West Allis WI. native and Las Vegas icon, Liberace, is set to have his biography filmed very soon, starring Michael Douglas and Matt Damon.
From the Las Vegas Sun: Cue the pianist: The long-anticipated feature film telling the story of Liberace’s life and career has a title and a home.
“Behind the Candelabra” is the title of the film starring Michael Douglas in the lead role and Matt Damon as Liberace’s longtime lover and costumed chauffeur, Scott Thorson. HBO announced today that it would broadcast the biopic. No air date has been revealed, but shooting is to begin next summer. Oscar winner Steven Soderbergh is directing, and the producer is Jerry Weintraub.
Las Vegas will be among the shooting locations for the film, which has no formal affiliation with The Liberace Foundation, the organization that oversees his vast collection of pianos, cars, jewelry, stage costumes and other personal artifacts that were once housed in The Liberace Museum. Citing a depletion of visitors and funding, officials closed the museum nearly a year ago to the day of the announcement of the film’s title and cable TV home.
The Liberace film was first openly discussed by Douglas and Damon in 2009, but the future of the project was thrown into doubt as the 67-year-old Douglas fell victim to throat cancer. But this year, he has said that he is in remission and eager to take on the role of Liberace, one of Las Vegas’ greatest entertainers and cultural icons.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/blogs/kats-report/2011/oct/11/michael-douglas-matt-damon-liberace-film-gets-titl/
I'm glad they are filming in Vegas and hopefully they will show his early life in Wisconsin, especially filming his first gigs at the Pfister in downtown Milwaukee.
Not everyone will like this film, especially those who hated his gay life style. Hopefully, they will not sugarcoat this area of his life and his painful death from AIDS.
It should be an interesting film because it will show the old Las Vegas that had the classy shows, unlike today when many of the shows are crap.
But for a very interesting clip of his opening at the Las Vegas Hilton and it shows why people loved him and his showmanship:
Original Seat Belt
44 minutes ago
Very good film actually I could o know ore about Liberace’s life, I had had many good references about this film but I wanted to watch it and later giving my opinions about it.
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