Visit Bob's World of Liberace A great tribute to a great performer.

The Late, Great Liberace

From Robert Romano, Your Guide to Las Vegas, NV.

Mr. Showmanship
Wladziu "Walter" Valentino Liberace, officially "Liberace" since 1950, opened at The Riviera Hotel in 1955, as the highest paid entertainer in Las Vegas. For the next thirty years, he was the best casino draw in town.

While I worked at the Las Vegas Hilton in the '70s and '80s, I saw Elvis overfill the showroom's capacity with crowds that included many fans who stayed for both shows in a night and stayed in the lobby overnight to attend the shows of the next day. They had little money in their budget for a room, food or gambling. Much of their savings were given to showroom captains as "tokes" for seats at the tables closest to the stage. They were 'wild' fans who came to town only to see "The King".

Liberace's crowds, on the other hand, filled the room twice a night on a regular basis, but these were people who had come for an evening of dining, the show and gambling. Liberace's fans could well afford all of that.

The showroom captains made money when Elvis was in the house. The casino and the hotel made money when Liberace was there.

His fabulous Las Vegas home, just south of the UNLV campus, is now available for corporate banquets and weddings under a painted ceiling which is a replica of that in the Sistine Chapel.


The Liberace Museum, at the Liberace Plaza on East Tropicana remains one of the most popular attractions in Las Vegas. Eighteen of Liberace's pianos are found there including Chopin's Pleyel. Several of his fabulous automobiles and many of his costumes and jewelry are also housed there.

Even when I was not assigned to work backstage during his performances, I managed to find my way into the showroom to see this man's act on many occasions. The jokes were old, supporting talent that he introduced during his shows was always new, the glitz was timeless. The music was always spectacularly played. He was truly Mr. Showmanship.

When AIDS took his life in 1987, the city that he helped so much to build, Las Vegas, mourned his passing.