A Year: Day to Day Men: 16th of May
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May 16, 1919 was the birthdate of Wladziu Valentino Liberace, the American singer, pianist and actor.
Liberace was born in West Allis, Wisconsin. His father was an immigrant from central Italy and his mother was of Polish descent. Liberace was born ‘en caul”, which in some cultures is indicative of genius, good luck or the promise of a prosperous future. He began playing the piano at age four. By the age of seven he was already memorizing difficult pieces and studying the technique of the Polish pianist Ignacy Pederewski.
In 1934 at age 15, he played jazz piano with a school group called “The Mixers” and later with other groups. He also showed an interest in draftsmanship, design, and painting, and became a fastidious dresser and follower of fashion. By this time, he was already displaying a penchant for turning eccentricities into attention-getting practices, and earned popularity at school.
Liberace, at the age of twenty, played with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on January 15, 1940, at the Pabst Theater in Milwaukee, performing Liszt’s Second Piano Concerto under the baton of Hans Lange, for which he received strong reviews. By the late 1940s he changed from a classical pianist to an entertainer and showman, unpredictably and whimsically mixing the serious with light fare. He also added interaction with the audience—taking requests, talking with the patrons and making jokes. He began to pay greater attention to such details as staging, lighting, and presentation. The transformation to entertainer was driven by Liberace’s desire to connect directly with his audiences, and secondarily from the reality of the difficult competition in the classical piano world.
In 1956, Liberace had his first international engagement, playing successfully in Havana, Cuba. He followed up with a European tour later that year. Always a devout Catholic, Liberace considered his meeting with Pope Pius XII a highlight of his life. In 1960, Liberace performed at the London Palladium with Nat King Cole and Sammy Davis Jr. This was the first televised ‘command performance’, now known as the Royal Variety Performance, for Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.
Liberace died on the late morning of February 4, 1987 at his retreat home in Palm Springs, California. He was 67 years old. His body is entombed at Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles. In 1994 the Palm Springs Walk of Stars dedicated a Golden Palm Star to him. Liberace was recognized during his career with two Emmy Awards, six gold albums, and two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.