Jonathan Warren, chairman and CEO the Liberace Foundation, center, cuts Liberace’s birthday cake at the Clark County Government Center on Tuesday, June 4, 2019, in Las Vegas. He is surrounded by Jody Ghanem, left, Commissioner Tick Segerblom, Cindy Doumani, board member at Liberace Museum, and Liberace Mansion designer Paulina Biggs. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @bizutesfaye
Jonathan Warren, chairman and CEO the Liberace Foundation, poses for a photo between Liberace’s outfit and candelabrum after the Clark County commissioners recognized Liberace’s birthday and presented the proclamation to Warren during the Commission meeting at the Clark County Government Center on Tuesday, June 4, 2019, in Las Vegas. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @bizutesfaye
Liberace’s outfit and candelabra are unveiled after the Clark County commissioners recognized Liberace’s birthday and presented the proclamation to representatives of the Liberace Foundation for the Performing and Cultural Arts during the Commission meeting at the Clark County Government Center on Tuesday, June 4, 2019, in Las Vegas. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @bizutesfaye
Jody Ghanem, left, Liberace Mansion designer, and Carmen Beals, Liberace curator, unveil Liberace’s outfit and candelabra after the Clark County commissioners recognized Liberace’s birthday and presented the proclamation to representatives of the Liberace Foundation for the Performing and Cultural Arts during the Commission meeting at the Clark County Government Center on Tuesday, June 4, 2019, in Las Vegas. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @bizutesfaye
Liberace’s outfit and candelabra are unveiled after the Clark County commissioners recognized Liberace’s birthday during the Commission meeting at the Clark County Government Center on Tuesday, June 4, 2019, in Las Vegas. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @bizutesfaye
Jonathan Warren, chairman and CEO the Liberace Foundation, poses for a photo between Liberace’s outfit after the Clark County commissioners recognized Liberace’s birthday and presented the proclamation to Warren during the Commission meeting at the Clark County Government Center on Tuesday, June 4, 2019, in Las Vegas. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @bizutesfaye
A flamboyant showman, pianist and Las Vegas headliner, Liberace would have turned 100 years old on May 16. Clark County leaders belatedly recognized the milestone Tuesday, posing with birthday cake and later putting his trademark outfit and candelabrum on display inside commission chambers.
“Mainly, he’s big time for Las Vegas, and it’s important for us to remember our history,” Commissioner Tick Segerblom said. “I’m sure 50 years from now, we’ll be doing this for Lady Gaga.”
Segerblom said that he would like to see a street named after Liberace at some point.
The Clark County Commission presented a proclamation to Jonathan Warren, chairman of the Liberace Foundation, who said the foundation had escaped dire financial straits in recent years that threatened the entertainer’s collections.
“It’s one of the largest, most important show business collections in the world,” Warren said. “And through a lot of generous donations, we managed to save all of that and nothing is in danger now.”
Born Władziu Valentino Liberace in Wisconsin, the famed entertainer debuted in Las Vegas when he was in his mid-20s and became a mainstay headliner in ensuing decades. He died in 1987.
