History Music / Liberace

* DeadpanSnarker: He was famous for his dry wit and remarks both during shows and offstage, more than a few of which [[SelfDeprecation were directed at himself.]]

* TransparentCloset: Though he never admitted it while he was alive, even having his obituaries lie about it, everyone who ever knew Liberace in person for more than five minutes knew he was gay.

Throughout his life, there was much speculation about his sexuality, which was fueled by tabloid publications in the [[TheFifties mid-1950s]]. Liberace vehemently denied that he was gay, and sued the British ''[[UsefulNotes/BritishNewspapers Daily Mirror]]'' and the American ''Confidential''. The famous phrase "I laughed all the way to the bank" originates from a response he had to a poor review of his work- in later reviews he said he ''cried'' all the way to the bank, including when suing the ''Daily Mirror'', but the original stuck. He won the ''Mirror'' suit in 1959, and the ''Confidential'' suit was settled out of court. Nonetheless, parodies of Liberace played up his flamboyance (if such a thing were possible) and generally treated him as [[TransparentCloset "obviously" gay]] without saying so out loud.

Throughout his life, there was much speculation about his sexuality, which was fueled by tabloid publications in the [[TheFifties mid-1950s]]. Liberace vehemently denied that he was gay, and sued the British ''[[UsefulNotes/BritishNewspapers Daily Mirror]]'' and the American ''Confidential''. The famous phrase "I laughed all the way to the bank" originates from a response he had to a poor review of his work- in later reviews he said he ''cried'' all the way to the bank, including when suing the Daily Mirror, but the original stuck. He won the Mirror suit in 1959, and the Confidential suit was settled out of court. Nonetheless, parodies of Liberace played up his flamboyance (if such a thing were possible) and generally treated him as [[TransparentCloset "obviously" gay]] without saying so out loud.

* NeverBareheaded: He would never let himself be seen without a toupee, even sleeping with one on, and refusing to do a face lift procedure when he was told it would mean taking off his wig.

* ElvisHasLeftThePlanet: * Magazine/ForteanTimes ran a main article which over six pages brought together all the stories that not only Elvis, but also '''Liberace''' had left the planet in an alien spacecraft. Apparently Space Liberace returned to play a gig somewhere in the backwoods of the USA. (Fyffe, Alabama, allegedly saw the most unique "coming out of retirement" gig in history.)

* DodgyToupee: He was famous for donning these due to his hair loss and would even sleep with them on.

* NeverBareheaded: He would never let himself be seen without his toupee, even sleeping with it on, and refusing to do a face lift procedure when he was told it would mean taking off his wig.

Throughout his life, there was much speculation about his sexuality. This began with tabloid publications in the [[TheFifties mid-1950s]]. Liberace vehemently denied that he was gay, and sued the British ''[[UsefulNotes/BritishNewspapers Daily Mirror]]'' and the American ''Confidential''. The famous phrase "I laughed all the way to the bank" originates from a response he had to a poor review of his work- in later reviews he said he ''cried'' all the way to the bank, including when suing the Daily Mirror, but the original stuck. He won the Mirror suit in 1959, and the Confidential suit was settled out of court. Nonetheless, parodies of Liberace played up his flamboyance (if such a thing were possible) and generally treated him as [[TransparentCloset "obviously" gay]] without saying so out loud.

In 1985, he was found to be HIV positive, a fact he concealed from the public. He died 18 months later on February 4, 1987. He was officially outed by Creator/BettyWhite, a longtime friend, in an interview in 2011, when she admitted that she often [[TheBeard bearded]] for him at public events. Even Website/TheOtherWiki now acknowledges that he was gay.

In 1985, he was found to be HIV positive, a fact he concealed from the public. He died 18 months later on February 4, 1987. He was officially outed by Creator/BettyWhite, a longtime friend, in an interview in 2011, when she admitted that she often [[TheBeard bearded]] for him at public events. Even Wiki/TheOtherWiki now acknowledges that he was gay.

* DodgyToupee: He was famous for donning these due to his baldness and would even sleep with them on.

* DodgyToupee: He was famous for donning these due to going bald as a young man and would even sleep with them on.

* ChildProdigy: He was an exceptionally talented piano player by the age of seven.

Throughout his life, there was much speculation about his sexuality. This began with tabloid publications in the [[TheFifties mid-1950s]]. Liberace vehemently denied that he was gay, and sued the British ''[[UsefulNotes/BritishNewspapers Daily Mirror]]'' and the American ''Confidential''. The famous phrase "I laughed all the way to the bank" originates from his response to the ''Mirror'''s article, announcing that he intended to sue for libel.[[note]]He actually said "I ''cried'' all the way to the bank", but in an example of a SnowClone, "laughed" eventually became the verb of choice.[[/note]] (He won the ''Mirror'' suit in 1959, and the ''Confidential'' suit was settled out of court.) Nonetheless, parodies of Liberace played up his flamboyance (if such a thing were possible) and generally treated him as [[TransparentCloset "obviously" gay]] without saying so out loud.

In 1985, he was found to be HIV positive, a fact he concealed from the public. He died 18 months later on February 4, 1987. He was officially outed by Creator/BettyWhite, a longtime friend, in an interview in 2011, when she admitted that she often [[TheBeard bearded]] for him at public events. Even Wiki/TheOtherWiki now acknowledges that he was gay.

* NeverBareheaded: He would never let himself be seen without his toupee, even sleeping with it on.