Liberace: An American Boy
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Bobby True Trio, 124
Bonfire of the Vanities, The (Wolfe), 378
Boy George, 286, 451n.60
Bristol, Claude M., 355–61, 364, 367, 401, 451n.58, 475n.5
Buchwald, Art, 191
Bucke, Richard Maurice, 356
Budd, Julie, 291
Butler, Judith, 58
Caesar’s Palace (Las Vegas), 293, 378
Café de Paris (London), 191
Camellia Street house (North Hollywood), 111–12, 241
candelabra, 37, 94, 146, 153, 156, 158, 288
Capp, Al, 158, 420
Cardell, Vince, 42, 270, 312–16, 321, 349, 362, 369, 375, 468n.28, 468n.39
Carey, Macdonald, 124
Carillo, Raymond, 410, 413–14
Carlucci, 316, 369
Carnegie Hall (New York), 83, 91, 160, 380
Caroll, Caroll, 366
Carson, Johnny, 253, 377
Casadonte, Alexander, 10, 204, 452n.89
Casa Liberace. See Cloisters
Cassandra (William Conners), x, 194, 195, 200, 224–27, 229–30
Catholicism: aesthetic versus doctrinal appreciation of, 37; and ceremony, 37; and homosexuality, 38; and L’s musical style, 271; L’s unorthodox, 402–3; L’s upbringing in, 36–38. See also Anthony, St.; religion
Champion, Marge and Gower, 15, 89
Chappell and Co., 197, 198
Chauncey, George, xiii, 96, 99
Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s Pabst Theater performance, 47, 62, 72, 76; and L’s abandonment of classical performance, 79–80
Chi Chi Club, 245
childhood, L’s. See under Liberace, Wladziu
children, and L, 29, 30, 205–6
Ciro’s, 118
Cities of the Plain (Proust), 276
City of Night (Rechy), 112, 217, 218, 238
Clarkston, Terry, 291, 418
Clay, Cassius (Muhammad Ali), 248
Clemmons, Walter, 276–77
Cliburn, Van, 421–22
Cloisters (Casa Liberace), 242–43, 257, 340; chapel to St. Anthony within, 46, 243, 403–4
clubs, supper, 9, 87–88, 116, 119. See also names of individual clubs
Coca, Imogene, 91
Cole, Fred, 204
Cole, Nat King, 297
Comden, Betty, 91
Conner, William (Cassandra), x, 194, 195, 200, 224–27, 424
Conversations with My Elders (Hadleigh), 236
Cook, John, 268
Copley Plaza Hotel (Boston), Oval Room, 88, 107
Cosmic Consciousness (Bucke), 356
costume, 37–39, 47, 65, 90, 151, 201, 255, 267, 268, 280, 301; and creation of identity, 288–90; and glamour, 300–301
counterculture, 299–301; and negative view of L, 294, 295–96
Coward, Noël, 190
Cox, Chris, 308–9, 350, 351, 370, 371. See also “Y, Mr.”
Crawford, Joan, 121
Crisp, Quentin, 289, 388
criticism, of L. See under Liberace, Wladziu “crying all the way to the bank” quip, 168, 420
Cuba tour (1956), 186–88
Cukor, George, xiii, 113, 228, 238–39
culture: L as corrupter of, x, 116, 180, 420–22; L’s continuing influence on, 420; and wealth, 163–64
Cunningham, Lucille, 308, 344
Cushing, Richard Cardinal, 26, 342, 403
Daily Mirror, L article and lawsuit, x, 194, 195, 200, 213, 215
Dandurand, Yvonne, 398
Daniels, Ronald, 413
David Letterman Show, The, 253, 381
Davis, Richard S., 47
Davis, Sammy, Jr., 297–98
Daytone recording label, 120
death, of L. See under Liberace, Wladziu
Del Coronado Hotel (San Diego), Circus Room, 138–39
Democracy in America (de Tocqueville), 367
Denkinger, Steve, 57
De Tocqueville, Alexis, 367
Dietrich, Marlene, 121, 184, 287
Diller, Phyllis, 401
Dinah Shore Show, The, L’s replacement programs for, 142, 146
Disneyland, 266
Donovan, E. H. Duncan, 414
“Don’t Call Him Mister,” 213
Douglas, Kirk, 189
Douglas, Mike, 89, 109
Drewel, Margaret Thompson, 384
East of Java (movie, released as South Seas Sinner), 124–25, 203, 420
Ed Sullivan Show, The, 157, 253–54, 270
Ehrenstein, David, 218, 229–30, 233–34, 424–25
Eisenhower, Dwight, 7, 134, 183–84
Eleusian Mysteries ceremonies, 285–86
Elizabeth, Queen, 40, 192–93, 193, 297–98
Ellroy, James, 217
El Rancho Vegas, 89, 260
Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 359, 367
Emmy awards, 142, 166
Empire Room (Palmer House, Chicago), 89, 93, 109, 252
Empire Room (Waldorf-Astoria, New York), 294
Erstad, William, 410
Europe: 1955 trip to, 189; 1956 tour of, 189–94; 1978 trip to, 314; 1981 trip to, 337
Evans, Walker, 29
Evening with Liberace, An (recording), 157
Everard Baths, 101
fan clubs, 21, 22, 128, 162
Fantasia (cartoon), 66–67
Farber, Stephen, 418, 420
Faris, Jocelyn, xii, 417
Farrell, Angelina Anna “Angie” Liberace (sister), 3, 6, 13, 24, 317, 429n.1; and childhood music lessons, 18, 39; christening of, 36; and Great Depression, 28, 30, 31, 33; and husband Fred Cole, 204; and death of L, 415; and denial of L’s AIDS, 306, 404, 416; and move to California, 205; and National Avenue house, 26; as private secretary to L, 205; role in raising L, 19
Fedderson, Don, 130, 138, 143, 148, 151
Federal Bureau of Investigation, and L’s homosexuality, 234
Fenn, Jean, 270
Fifty-first Street house (West Allis), 14–21
First Time, The (Flemings), 68
Fisher, Bob, 313
Fitzgerald, Ella, 91
Fleming, Karl and Anne Taylor, 68
Flynn, Errol, 222, 223, 237
Foley, Roy L., 46
Fonda, Jane, 297
Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills Cemetery, Liberace family mausoleum at, 410, 413–14
Fosler, Ken, 405, 409, 410
Foucault, Michel, 230, 231, 318, 424
Franklin, Benjamin, 364, 367
Fronza, Vince, 405, 408, 409, 410, 416
Funke, Lewis, 179–80
Gabor, Zsa Zsa, 248
Garbo, Greta, 57, 121
Gardiner, Gerald, 229
Garland, Judy, 248
Gay New York (Chauncey), 96–98, 99–103
Geist, William, 383
Generation of Vipers (Wylie), 181
Genet, Jean, 277
George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, The, 134
Gerber, Norma, 408
Getty, Paul, 91–92, 102, 440n.44
Ghanem, Elias, 398–99
Ginsberg, Allen, 178
Globe, and L’s defense in Thorson lawsuit, 372–73
Goldstone, Duke, 234, 242, 387; and direction of The Liberace Show, 151, 152
Gompers, Samuel, 118
Gone with the Wind (Mitchell), 162
Gone with the Wind (movie), 121
Goodwin, Clarence, 107–8, 110–11, 127; compared to John Jacobs, 200; and L’s purchase of Blüthner grand piano, 114; and L’s recording career, 120
Gould, Martin, 83
Govani, Al, 216
Grace, Princess, and Prince Rainier III of Monaco, 189
Great Depression, 28–30, 31, 32–33, 37, 50
Green, Abel, 48, 85, 90–91, 381
Green, Adolph, 91
Greenspun, Hank, 406
Griffith, R. E., 260
Guild Films, 148, 183
Gunn, Glenn Dilliard, 43
Hades, 284–85
Hadleigh, Boze, 236, 238, 399, 414–15, 417, 425
Hall, John, 237
Halline, Edward P., 46, 47, 77, 78
Hamilton, Fr. Raphael, 34–35
Harbaugh, William Henry, 100
Harnischfeger metalworks, 2–3
Harold Way house (Hollywood Hills), 256–59, 340, 361
Harrison, Robert, 215–17, 220, 222, 223, 292
Haven, Miss Bea, 70, 171
Hays, Harry, 218, 242
health, L’s. See under Liberace, Wladziu
Hecht, Marilyn, 156
Heller, Seymour, 27, 125, 126–28, 308, 353, 381, 401, 443n.58, 444n.19; and John Jacobs, 200; and Las Vegas, 184, 259; and L’s affair with Joanne Rio, 208; and L’s death, 415; L’s firing of, 199, 253; and L’s late 1950s slump, 195–96; and L’s recording contract with Columbia, 157; L’s rehiring of, 253; and L’s Warner Brothers movie contract, 184–85; and movies about L, 418; and publicity during L’s last days, 407
Hellman, Jack, 139
Hemming, Stefan, 416, 429n.1
Hempling, Sara, 409
Henie, Sonja, 32, 120, 209
Henry, William, 377
Hera and Heracles, 173
Herzog, Buck, 76, 77, 82
Hildegard, 90, 93, 120, 192, 273
Hilton International Hotel show, 267–68
Hlaban, John, 32
Hobson, Jim, 139
Holden, Stephen, 383–84, 400, 423–24
Holliday, Judy, 91
Hollywood Babylon (Anger), 217
Hollywood Bowl, 18, 141, 279–80
Hollywood Confidential, 215–17, 256; and L article and lawsuit, 221–22, 227, 229, 367; and Rock Hudson, 220–21
Hollywood Gays (Hadleigh), 236, 417
Holmes, John, 351
Home, the, 4–5
homosexuality, 436–37n.47, 448n.88; and acceptance of promiscuity in 1960s and 1970s, 305; and AIDS, 393–97, 398; and conservative and moderate gay men, 304; and the conventional political right, 394; culture of, 98, 217–21; and gay radicalism and activism, 303–6, 466–67n.3; and idealizing of desire, 277; inherent confidentiality of, 217, 454n.23; and language to name and describe, 317–19; and male prostitution, 217–19, 454n.26; and manhood, 227–28, 456–57n.55; and monogamy and marriage, 305–6, 469n.52, 472–73n.24; and New York City, 96–103; and public sexuality, 454–55n.29, 455n.30, 458n.68; public taboo against for celebrities, 228–29; and seeing/looking, 275–77; and society, politics, and the law, 229–33; in Southern California and Hollywood, 112–13, 122, 238–39, 242; and traditional masculinity, 345–46. See also Liberace, Wladziu: sexuality of
Hope, Bob, 158, 159, 193
Horne, Lena, 298
Hudson, Rock, xiii, 220, 221, 228; affair with L, 235–37, 306, 414; and AIDS, 399, 404–5
Hudson, Thomson Jay, 356
Hughes, Howard, 278
Hull, Thomas, 260
Hunt, Ray, 93
“I Don’t Care: As Long as You Care for Me,” 274
“I’ll Be Seeing You,” 273–77, 290
I’ll Be Seeing You: The Young Liberace (Miller), 416, 481n.18
I Love Lucy, 133–34
Inside Story article, 214
International Artists, Ltd., 199, 239, 258
Isay, Richard, 336
Jack Benny Show, The, 133–34
Jackson, Michael, 43, 286, 423
Jacobs, John, 199–200, 253, 370; and Daily Mirror (Cassandra) lawsuit, 223, 224; and Hollywood Confidential lawsuit, 222–23; and purchase of L’s Harold Way house, 258
James, Cary, 45, 237, 319–20, 325, 336, 352, 372, 389–92; death and memoirs of, 316; and L’s AIDS, 398–99, 403–4; and L’s memoirs, 368; and Joel Strote lawsuit, 415; and Scott Thorson, 390
James, Henry, xiii
James, Jamie, 243, 244–45, 292, 405, 408, 418
Jarvis, Al, 138
Jay Mills Orchestra, 62, 63
Jefferson, Thomas, 232
“Joe,” 350, 351. See also Nash, Eddie
Johansen, Wayne, 332, 353, 373
John, Elton, 175, 300–301, 423, 461n.60
Johnson, Karl B., 417
Johnston, Mae, 125
Jones, Dick, 120
Jones, Spike, 119, 132
Jorgenson, Christine, 34, 209, 214
Karlen, Neal, 383
Kaufman, Reuben, 142, 148–49, 156
Kaye, Danny, 189, 450n.24
Kefauver, Estes, 215–16
Kelly, Florence, 5, 43–47, 52, 62, 80, 104, 141; Kevin Kopelson regarding, 434n.57, 434n.58
Kimball Hall, 62
King, Billie Jean, 370, 371
King, Larry, 415
Kipen, David, 426
KLAC television station, 137
Kopelson, Kevin, x, 421, 422, 424, 425, 447n.78; regarding Florence Kelly, 434n.57, 434n.58
Koppel, Ted, 414
Kraike, Michael, 123, 124
Krasner, Lee, 178
Krause, Del, 52, 53, 55, 57, 366
KTLA television station (Lucky Channel 13), 137
Kyser, Kay, 66, 109
La Crosse “Three Little Fishies” concert, 66–67, 70, 81, 335
Lake Tahoe condominium, 341, 352, 390, 392
Lambert, Gavin, 418
Lane, Will, 149
Lansberg, Klaus, 137–38, 144
Lanza, Mario, 185
Laramore house (Las Vegas), 343
Larson, Gary, 420
Last Frontier Hotel (Las Vegas): history of, 260–61; and musical talent show for young people, 206; Ramona Room, 89, 107, 117, 118, 261–62, 263. See also New Frontier, Hotel
Las Vegas: in 1980s, 378, 463n.67; development of, 258–62, 263, 266–67; lack of work in after 1958, 195; and L as epitome of city’s attitude, 267–68; L’s 1963 return to, 255; L’s apartment in, 200; L’s first performance in, 89; L’s post–WWII musical engagements in, 117; in mid-1950s, 184
Latin Quarter, 253, 294
“laughing [crying] all the way to the bank” quip, 168, 420
Laurents, Arthur, 98
lawsuits, xi, 373–74; William Conner (Cassandra) and London Daily Mirror, 194–95, 200, 223–33, 234, 312, 367, 457–58n.65; Seymour Heller, 199; Hollywood Confidential, 222, 223; Internal Revenue Service, 258; Joanne Rio (Barr), 208–9; Joel Strote, 415–16; Jimmy Thompson, 194; Scott Thorson, ix, 332, 353, 370–77, 406
Leach, Robin, 400–401, 405
Learning from Las Vegas (Venturi), 266–67, 294
Lee, Gypsy Rose, 94
Le Ruban Bleu, 88, 91
Letterman, David, 253, 381
Let Us Now Praise Famous Men (Evans and Agee), 29
Lewis, Maxine, 89, 260, 261–62, 263
Liberace (movie, ABC), 418–19
Liberace, Angie (sister). See Farrell, Angelina
Liberace, Dora (Mrs. George), 416
Liberace, Frances Zuchowski (mother), 2, 23, 27; attack against, 256; conservative nature of, 12; culinary skills of, 26; death of, 374, 413; devout nature of, 11, 37, 204–5; failures as parent, 317; family background, 11–12; and family grocery store, 14–15; family role, 20–21; and Great Depression, 30–31; and The Liberace Show, 147, 151, 156; L’s public identification with, 22; meeting with Gorgeous George, 383; and mother-son relationship with L, 170; and move to California, 203–4, 240, 441n.2; objection to Mixers, 53; overbearing influence on L, 22, 70; and Paderewski, 42; participation in L’s performances, 161; physical description of, 10–11; and Joanne Rio, 208, 210; and scandal of divorce, 32; after separation from Salvatore, 203–5, 452n.89; and split between George and L, 240; as tight and materialistic, 11; and trip to Europe, 189; verbal tyranny of, 204
Liberace, George (brother), 3, 10, 13, 27, 28, 45; and childhood musical lessons, 18, 39; as conductor of The Liberace Show orchestra, 140, 144, 146, 152, 156; death of, 374, 413; estrangement from L, 239–40, 245, 369; as family arbitrator, 21–22; and Great Depression, 28, 31; and International Artists, Ltd., 199, 203; as L’s general manager, 126; and move to Van Nuys, 203; musical performances with L, 53–54, 160, 161; and National Avenue house, 26;
placing father in nursing home, 68; reconciliation with L in 1980s, 240; and Sam Pick’s Club Madrid, 31, 53–54; serial monogamy of, 31, 317; and trip to Europe, 189
Liberace, Ina (niece), 317
Liberace, Jayne (Mrs. George), 27
Liberace, Rudolph Valentino “Rudy” (brother), 13, 24, 27, 317; birth, 30–31; death, 240; as film editor, 205; and L’s childhood, 28–29, 31, 33; and The Liberace Show, 147; and move to Van Nuys, 205; resemblance to Errol Flynn, 131
Liberace, Salvatore “Sam” (father), 1, 8, 28; and California nursing home, 68; character and physical characteristics of, 9, 10; conflict with Frances, 13, 14–15, 17, 32, 38; death of, 335, 374; and economic issues, 8–10, 14, 26, 30; and emphasis on music with children, 16–17, 19, 43, 45; and French horn, 363; as household boss, 17–18; L’s break with, 67–68; L’s psychological “hatred” of, 22; and L’s use of music as resolution of relationship, 50; as musician, 9–10, 16; “non-existence” in L’s life after 1941, 369; opposition to popular music, 50, 51–52, 67, 69, 438n.70; as poor parent, 317; record collection of, 16, 42; relationship to Zona Gale Smrz, 32, 68, 72
Liberace, Wladziu “Wally”/“Lee”:
—appeal of: and combination of culture and folksiness, 163; as cultural icon and embodiment of female values, 170–71, 173, 447n.78; decline of in late 1950s, 195–96; as denatured or desexualized lover, 172–73; to gay population, 175; as good “eroticized” son, 169–70; and humor about himself, 292–93, 380; during The Liberace Show period, 156–62; and “little-boy quality,” 291–92, 293; mythic definition of, xiii, 173; physical appearance, 131–32; and restoration of from 1959–1963. (See also Liberace, Wladziu: reaction to and criticism of)
—childhood and adolescence of: alienation and guilt in, 60; artistic talents in, 56, 60; birth, 1, 13, 14, 429n.1; blue-collar background, 7; peers, 24, 49, 55, 60; Christmases, 32–34; creation of new persona via music, 49–50; family piano, 16–17; Great Depression, 28–29, 31, 32–33, 37; health, 34; high school dress, 56–57; identification with and influence of father, 18–20, 118–19; influence upon in later life, 6–7, 22; move to National Avenue, 40–41, 59; nickname “Booloo,” 325–26; poverty during, 14, 31, 32–33, 430n.8; relationship to girls during high school, 55, 58; relationship to West Allis and Milwaukee, 6; religious upbringing, 36–38; schooling, 4, 34–35, 55–56; setting, 1–8; source of name “Wladziu Valentino,” 13; stubborn intractability during, 44; and West Milwaukee High School, 55–61, 79
—death of: and AIDS controversy, 409–10, 413–15, 416; last days before, 402–409; and last will, 407–8; and Las Vegas memorial service, 410–11; and Palm Springs Our Lady of Solitude memorial service, 410
—health of: AIDS, 210, 392–410, 398–99, 413–15, 416, 418–19; and his childhood, 34; heart strain, 210; in last days, 407–11; miracle cure, 403–4; pronouncements of “anemia,” 407; renal failure, 249–50, 401, 402–3. See also AIDS