Liberace: Behind the Music
Liberace: Behind the Music is a 1988 American-Canadian made-for-television biographical film. It is an "unofficial" biopic drama on the life and death of Władziu Valentino Liberace, who went from a humble working-class background to become a famous American pianist and vocalist. Known as "Liberace", he became the highest paid entertainer in the world, while embracing a lifestyle of flamboyant excess. The film first aired less than two years after his death, in the United States, as a CBS Sunday Movie.
| Liberace: Behind the Music | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover | |
| Genre | Biography Drama Music |
| Written by | Gavin Lambert |
| Directed by | David Greene |
| Starring | Victor Garber Saul Rubinek Michael Dolan Maureen Stapleton |
| Music by | Hagood Hardy |
| Country of origin | Canada United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Linda Yellen Nancy Bein |
| Producer(s) | Murray Shostak |
| Production location(s) | Montreal |
| Cinematography | René Verzier |
| Editor(s) | Yves Langlois |
| Running time | 97 minutes |
| Production company(s) | The Kushner-Locke Company |
| Distributor | CBS |
| Release | |
| Original network | CBS |
| Picture format | Color |
| Audio format | Stereo |
| Original release | October 9, 1988 |
Description
The modest-length production (97 minutes) traces Liberace's life, as played by Canadian actor Victor Garber, from his humble beginnings in a Milwaukee suburb, through his major life highs and lows, culminating with the highly publicized palimony lawsuit filed against him by his former limo driver and alleged live-in boyfriend of five years, Scott Thorson (played by Michael Dolan), and his failing health, ending with his death at age 67 on February 4, 1987, from AIDS complications.
The film highlighted an early casting appearance of then 20-year-old Shawn Levy as Glenn, a post-Thorson acquaintance of Liberace's through the pianist's final days.
The movie was directed by Emmy Award-winning David Greene. Credit for technical advisor is given to long-time Liberace friend and agent Seymour Heller (portrayed in the film by Saul Rubinek).
Film clips from Liberace's actual stage appearances are interspersed in the storyline.
Liberace: Behind the Music was broadcast one week after the ABC biopic production Liberace (1988), starring Andrew Robinson in the lead, and with a script holding to a point of view that Liberace was heterosexual. Liberace: Behind the Music, however, acknowledged his homosexuality.
Plot
Wladiziu Valentino Liberace, a gifted classical pianist fueled by poverty, was already playing with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the age of 17. Through a variety of his highs and lows, chaptered in TV-style format, Liberace's life from his early years through his death are chronicled with the struggle of keeping his sexuality hidden from the public.
Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Victor Garber | Liberace |
| Saul Rubinek | Seymour Heller |
| Michael Dolan | Scott Thorson |
| Maureen Stapleton | Frances Liberace |
| Shawn Levy | Glenn |
| Michael Wilkes | George Liberace |
| Macha Grenon | Joanne |
| George Touliatos | Salvatore Liberace |
| Joan Heney | Serious Lady |
| Andrew Nichols | Teenager |
| Paul Hipp | Elvis Presley |
| Frances Hyland | Florence Bettray Kelly |
| Stephen Watts | Jimmy |
| Rochelle Bruneau | George's Girl |
Home media
Liberace: Behind the Music is available on DVD from Kushner-Locke, distributed through Tango Entertainment.
See also
- Behind the Candelabra, another biopic, stars Michael Douglas as Liberace and Matt Damon as Thorson; it aired on the HBO television network on May 26, 2013.