Birthday wishes are in order for the late, great Wladziu Valentino Liberace. He would have been 98 years old Tuesday.
Born in West Allis in 1919, both of his parents were musically inclined. His father played French Horn for the Milwaukee Philharmonic Orchestra and his mother played piano, according to the Wisconsin Historical Society.
Liberace's first solo debut happened when he was just 14 with the Chicago Symphony, and his star kept rising from there. Known for his flashy style and stage presence, he dazzled audiences on his television program, "The Liberace Show," that ran from 1952-1969.
The Liberace Foundation for the Creative and Performing Arts awarded scholarships and grants until 2011, and still manages the Liberace Museum Collection.
Liberace died at the age of 67, on February 4th, 1987 from AIDS-related pneumonia. He was one of Milwaukee's most famous sons.
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