 | This article needs to be updated.(October 2022) |
Scott Thorson | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 23, 1959 La Crosse, Wisconsin, U.S. [1] |
| Other names | Jess Marlow |
| Partner | Liberace (1977–1982) |
Scott Thorson (born January 23, 1959) is an American known for his relationship with and lawsuit against Liberace.
A teenaged Thorson met Liberace in 1976 through his romantic friendship with dancer Bob Street (a friend of Hollywood producer Ray Arnett) who was staging Liberace's shows in Las Vegas. When Thorson was 18, Liberace hired him to act as his personal friend and companion, a position that allegedly included a five-year romantic relationship with lavish gifts, travel, and Liberace's promises that he would adopt and care for Thorson. Liberace claimed that he had "more mink coats and diamonds than Elizabeth Taylor". [2] Liberace also incorporated Thorson into his Las Vegas stage performances – for example, Thorson drove Liberace's Rolls-Royce onstage, [3] and was a dancer. [4]
According to Thorson, their committed relationship ended because of Liberace's promiscuous behavior and Thorson's drug addiction. Thorson also claimed that it was Liberace who originally started him on the drugs, but then when his habit got out of control, Liberace cut him off from all of his credit cards. [2] Thorson stated that following his plastic surgery, the surgeon provided for him a cocktail of addictive drugs that included cocaine, Quaalude, amphetamine, and Demerol. [5] Thorson stated that since he was so young at the time of meeting Liberace, he would do anything that he could to please the pianist, including getting plastic surgery so that he could resemble Liberace, but he felt that their relationship was one-sided. He called Liberace both generous and possessive. [2]
In 2000, Thorson was among several people featured in the British television documentary Liberace: Too Much of a Good Thing Is Wonderful. In 2002, Thorson was interviewed by Larry King on Larry King Live , during which Thorson confirmed that, in the midst of his relationship with Liberace, he chose to have plastic surgery to look more like Liberace at the pianist's suggestion. Also during the interview with King, Thorson revealed his chin implant had been removed earlier in 2002. [3]
Following his release from prison in 2012, Thorson gave interviews about his relationship with Liberace, one with Howard Stern, in June 2013, in which he talked about former lovers and affairs he had when he lived with Liberace. Another interview was on Entertainment Tonight in May 2012, [6] [7] where he stated that memories of his time with Liberace were still difficult for him. [8]
In 1982, after he was dismissed by Liberace, [9] Thorson filed a $113 million lawsuit against Liberace, [10] [3] part of which was a palimony suit. This was the first same-sex palimony case filed in U.S. history. [2] Thorson decided to sue because he claimed that Liberace threw him out on the streets with nothing. [2] Liberace continued to deny that he was homosexual, and during court depositions in 1984, he insisted that Thorson was never his lover. Throughout their lawsuit, Thorson stated that Liberace referred to him in the media as a disgruntled employee, a liar, a gold digger, and claimed that there was never a sexual relationship between them. [2]
The case was settled out of court in 1986, with Thorson receiving a $75,000 cash settlement, plus three cars and three pet dogs worth another $20,000 (a total of $264,000 today). [2] [9] Thorson visited and reconciled with Liberace shortly before the entertainer's death in February 1987. [3] Thorson said, after Liberace had died, that he settled because he knew that Liberace was dying, and that Thorson had intended to sue based on conversion of property rather than palimony.
A year after Liberace's death, Thorson published a book about their relationship, Behind the Candelabra: My Life with Liberace. [11]
In the Canadian-American television film Liberace: Behind the Music (1988), Thorson was portrayed by Michael Dolan. [12]
Thorson's book was later adapted into the 2013 film Behind the Candelabra , in which Thorson was played by Matt Damon opposite Michael Douglas as Liberace. The movie aired on HBO on May 26, 2013. [13] The film was directed by Steven Soderbergh from a screenplay by Richard LaGravenese, with music by Academy Award-winning composer Marvin Hamlisch. [14]
In 1989, Thorson emerged as a pivotal witness in the prosecution of gangster and owner of the West Hollywood nightclub the Starwood, Eddie Nash, in the 1981 quadruple murders of the Wonderland Gang. For his testimony, Thorson was placed in the federal witness protection program. In 1991, he was shot three times when drug dealers broke into his hotel room in Jacksonville, Florida. [15]
In 2008, Thorson pleaded guilty to felony drug and burglary charges and was sentenced to four years in prison. [10]
Previously diagnosed with hepatitis C, in the autumn of 2012, Thorson was diagnosed with stage II cancer. [3] [16] After his diagnosis, and before his health care became the responsibility of the Nevada Department of Corrections in January 2014, Thorson made public pleas for money to continue his medical treatments. Thorson had planned in 2012 to re-release the book Behind the Candelabra to coincide with the film's release. [17]
In February 2013, police investigating a lost wallet tracked the use of the victim's credit cards to a hotel in Reno, Nevada. Thorson was found to be using the credit cards and was arrested. Thorson (who also uses the alias Jess Marlow, which he says he acquired when he entered the protection program in the Nash case) was booked on a variety of charges, including burglary and using a credit card without consent. [18] [19] He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years' probation in July 2013. [20]
Dennis Hof, owner of the Moonlite BunnyRanch, paid Thorson's $125,000 bail in 2013. [21]
In September 2013, he tested positive for methamphetamine, but was given another chance. He subsequently failed drug tests again—twice in October, and again on November 1, 2013. He was arrested on November 19, 2013, after violating a court order to enter an inpatient treatment facility in Reno two weeks earlier. On January 23, 2014, his probation was revoked and he was sentenced to 8 to 20 years in Nevada prison. [22]
As of March 2021 [update] he was completing his term in unsupervised custody in residential confinement, [23] with a projected release date of August 30, 2022 unless paroled earlier. [24] [ needs update ]
On May 10, 2021, Thorson's parole was revoked and he was returned to custody. Thorson was incarcerated at Nevada's High Desert Prison, with a release date of September 8, 2022.[ needs update ] [25] [26]
Matthew Paige Damon is an American actor, film producer, and screenwriter. He was ranked among Forbes' most bankable stars in 2007, and in 2010 was one of the highest-grossing actors of all time. He has received various awards and nominations, including an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for three British Academy Film Awards and seven Primetime Emmy Awards.
Władziu Valentino Liberace was an American pianist, singer, and actor. He was born in Wisconsin to parents of Italian and Polish origin and enjoyed a career spanning four decades of concerts, recordings, television, motion pictures, and endorsements. At the height of his fame from the 1950s to 1970s, he was the highest-paid entertainer in the world with established concert residencies in Las Vegas and an international touring schedule. He embraced a lifestyle of flamboyant excess both on and off stage.
Victoria Lynn Morgan was the mistress of Alfred S. Bloomingdale, heir to the Bloomingdale's department store fortune. The details of their tumultuous relationship became known after Morgan sued Bloomingdale's estate for palimony in 1982. Morgan was murdered in 1983 by Marvin Pancoast, her roommate and occasional lover who was sentenced to prison.
Arthur Ernest Schlichter is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for four seasons with the Indianapolis Colts. He also played one Canadian Football League (CFL) season with the Ottawa Rough Riders and three Arena Football League (AFL) seasons with the Detroit Drive and Cincinnati Rockers. A three time All-American and a highly touted college football prospect with the Ohio State Buckeyes, Schlichter's professional career was cut short by a gambling addiction that resulted in him facing legal trouble for nearly four decades.
Eddie Nash was an American nightclub owner and restaurateur in Los Angeles, as well as a convicted money launderer and drug dealer. Nash was allegedly the mastermind behind the Wonderland murders, but was never convicted, despite multiple arrests and trials.
The Wonderland murders, also known as the Four on the Floor Murders or the Laurel Canyon Murders, are four unsolved murders that occurred in Los Angeles on July 1, 1981. It is assumed that five people were targeted to be killed in the known drug house of the Wonderland Gang, three of whom—Ron Launius, William "Billy" Deverell, and Joy Miller—were present. Launius, Deverell, and Miller, along with the girlfriend of an accomplice, Barbara Richardson, died from extensive blunt-force trauma injuries. Only Launius' wife Susan survived the attack, allegedly masterminded by organized crime figure and nightclub owner Eddie Nash. Nash, his henchman Gregory Diles, and porn actor John Holmes were at various times arrested, tried, and acquitted for their involvement in the murders.
The Wonderland Gang was a group of drug dealers involved in the Los Angeles cocaine trade during the late 1970s and early 1980s; their home base was located on Wonderland Avenue in the Laurel Canyon neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. On July 1, 1981, three members and one associate of the gang died in the Wonderland murders.
The Young Americans is a non-profit organization and performing group based in Southern California. First founded in 1962 by Milton C. Anderson, the group was credited with being the first show choir in America, mixing choreography with choral singing. While experiencing national television exposure early on, The Young Americans later taught music to students in the United States and other parts of the world as advocates of music education in their International Music Outreach Tours. The group has approximately 200 young people between the ages of 18 and 25 from nearly every US state and several other countries.
State of Nevada v. Orenthal James Simpson, et al, Case Number: 07C237890-4. was a criminal case prosecuted in 2007–2008 in the U.S. state of Nevada, primarily involving the retired American football player O. J. Simpson.
Albert Gonzalez is an American computer hacker, computer criminal and police informer, who is accused of masterminding the combined credit card theft and subsequent reselling of more than 170 million card and ATM numbers from 2005 to 2007, the biggest such fraud in history. Gonzalez and his accomplices used SQL injection to deploy backdoors on several corporate systems in order to launch packet sniffing attacks which allowed him to steal computer data from internal corporate networks.
Ronald Joseph Radke is an American musician, singer, rapper, and songwriter, best known as the current lead singer of rock band Falling in Reverse and the former lead singer of post-hardcore band Escape the Fate. He rose to popularity as the lead singer for Escape the Fate, but was kicked out in 2008 after being sentenced to prison for violating probation. While in prison, Radke started a new band, Falling in Reverse, which he formally announced upon his release from prison in December 2010.
Liberace: Behind the Music is a 1988 Canadian-American made-for-television biographical film. It is an "unofficial" biopic drama on the life and death of Władziu Valentino Liberace, who went from a humble working-class background to become a famous American pianist and vocalist. Known as "Liberace", he became the highest paid entertainer in the world, while embracing a lifestyle of flamboyant excess. The film first aired less than two years after his death, in the United States, as a CBS Sunday Movie.
Behind the Candelabra is a 2013 American biographical comedy drama television film directed by Steven Soderbergh from a screenplay by Richard LaGravenese, based on the 1988 book of the same name by Scott Thorson and Alex Thorleifson. It dramatizes the last ten years in the life of pianist Liberace and the relationship that he had with Thorson.
Behind the Candelabra: My Life with Liberace is a memoir by Scott Thorson and Alex Thorleifson, published in 1988 by Dutton, and reissued in 2013. In 2009, it was reported that Thorson was working on a sequel, but as of 2021 this has not materialized.
Mark Basseley Youssef, formerly known as Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, is an Egyptian-American writer, producer, and promoter of Innocence of Muslims, a film which was critical of Islam and the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
Ray Arnett was an American producer, choreographer and stage director best known for his work with Liberace.
Timothy Leonard Tyler is an American who was sentenced to life in prison for possession and distribution of LSD under the federal three-strikes law. In August 2016, after serving 24 years and 27 days behind bars, Tyler was granted clemency by President Barack Obama. He was released on August 30, 2018.
Vincenzo Pipino, also known as Encio, is an Italian thief from Venice whose exploits earned him the nickname "the gentleman thief". He is the first person to successfully steal from the Doge's Palace, and has been responsible for some of the most sensational art thefts in the city.
Vince Cardell was an American pianist who was a protégé of Liberace. Cardell became a significant part of Liberace's act in the late 1970s and released several albums internationally. After separating personally and professionally from Liberace, Cardell continued as a professional pianist until his death.
Liberace v Daily Mirror is a 1959 English legal case in which the American entertainer Liberace sued the Daily Mirror columnist William Connor for libel after Connor, who while writing under the pen name Cassandra, published an article strongly hinting that he was a homosexual. At the time homosexual sex was illegal in the United Kingdom. Liberace was successful in the action and was awarded £8,000. The award, equivalent to £235,000 in 2023, was the largest libel settlement for any case in British legal history to that date. The Argus has described the case as "one of the most sensational libel trials of the century".
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
