Editing Liberace (section)

===After ''The Liberace Show''===
[[File:Liberace Museum.JPG|thumb|The Liberace Museum, Las Vegas, 2003]]
In 1956, Liberace had his first international engagement, playing successfully in Havana, Cuba. He followed with a European tour later that year. Always a devout Catholic, Liberace considered his meeting with [[Pope Pius XII]] a highlight of his life.<ref name=pyron-fig25>Pyron, 2000, figure 25</ref> In 1960, Liberace performed at the [[London Palladium]] with [[Nat King Cole]] and [[Sammy Davis Jr.]] (it was the first televised "[[Royal Command Performance|command performance]]", now known as the ''[[Royal Variety Performance]]'', for [[Queen Elizabeth II]]).

On July 19, 1957, hours after Liberace gave a deposition in his $25&nbsp;million libel suit against ''[[Confidential (magazine)|Confidential]]'' magazine, two masked intruders attacked his mother in the garage of Liberace's home in Sherman Oaks, California. She was beaten and kicked, but her heavy corset may have protected her from being badly injured. Liberace was not informed about the assault until he finished his midnight show at the [[Moulin Rouge]] nightclub. Guards were hired to watch over Liberace's house and the houses of his two brothers.

Despite successful European tours, his career had in fact been slumping since 1957, but Liberace re-built it by appealing directly to his fan base. Through live appearances in small-town [[supper club]]s, and with television and promotional appearances, he began to regain popularity. On November 22, 1963, he suffered kidney failure, reportedly from accidentally inhaling excessive amounts of [[dry cleaning]] fumes from his newly cleaned costumes in a dressing room, and he nearly died. He later said that what saved him from more injury was being woken by his entourage to the news that [[John F. Kennedy]] had been [[Assassination of John F. Kennedy|assassinated]]. Told by doctors that his condition was fatal, he began to spend his entire fortune by buying extravagant gifts of furs, jewels, and even a house for friends, but then recovered after a month.<ref name=pyron250>Pyron, 2000, p. 250.</ref>

Re-energized, Liberace returned to Las Vegas, and increasing the glamor and glitz, he took on the [[sobriquet]] Mr. Showmanship.<ref name="LVS 2008-05-15">{{Cite news|url=https://m.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/may/15/evolution-worlds-entertainment-capital/|title=Showtime: How Sin City evolved into 'The Entertainment Capital of the World'|last1=Koch|first1=Ed|last2=Manning|first2=Mary|date=May 15, 2008|newspaper=Las Vegas Sun|access-date=March 3, 2019|last3=Toplikar|first3=Dave|archive-date=March 6, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190306043145/https://m.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/may/15/evolution-worlds-entertainment-capital/|url-status=live}}</ref> As his act swelled with spectacle, he famously stated "I'm a one-man [[Disneyland]]."<ref name=pyron280>Pyron, 2000, p. 280.</ref> The costumes became more exotic (ostrich feathers, mink, capes and huge rings), entrances and exits more elaborate (chauffeured onstage in a Rolls-Royce or dropped in on a wire like ''[[Peter Pan]]''), choreography more complex (involving chorus girls, cars and animals), and the novelty acts especially talented, with juvenile acts including Australian singer [[Jamie Redfern]] and Canadian banjo player [[Scotty Plummer]].<ref name="pyron255,269">Pyron, 2000, pp. 255, 269.</ref> [[Barbra Streisand]] was the most notable new adult act he introduced, appearing with him early in her career.<ref name=pyron270>Pyron, 2000, p. 270.</ref>

Liberace's energy and commercial ambitions took him in many directions. He owned an antiques store in Beverly Hills, California, and a restaurant in Las Vegas for many years. He even published cookbooks; the most famous of which was ''Liberace Cooks'', co-authored by cookbook guru [[Carol Truax]], which included "Liberace Lasagna" and "Liberace Sticky Buns". The book features recipes "from his seven dining rooms" (of his Hollywood home).

Liberace's live shows during the 1970s and 1980s remained major box-office attractions at the [[Las Vegas Hilton]] and Lake Tahoe, where he earned $300,000 per week.