Although Facebook can be an irritation, there are certainly some worthwhile finds.

For example, the Hollywood Page of Death.

There’s something whimsical about “Hollywood Page of Death” popping up daily in my feed. The content is close to what you’d find on Wikipedia (in fact, it may be an edited version of their content). It’s a nice (if slightly macabre) way to learn about – or remember – stories about members of the entertainment biz.

This morning’s reminder that entertainer-extraordinaire Liberace passed away on this day in 1987, reminded me of a story.

We’ve already talked about my days with Pizza Today magazine. Well, we had a sister publication for a while, Catering Today. And with the magazine came the annual Catering Expo.

Helping out with their expo was fun, especially in 1990, when we were in Las Vegas.

One of the catered events we offered to the attendees was a tour and meal at the Liberace Mansion.

My sole duty for the evening was to greet everyone on the motorcoach when we arrived, get them inside, and be a good ambassador for the magazine.

I failed miserably.

Here’s what happened: At the last second, I was told that I was in charge of two busloads of attendees. I boarded the lead coach and chatted with the caterers from all over the world. Easy peasy.

When we arrived, the driver pulled up to the sidewalk in front of two nearly identical buildings. There were no identifying signs. Not even a candelabra in a window.

“Uh, which one is the Liberace Mansion, if you don’t mind me asking?”

The driver shrugged. Shrugged! He gave me a “how should I know?” look and then quickly broke eye contact.

Meanwhile, the second busload of caterers was pouring out onto the sidewalk.

Remember, this was before cell phones. And I was in charge of this one little detail.

“Welcome to the Liberace Mansion! We’ve got a fabulous evening in store for you!” I projected to the hundred or so assembled. “This way! Follow me, please!”

Mr. Showmanship had passed away only a few years prior. Whatever plans there were for the mansion to be open to the public as a museum were still on the drawing board. This was a by-appointment-only event.

The two buildings, side by side, sported such similar architecture, it really was an eenie-meeny-miny-moe situation.

We headed toward the building to the left.

Fifty-fifty chance, right?

I tried to hustle ahead of the group, but they picked up the pace, too. I learned quickly that caterers are always hungry. They know the value of being first in line.

As I opened the large entry door and stepped inside, there was no one to greet us, but everyone was so relieved to step into the air-conditioning, it didn’t seem to matter. We moved into an elegant ballroom area and I used my outdoor voice to address the crowd.

“We’re a few minutes early – I’ll go see if Liberace needs help slipping into something more spectacular and will be right back!”

A bit tacky to quote The Glitter Man in this way, since he was no longer among the living. But, this was Las Vegas after all.

Heading rapidly down a hallway, I thought I heard voices and half-opened the first door I came to with only a tinge of reticence.

Sweet suffering Jesus. We were in the wrong building.

We were in a funeral home!

Mortified, I turned on my heel and somehow got the caterers to do the same. Quietly.

We scurried over to the sign-less Liberace Mansion and took a tour. Here’s a video of the recently restored mansion, including classic footage from one of his many television appearances:

The elegant meal served in Liberace’s home was catered by Wiener Catering. (If that doesn’t make you giggle, you were never a middle schooler.)

Liberace has been the butt of a lot of jokes, but – as he was fond of saying – he cried all the way to the bank … and then he bought the bank. To honor this talented pianist on the anniversary of his passing, here’s a lovely quote from long ago:

“My manager called me once during one of my vacations and said, ‘I have a fantastic offer for you. Just hear me out. Don’t say no yet.’ And it was fantastic offer but I said, ‘Seymour, I’d love to do it, but I really can’t. My orchid trees are in bloom. I never leave when my orchid trees are in bloom.’ He thought it was crazy, but I am very into certain things. If a dog is sick I won’t work.” ~ Liberace

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