Faces of Milwaukee: Liberace

It can be dangerous to learn too much about your heroes. While I was only passingly familiar with the subject of today's portrait, Władziu Valentino Liberace. Lana loved his incredible piano performances and showmanship from a young age, but as she came to learn, he is a complex and often troubling figure especially in the area of Gay rights. Born in West Allis in 1919, Liberace was a child prodigy, earning accolades in piano competitions at a young age and performing a concerto with the Chicago Symphony at age 20. From the beginning, he loved to mix elements of popular and classical music and, rather than pursue a traditional piano performance career, he created a traveling stage show billed as "classical music with the boring parts left out". This combination of highly skilled performance of classical pieces with a theatrical flair and extensive audience interaction would catapult him to stardom.

After performing and refining his act in nightclubs around the United States, he began to rise to prominence with appearances in "Soundies", short musical films that could be viewed in nightclubs and restaurants, among many other places. With this fame, he set up shop in Las Vegas in the early 40s playing many of the best clubs, his intention though was to ultimately become an international star. He adopted signature elements of his performance such as bringing the candelabrum to the piano, and added extensive costumes, additional performers, and theatrical lighting. He became known for his large stage shows in Las Vegas rather than as a supper club pianist, and from there he became a superstar. In 1954, he earned $138k for a single performance in Madison Square Garden, the equivalent of over $1.3M today. He made his way to television, hosting the wildly popular Liberace Show that at its height drew nearly 30 million viewers. The show was also one of the few commercial programs broadcast in the UK. dramatically extending his reach.

Although he continued to perform to large crowds until his death from AIDS-related pneumonia in 1987, he leaves a surprisingly small legacy. Unlike performers such as Elvis and Frank Sinatra who have enjoyed a dedicated following long after their death, Liberace has mostly slipped from the popular consciousness. Although he was well known to be Gay during his life, he went to great lengths to conceal that fact, winning a libel case against a newspaper for an insinuating it, becoming linked publicly to a number of supposed female love interests, and refusing to admit he had a relationship with his long-time chauffeur Scott Thorson even during legal proceedings. Even more damning though are the allegations by numerous lovers that he knowingly transmitted HIV to them over the last few years of his life, a death sentence at the time. Although he was once the highest-paid performer in the world, it is clear these elements of his personal life has found him few fans in the next generation.