Editing Liberace (section)

==Early life and education==
Władziu Valentino Liberace (known as Lee to his friends and Walter to family)<ref name="Barker, 2009, p. 12">Barker, 2009, p. 12.</ref> was born in [[West Milwaukee, Wisconsin]] on May 16, 1919. His grandfather Valentino Liberace (1836–1909) was a casket maker from [[Formia]] in central Italy where his father, musician Salvatore ("Sam") Liberace (1885–1977), was born.<ref name="ancestry"/> His mother, Frances Zuchowski (1891–1980)<ref name=ancestry>{{Cite web|url=http://www.wargs.com/other/liberace.html|title=Ancestry of Liberace|website=wargs.com|access-date=April 5, 2007|archive-date=January 20, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230120232500/http://www.wargs.com/other/liberace.html|url-status=live}}</ref> was born in [[Menasha, Wisconsin]], and was of Polish descent.<ref name=ancestry/> Liberace had an identical twin who died at birth.<ref>{{Cite news|last=King|first=Susan|date=May 24, 2013|title='Behind the Candelabra': Fun facts about the legendary Liberace|work=The Baltimore Sun|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/la-et-mn-behind-the-candelabra-liberace-facts-20130524-story.html|access-date=August 7, 2021}}</ref> He had three surviving siblings: a brother [[George Liberace|George]] (who was a violinist), a sister Angelina, and younger brother Rudy (Rudolph Valentino Liberace, named after [[Rudolph Valentino|the actor]] due to his mother's interest in show business).<ref name="Obituaries 1997 p. 5">The Daily Telegraph Third Book of Obituaries: Entertainers, ed. Hugh Massingberd, Pan Books, 1998 (Macmillan, 1997), p. 5</ref>

Liberace's father played the French horn in bands and cinemas, and often worked as a factory worker or laborer. While Sam encouraged music in his family, his wife Frances (despite having been a [[concert pianist]] before her marriage)<ref name="Obituaries 1997 p. 5"/> believed music lessons and a record player to be unaffordable luxuries. This disagreement caused family disputes.<ref name=pyron12>Pyron, 2000, p. 12.</ref> Liberace later said "My dad's love and respect for music created in him a deep determination to give as his legacy to the world, a family of musicians dedicated to the advancement of the art."<ref name=pyron17>Pyron, 2000, p. 17.</ref>

Liberace began playing the piano at the age of four. While Sam took his children to concerts to further expose them to music, he was a taskmaster demanding high standards from the children in both practice and performance. Liberace's prodigious talent was evident from his early years. By the age of 7, he was capable of memorizing difficult pieces. He studied the technique of the Polish pianist [[Ignacy Jan Paderewski]]. At the age of eight, he met Paderewski backstage after a concert at the [[Pabst Theater]] in Milwaukee. "I was intoxicated by the joy I got from the great virtuoso's playing", Liberace said later. "My dreams were filled with fantasies of following his footsteps...Inspired and fired with ambition, I began to practice with a fervour that made my previous interest in the piano look like neglect." Paderewski later became a family friend<ref name=pyron42>Pyron, 2000, p. 42.</ref> as well as Liberace's mentor, to whom the protégé never missed any opportunities to pay tribute.

The [[Great Depression|Depression]] was financially hard on the Liberace family. In childhood, Liberace suffered from a speech impediment; as a teen, he was taunted by neighborhood children, who mocked him for his effeminate personality, his avoidance of sports, and his fondness for cooking and the piano.<ref name=pyron35>Pyron, 2000, p. 35.</ref> Liberace concentrated on his piano playing with the help of music teacher Florence Kelly, who oversaw Liberace's musical development for ten years. He gained experience playing popular music in theaters, on local radio, for dancing classes, clubs and weddings.<ref name=pyron63/>

In 1934, he played jazz piano with a school group named The Mixers and later with other groups. Liberace performed in cabarets and [[strip club]]s. Although Sam and Frances did not approve, their son was earning a living during hard times. For a while, Liberace adopted the stage name Walter Busterkeys.<ref name=pyron63>Pyron, 2000, p. 63.</ref> He showed an interest in [[draftsmanship]], design and painting, and he became a fastidious dresser and follower of fashion. By this time, he was displaying a penchant for turning eccentricities into attention-getting practices, and he earned popularity at school despite some making him an object of ridicule.<ref name=pyron57>Pyron, 2000, p. 57.</ref>