Too Gay For Hollywood

Over the years Hollywood has shown countless biopics of entertainers, but Liberace will not be on that list..

Oscar-winning film-maker, Steven Soderbergh said that he had gone to everybody in town, but nobody would make it because it was too gay.  However, he denied being disappointed by the lack of a theatrical release for his film, which is based on Thorson’s book Behind the Candelabra: My Life With Liberace.

The film centres on the relationship between Liberace and his younger long-term lover Scott Thorson, who was seventeen when Liberace first met him. Michael Douglas and Matt Damon had been lined up for the two main roles, but  executives refused to put up the $5m budget. The film will screen on the pay-TV channel HBO and directed by

Soderbergh praised HBO for being good at what they do and thinks more people will see it.

The film had a far different reaction from Hollywood producers to his low-budget, sex-themed drama The Girlfriend Experience, which achieved a theatrical release despite starring porn star Sasha Grey.

Soderbergh’s film will screen in the spring and could be  his final movie before retiring. It stars Douglas as Liberace, who spent more than 50 years performing and lived a highly colourful life prior to his death in 1987 from an Aids-related illness. Damon plays Thorson, who famously sued his former lover for $113m in palimony in 1982, claiming he had been the pianist and singer’s companion for five years.

Biography:

Wladziu Valentino Liberace, best known simply as Liberace, was a famous American pianist and vocalist. In a career that spanned four decades of concerts, recordings, motion pictures, television and endorsements, Liberace became world-renowned.

Born: May 16, 1919, West Allis

Died: February 4, 1987, Palm Springs

Movies and TV shows: The Loved One, The Liberace Show (US)

Albums: Concert by Candlelight, The Best of Liberace, A Liberace Christmas, More

Siblings: George Liberace, Angie Liberace, Rudy Liberace

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