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Once more Liberace sues for libel. This
time it was the Daily
Mirror, because of an article
written in 1956 during his European tour. Written by William
Connor A.K.A. "Cassandra" the review was far from
complimentary.
Here are some excerpts:
"He is the summit of sex
- the pinnacle of masculine, feminine, and neuter.
Everything that he, she and it can ever want.
I spoke to sad but kindly
men on this newspaper who have met every celebrity coming
from America for the past 30 years. They say that this
deadly, winking, sniggering, snuggling, chromium-plated,
scent-impregnated, luminous, quivering, giggling,
fruit-flavored, mincing, ice-covered heap of mother love has
had the biggest reception and impact on London since Charlie
Chaplin arrived at the same station, Waterloo, on September
12,1921.
This appalling man - and
I use the word appalling in no other than its true sense of
terrifying - has hit this country in a way that is as
violent as Churchill receiving the cheers on V-E Day.
He
reeks with emetic language that can only make grown men long
for a quiet corner, an aspidistra, a handkerchief,
and the old heave-ho. Without doubt, he is the biggest
sentimental vomit of all time. Slobbering over his mother,
winking at his brother, and counting the cash at every
second, this superb piece of calculating candy-floss has an
answer for every situation."
"There must be something
wrong with us that our teenagers longing for sex and our
middle aged matrons fed up with sex alike should fall for
such a sugary mountain of jingling claptrap wrapped up in
such a preposterous clown".
Hmmm! She's not bitter!
After 3 1/2 hours of
deliberations the jury found William Connor and the Daily
Mirror guilty of libel an ordered the Daily Mirror to pay
court costs as well as a cash award of $22,400.
It was after winning this
case that Liberace coined the now famous phrase "I cried all the way to the
bank!"
Excerpts from the trial.
Back to 1959
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