Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Farewell, Liberace Museum
Liberace was once the highest paid entertainer in the world, but with fewer visitors and a slow flow of cash, the Liberace Museum closed Sunday after 31 years. Here's the story on NPR.
Since 2008, Steven Soderbergh has been developing a Liberace biographical film drama, originally planned to star Michael Douglas and Matt Damon. The clip below is probably from The Liberace Show, syndicated beginning in 1953 by producer Duke Goldstone.
During the 1950s, there were many solo pianists on television, including Liberace, Steve Allen, José Melis (bandleader when The Tonight Show was hosted by Jack Paar), Alec Templeton, George Shearing, organist-pianist Korla Pandit and Oscar Levant, but one seldom sees such TV pianists today. When Pandit wanted more money, Goldstone replaced him in 1953 with Liberace, and thus Pandit faded into obscurity as Liberace found fame. Pandit's "Turkish Dance" at bottom.
Liberace was once the highest paid entertainer in the world, but with fewer visitors and a slow flow of cash, the Liberace Museum closed Sunday after 31 years. Here's the story on NPR.
Since 2008, Steven Soderbergh has been developing a Liberace biographical film drama, originally planned to star Michael Douglas and Matt Damon. The clip below is probably from The Liberace Show, syndicated beginning in 1953 by producer Duke Goldstone.
During the 1950s, there were many solo pianists on television, including Liberace, Steve Allen, José Melis (bandleader when The Tonight Show was hosted by Jack Paar), Alec Templeton, George Shearing, organist-pianist Korla Pandit and Oscar Levant, but one seldom sees such TV pianists today. When Pandit wanted more money, Goldstone replaced him in 1953 with Liberace, and thus Pandit faded into obscurity as Liberace found fame. Pandit's "Turkish Dance" at bottom.
Labels: korla pandit, liberace
¶ 11:15 AM
