American entertainer & pianist
Astrology chart, profile, books, films, links
Capricorn Rising, Taurus Sun, Sagittarius Moon, Venus-Pluto Descendant
Born: Wladzia Valentino Liberace, 16 May 1919, 23:15 (11:15PM) CWT (5hW), West Allis, WI, USA. (Steinbrecher quotes birth certificate in hand, RR: AA). DIED: due to complications from AIDS, 4 February 1987, Palm Springs, California.
FEATURES: PERSONALIZED PLANETS: Aries CHIRON (conjunct Base), Taurus MERCURY (conjunct IC), Taurus MARS (conjunct Sun, quincunx Moon), Taurus SUN (conjunct South Node), Cancer VENUS (conjunct Descendant), Cancer PLUTO (conjunct Descendant), Cancer JUPITER (conjunct Descendant), Leo SATURN (square Sun, trine Moon). PATTERNS: T-SQUARE (Saturn opposite Uranus, both conjunct Mars & Sun). SHAPE: HORSESHOE. CHINESE SIGN: EARTH GOAT / SHEEP. NUMEROLOGY: "5" LIFEPATH.
Wikipedia Biography [With Astrology comments by Sy Scholfield]:
Wladziu Valentino Liberace (May 16, 1919 – February 4, 1987), better known by only his last name Liberace, was a famous American entertainer and pianist of Polish and Italian descent [fame-seeking Saturn in Leo square and ruled by Sun in musical Taurus in the 5th (the House of entertainment)].
Liberace once proudly stated, "I don't give concerts, I put on a show." Unlike the concerts of classical pianists which normally ended with applause and a retreat off-stage, Liberace's shows ended with the public invited on-stage to touch the maestro's clothes, piano, jewelry, and hands. Kisses, handshakes, hugs, and caresses usually followed. [dramatic and flamboyant Sun in the show-off 5th House].
The Liberace Show was so popular with his mostly female television audience that he drew over thirty million viewers at any one time and received ten thousand fan letters per week. His show was also one of the first to be shown on UK commercial television in the 1950s, where it was broadcast on Sunday afternoons by Lew Grade's Associated TeleVision. This exposure gave Liberace a dedicated following in the UK. Homosexual men also found him appealing. Elton John stated that Liberace was his hero and was the first gay person he had ever seen on television. [Liberace's Angular Venus-Pluto conjunction in Cancer manifested in his enormous popularity with women and gay men].
Liberace's fame in the U.S. was matched for a time in the UK. In 1957, an article in The Daily Mirror by veteran columnist Cassandra (William Connor) mentioned that Liberace was "...the summit of sex--the pinnacle of masculine, feminine, and neuter. Everything that he, she, and it can ever want... a deadly, winking, sniggering, snuggling, chromium-plated, scent-impregnated, luminous, quivering, giggling, fruit-flavoured, mincing, ice-covered heap of mother love," a description which did everything it could to imply he was homosexual without actually saying so. Liberace sued the newspaper for libel, testifying in a London court that he was not a homosexual, and had never taken part in homosexual acts. He won the suit on the basis of the term fruit-flavoured, which was held to impute homosexuality. The £8,000 ($22,400) damages he received from The Daily Mirror led Liberace to alter his catchphrase to "I cried all the way to the bank!"
In 1982, Scott Thorson, Liberace's 24 year old bodyguard, driver, and alleged live-in boyfriend of some five years, sued the pianist for $113 million in palimony after an acrimonious split-up. Liberace continued to publicly deny that he was homosexual. In 1984, most of Thorson's claim was dismissed although he received a $95,000 settlement. Later in the decade Thorson emerged as a pivotal witness in the prosecution of reputed gangster Eddie Nash in the 1981 quadruple murder of the Wonderland Gang.
Confusion over Liberace's true sexuality was further muddled in the public's mind by his public friendships and romantic links with actress Joanne Rio (whom he claimed he nearly married), skater Sonja Henie, aging Hollywood icon Mae West, and famous transsexual Christine Jorgenson. [Neptune in the 8th House = perceived confusion over one's sexuality]
.... [read more of Liberace's Wikipedia biography here].
