*Top : Eccentric Broadway and concert star Liberace and lover chauffeur Scott Thorson (author of 'Behind the Candelabra: My life with Liberace') *Middle right: 1930's sex symbol Mae West in bed with Charlie McCarthy Edgar Bergen's celebrated sidekick. In her first film after a long stage career, she was already 40 by the time she became famous in movies, and saved Paramount from closure. In a radio interview she said to Charlie McCarthy...."Mmmm, why don't you come up and play in my wood pile". Her last few classic films suffered because of the moral code she had to endure. Her 2nd last film in 1970, and comeback after many years, was the camp classic Myra Breckinridge (before her last film Sextette). She starred with Raquel Welch...who insists to this day on the DVD commentary Mae was born a man, was a huge hit with the public...but misunderstood by the reviewers. Viewed today its so delightfully bad, its a camp masterpiece. If only we could see the full unedited film, before Hollywood started cutting it...but it was all over the place anyway. (Vanity Fair did a great article on the making of Myra) Mae of course wasn't a man....I was in contact with one of the musclemen from her 50's Las Vegas Revue a few years ago before he died. He told me she auditioned them wearing a see through top with rouged nipples underneath, and that Mae was "all woman". Her lead in those Revues was muscleman Dick DuBoise, my favorite. She said at the time she had them in the show so the 'wives' in the audience had something to look at. Mae famously had Mickey Hargitay taken away from her by sexpot Jayne Mansfield during that Show, but met long time lover and companion Paul Novak. Jayne of course was like a much younger version of Mae....Mae by this time was in her 60's, but still pulling the crowds. She stayed with Paul for the last decades of her life, he looked after her, and truly loved her.
*Middle left: Naughty Twilight boys go for it. If only! * Bottom: Batman wears pink for his many admirers.
Can anyone link these photos? Liberace played villain Chandell in camp classic 60's TV series Batman, and was rumored to have dated Mae West, which of course wasn't true. She of course only like musclemen and prize fighters. In his later years, according to Scott, 'Lee' would dress in a white fur coat at 'twilight' park his ostentatious white Rolls Royce in the carpark behind a famous L.A supermarket, and try to pick up box boys. Scott Thorson says he introduced 'Lee' to 'poppers'. Liberace of course was a brilliant showman and pianist....probably the campest entertainer of them all. He talked Elvis into dressing more flamboyantly in the 50's, which he did.
