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Liberace

Page history last edited by Liberace 13 years, 6 months ago

Who was Liberace?

 

Wladziu Valentino Liberace, also known as just Liberace, was born on May 16, 1919, in West Allis, Wisconsin.  He was a very famous American pianist born from Polish and Italian immigrants who ended up becoming internationally known for his music.  Starting piano at the age of 4, he played countless hours each day and was pushed very hard by his father, which did pay off after 9 years.  At 16, Liberace became a soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra performing many nights with them and perfecting his skills.  After his time with the orchestra had died off, Liberace began playing at night clubs and earned iconic status.  Many were suspicious about his sexuality after he began performing concerts at these night clubs in flamboyant costumes and decorated pianos, but he was praised for his showmanship.[1] However, Liberace still remained a very loved and rich celebrity.  He performed many shows in night clubs and earned more than enough money, but not without earning love and respect from millions around the world.  Liberace died on February 4th, 1987 at the age of 67, his last performance was on Christmas Day on The Oprah Winfrey Show.[2]

 

 

 

His Significance

 

Liberace's fame came through a few things, but mostly his piano playing.  Becoming a regular at well known night clubs, people from all around the world came to see him.  Once this era of club showmanship was over and he was considered extremely rich, Liberace created The Liberace Show, which had thousands of viewers.  The Liberace Show aired from 1952 to 1955 in its best years, but was also brought back in 1959 until 1959 and aired one last in 1969.[3]   In 1960, Liberace went on a European tour which was a huge success, but his career had been slumping since a few years before.  In 1979, Liberace made a last stand by personally opening The Liberace Museum.  The museum was one of the largest visited tourist attractions until 2009 where it's amount of visitors decreased greatly due to the economy.  It was recently stated that the museum will be shutting down, but it will still be a large piece of history.  Liberace entertained America for many years and was proven to be very significant to its development of music and show biz.

Footnotes

  1. http://web.ebscohost.com/src/detail?vid=3&hid=106&sid=ee49863f-66e4-45e5-a798-304dfcf5dda6%40sessionmgr113&bdata=JnNpdGU9c3JjLWxpdmU%3d#db=mih&AN=47328837
  2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberace/#Death_and_final_act
  3. http://www.worldbookonline.com/student/article?id=ar723980&st=liberace

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