Comments on: I wish my brother George was here.

I wish my brother George was here.

miss lynnster — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 18:05:54 -0800

In 1956, Time Magazine wrote, "He is the summit of sex—the pinnacle of Masculine, Feminine and Neuter. Everything that He, She or It can ever want." (Wait. Seriously???) Behold the evolution of The Liberace Show: from dapper virtuoso to sequined, wacky showman.

Full b/w episode 1953 Full b/w episode 1955 Full b/w episode 1956 Youtube color clips 1969

By: piratebowling

piratebowling — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 18:19:49 -0800

I went to the Liberace museum when I was 6. Blew my little mind. I also got a nifty candleabre for my dollhouse from their gift shop.

By: miss lynnster

miss lynnster — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 18:20:40 -0800

BTW, I accidentally relayed something incorrect with the first link. It was William Connor from the London Daily Mirror that I was quoting from 1956. The Time article was actually about Liberace taking Connor to court three in 1959 for implying that he was a homosexual. In the linked article, when Time asked how he felt about homosexuality, he replied "I am against the practice because it offends convention and offends society."

By: miss lynnster

miss lynnster — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 18:21:35 -0800

("He" in the last sentence being Liberace, not Connor)

By: fleetmouse

fleetmouse — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 18:23:45 -0800

That double time samba in the sequined link is insane. Dude was the Yngwie Malmsteen of piano. Not quite as flashy though.

By: humannaire

humannaire — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 18:43:06 -0800

Lest we forget, how many of us here were introduced to Liberace...via Batman! [And even then there was always something "unique" that stood out about Chandell to my budding spidey sense...hmmm.]

By: FelliniBlank

FelliniBlank — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 18:44:50 -0800

Thanks, miss lynnster! We used to watch the Lib-man when I was a tot. Maybe it's just me getting old, as usual, but does anybody else miss variety shows? I mean real ones, not this reality dance contest star search crap. Shows where there'd be singing and magicians and sketch comedy and people in ruffly-sleeved shirts spinning plates. It was a dying art by the 70s, and I guess Donny & Marie and the Hudson Brothers killed the sucker off for good, but it'd be swell if you could turn on the TV on Friday night now and trip over something like the Carol Burnett Show.

By: ibmcginty

ibmcginty — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 18:46:29 -0800

That's funny, I didn't know Lee Siegel wrote for Time magazine in the 1950s.

By: HeroZero

HeroZero — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 18:50:32 -0800

TV variety shows were derived from vaudeville. Now, I suppose, we have YouTube and Fringe theater festivals to provide us with that sort of entertainment.

By: lalochezia

lalochezia — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 18:54:27 -0800

Liberace was GAY?

By: ZachsMind

ZachsMind — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 19:04:45 -0800

Liberace could play MUSIC?

By: miss lynnster

miss lynnster — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 19:05:07 -0800

I really love his version of Tea for Two actually... he puts so much in there (it's the showmanship link). But honestly, have you ever seen anyone else do boogie woogie 16 to the bar? (at about 2:40 or so) No question the guy was amazing.

By: jonmc

jonmc — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 19:25:28 -0800

Maybe it's just me getting old, as usual, but does anybody else miss variety shows? Yeah. I was watching some Ed Sullivan reruns awhile back and was kind of amazed at the amount of entertainment they packed in. It's ripe for a revival. Maybe skip Topo Gigio this time, though.

By: digaman

digaman — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 19:42:11 -0800

> Topo Gigio God, just hearing those words subvocalize in my mind triggered a disturbance in the Force. Most shocking thing I ever heard about Liberace by far: that he was a top.

By: jonmc

jonmc — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 19:44:27 -0800

He was the Fop on Top, pop.

By: Pater Aletheias

Pater Aletheias — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 19:44:56 -0800

Reminds me of the old Jake Johansen stand-up routine where he said something like: "No one's ever going to say 'That guy's just like Liberace, only more so.' I think Liberace reached maximum Liberaceosity."

By: candyland

candyland — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 19:53:35 -0800

I just went to the Liberace Museum two weeks ago. Having grown up with late-in-life Liberace, I had no idea about his early career and how he made his $$$. The main thing I learned from my visit: do what you like and what makes you happy, and success will follow. Also, there's no such thing as too much bling.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 20:16:36 -0800

Wonderful, thanks.

By: Brittanie

Brittanie — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 20:43:21 -0800

The Liberace Museum is one of my favoritest places on the whole wide earth.

By: krinklyfig

krinklyfig — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 20:45:14 -0800

jonmc writes "Yeah. I was watching some Ed Sullivan reruns awhile back and was kind of amazed at the amount of entertainment they packed in. It's ripe for a revival. Maybe skip Topo Gigio this time, though." One of the longest-running television shows is a variety show broadcast around the world. It's a hoot, if a bit difficult to sit through the whole thing during the longer episodes. I think it would be difficult to launch a decent variety show these days. They worked well when there were just a few stations and limited broadcast hours. IMO, one of the best (seriously) was The Muppet Show, though its revival wasn't nearly what the original was (maybe it was the absence of Jim Henson). And just to bring this back on topic ...

By: hexatron

hexatron — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 20:58:38 -0800

I watched the 1953 segment. It was oddly relaxing. I don't watch TV 'programs' because their mood is, well, annoying. They equate 'dramatic' with 'anxious' and 'humorous' with 'insulting', and why am I using all these apostrophes? Spanish TV does still have a fair amount of variety acts. And some wonderful looking women.

By: Tube

Tube — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 22:16:34 -0800

He was the Fop on Top, pop. Outstanding use of the word "fop" in a context outside the game of Scrabble! My only regret in reading Metafilter is periodically feeling outshined by other people's linguistic aptitude and cleverness. Please try to work "qat" into your next comment...

By: doctor_negative

doctor_negative — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 01:43:43 -0800

ut honestly, have you ever seen anyone else do boogie woogie 16 to the bar ? Wow, amazing stuff Miss L. I was impressed at the beginning, but then at the end he cuts in the after burners and REALLY takes off.

By: miss lynnster

miss lynnster — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 06:17:49 -0800

Glad you liked it. *delicately sips her qat tea*

By: StickyCarpet

StickyCarpet — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 06:33:44 -0800

He was the Fop on Top, pop. Jonmc, maybe you can freelance writing headlines for Fark.

By: wittgenstein

wittgenstein — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 10:15:25 -0800

I miss Pink Lady and Jeff.