Behind the Candelabra [antikvár]

Introduction"Too much of a good thing is wonderful " Liberace used to say when commenting on a flashy new costume or a wild idea for his act. He loved being known as the most outrageous entertainer in show business and went to outrageous lengths to perpetuate and reinforce that image. Predictably, his passing was outrageous too. From January 24, 1987, the day when front-page headlines in the Las Vegas Sun revealed that Lee had contracted AIDS, his illness and death became a média event.Television reporters camped in front of the Palm Springs mansion where he lay dying, subjecting every arrival and depar-ture to intense scrutiny. Was it true, they ghoulishly asked cor-nered delivery boys, doctors, and family members alike, that Liberace was dying from AIDS? Lee's staff, under instructions from Lee and others, created an impenetrable wall of denial. Lee had spent his lifetime building what he fondly called "the legend of Liberace." He'd go to hell before he'd see that legend destroyed.