, or in the case of my parent's house, over a large fireplace mantle, the chandelier could hang lower, but still had to conform to the maximum height of 1/3 the height of the room or whatever the formula was.

To me, a couple of the chandeliers are too big for the height of the room AND also hang too low. I have read different reports on Liberace's height. Some say he was very short but others say he was 5'10.'' My guess is he was on the short side but that is only speculation. He could have had the chandeliers hanging over an immovable object which could explain why they were hanging so low, but the height of the chandeliers themselves were just too big. Maybe he bought the chandeliers because they were beautiful without any thought as to whether they would look good in his house?

Now that is interesting. I will see what I can dig up about this.

[gas_chick]

I just watched the movie. I thought Michael Douglas, Matt Damon, Rob Lowe and Scott Bakula were great. I wouldn't have recognized Debbie Reynolds had I not known it was her beforehand. I really want to read the book now. I was pretty bummed to find that I missed my chance to go to the museum. Too bad this movie didn't come out sooner it might have caused a renewed interest.

[radiojane]

I think I read that they're doing a new scaled back museum. A traveling show like the Diana one from Althorp house would be cool too.

The movie may keep his name alive a little longer. Thing is, he isn't like Elvis. His work isn't really going to stand the test of time when people don't remember the personality.

[choff]

Curious...has anyone ever seen the mid 50's flick Sincerely Yours that starred Liberace ?? Its not on You Tube, the last time I checked anyway.

[SomeChick]

The lack of coffered ceilings don't really bother me, but the fact that the ceilings appear to be of a standard height do. In the 1960's and 70's, chandeliers became in style again and construction during this time in the United States didn't use a great deal of crown molding, coffers or other architectual details. But there was a design formula for determining how large of a chandelier should be hung in a given space. I don't remember it exactly, but it was something along the lines of a chandelier not being any taller than 1/3 the height of the room, the chandelier had to occupy the upper third of the height of the room, and the bottom of the chandelier could not be lower than 10 feet. The exception was that if the chandelier was placed directly over an immovable object, such as a piano, or in the case of my parent's house, over a large fireplace mantle, the chandelier could hang lower, but still had to conform to the maximum height of 1/3 the height of the room or whatever the formula was.

To me, a couple of the chandeliers are too big for the height of the room AND also hang too low. I have read different reports on Liberace's height. Some say he was very short but others say he was 5'10.'' My guess is he was on the short side but that is only speculation. He could have had the chandeliers hanging over an immovable object which could explain why they were hanging so low, but the height of the chandeliers themselves were just too big. Maybe he bought the chandeliers because they were beautiful without any thought as to whether they would look good in his house?

An immovable object like a piano perhaps?

[MagnusDippytack]

Sincerely Yours will be aired on TCM Friday, July 12th, 2013 at 3:15PM. What a hoot this will be. I've waited years to see this.

[artymorty]

Someone mentioned that if you stayed to the end of the credits of the Candelabra film, Michael Douglas reads out a poem .Does anyone know what it is please as I missed it ? thanks

[Gabby]

I was suppose to be born on Christmas but I kicked out early. (December 4th) Like they say in the music world try your best to open cause that act would be hard to follow lol. (Love you Jesus)

I know this is an old post but my daughter was due on christmas and was born on december 4th! how odd ...just thought I'd comment.

[michihunt]

I have a Liberace story. My grandma was a huge fan. She went to a lot of his concerts and she even went to the auction of his things in L.A. when he died. She bought Liberace furniture, china dolls in glass boxes that were his, and some of his art. When my grandma died, there was a piece of furniture that no one wanted - you guessed it - it was Liberace's china hutch. It was so gaudy that none of us wanted it. We ended up giving it to a family friend. It had a letter of authenticity that went with it. My grandma said she sat on the front row of one of his shows and he had a long fur coat. He let her touch it. He told the audience. "Do you like it? I hope so - you bought it!"

[cash]

Scott Thorson is still alive and getting into trouble

http://radaronline.com/exclusives/20...n-credit-card/

[neilmpenny]

Article about Liberace's house sale with a vid.

http://smh.domain.com.au/real-estate...718-2q5ry.html

[MagnusDippytack]

I finally had a chance to watch Sincerely Yours(1955) and what a wreck it was. What makes this film fascinating is that it is horrible though extremely well made. Screenplay by Irving Wallace,directed by Gordon Douglas, music performed by Liberace. Liberace did not have movie star quality. I will also say knowing his sexual preference while a majority of the 1955 movie watchers did not, added to the hoot value when he romances the women in the film. William Demarest (Uncle Charley on My Three Sons) plays a live in manager of the Liberace character! Theonly redeeming thing in this film was Liberace playing boogie woogie in a segment and I have to say he did remarkable job playing the boogie woogie for a white man.

It seems the widescreen version of this film is lost. This film is hard to get through, as I had to make three attempts to get through it. Liberace had a two film deal with Warner Bros and this film tanked so bad Warners bought his contract out and the second film was never made.

[Bidmor]

I wonder how crusty old Bill Demarest (a film character actor veteran) got along with Lee, cuz you know that Bill knew.

[Aries65]

Some of you might find this interesting 15 minutes with Scott Thorson recently...talking about Michael Jackson, sex with Lee in the White House and more!

http://wonderland1981.wordpress.com/...ie-lange-show/

[Shejay]

I dunno why, but I have a gut feeling this Scott fella is pretty credible. I think I am gonna look for his book.

Liberace was a freak who wanted to screw his adopted son that he made look just like him... Something is wrong with that.

[Michaela]

I watched Behind the Candelabra yesterday (and again today) and thought it was an excellent movie. Here's the obituary of Gladys Luckie, Liberace's maid. There's pictures of her and Liberace together.

http://obits.dignitymemorial.com/dig...1-30c553e7b9ae

[pwem]

I am quite sorry Liberace didn't make more movies. His brief appearance in The Loved One was priceless. I also liked him in the Batman TV series when he showed up.

[choff]

I am quite sorry Liberace didn't make more movies. His brief appearance in The Loved One was priceless. I also liked him in the Batman TV series when he showed up.

Looking back now I am surprised Liberace wasn't in those AIRPLANE flicks with Robert Hayes and Leslie Neilsen. If the folks behind Airplane were able to turn Barbara Billingsley into "Jive lady", Sonny Bono into a bomb carrying passenger and basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar into a pilot I am sure they could had found something totally off the wall for Liberace.

[pwem]

Looking back now I am surprised Liberace wasn't in those AIRPLANE flicks with Robert Hayes and Leslie Neilsen. If the folks behind Airplane were able to turn Barbara Billingsley into "Jive lady", Sonny Bono into a bomb carrying passenger and basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar into a pilot I am sure they could had found something totally off the wall for Liberace.

I never thought of the Airplane movies! It would have been fabulous. Opportunity missed. *sigh*

[geekygirl]

Looking back now I am surprised Liberace wasn't in those AIRPLANE flicks with Robert Hayes and Leslie Neilsen. If the folks behind Airplane were able to turn Barbara Billingsley into "Jive lady", Sonny Bono into a bomb carrying passenger and basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar into a pilot I am sure they could had found something totally off the wall for Liberace.

My first thought was to cast Liberace in the role of a flight attendant! Or how about a TSA Agent, luggage handler or flight controller? Definitely a great opportunity missed.

[pwem]

Can you imagine him as a travel agent booking customers for a cruise!? LMFAO!

[Bidmor]

I am quite sorry Liberace didn't make more movies. His brief appearance in The Loved One was priceless. I also liked him in the Batman TV series when he showed up.

Ah, yes, Chandell and evil twin brother Harry.

[midnitelamp]

how many members do we have here? what would we have to chip in to buy the house? a death hag museum and retirement home?

[Deathgoddess]

Finally getting around to watching Behind the Candelabra and it is fabulous! Damon and Douglas are phenomenal in these roles. I already went and bought the book on my kindle. I was looking at some of the other books about him, can anyone suggest a good one? Seems like Liberace was an interesting character.

[neilmpenny]

But there was a design formula for determining how large of a chandelier should be hung in a given space.

I found this: http://www.maximlighting.com/chandel...alculator.aspx

And this: http://ochandelier.net/proper-ratio-...ier-and-table/

[geekygirl]

I found this: http://www.maximlighting.com/chandel...alculator.aspx

And this: http://ochandelier.net/proper-ratio-...ier-and-table/

Awesome, Neil, thanks for finding. I inherited a Chandelier from my Mother-in-Law and want to hang it out on our back porch over the table we eat at during the summer months. Now I know how to hang it!

[neilmpenny]

Awesome, Neil, thanks for finding. I inherited a Chandelier from my Mother-in-Law and want to hang it out on our back porch over the table we eat at during the summer months. Now I know how to hang it!

My pleasure your geekyness. I did promise you I would find out...........

[Baron von zeppelin]

would have loved to see liberace as a special guest on an album with leon russell,billy joel,and elton john.seeing him actually play rock music with all the other pieces he would normally perform would have been really a sight to see and hear.

[pixiepereira]

image.jpg

I love this!

*damn! It's supposed to be animated!

[MagnusDippytack]

Scott Thorson is dead.

[I ♥ Tiny Tim]

Scott Thorson is dead.

Hmmm. He died August 16th but I don't remember hearing anything about it. Thanks for the heads up.