The disparagement is clear, but deniable. today in certain media outlets with language directed at African Americans. Clearly the magazine was calling Liberace gay, and only a fool would claim otherwise, but defamation had not occurred to an extent that would stand up in court.

You’ll notice there’s deniability in all those words- Whisper could claim there was nothing defamatory in the language. In Whisper, a journalist writing under the name Sylvia Tremaine refers to Liberace as a “creature,” labels his speech as “simpering,” and describes his move to television this way: “From there it was just a brief flutter to a local TV program.” Theoretically, when dealing with public figures they had to be somewhat cautious, but both Rave and Inside had in 1954 written stories insinuating that Liberace was gay, and in 1955 Suppressed and Private Lives did the same. In general of course, the tabloids were brutally insulting, using overt as well as coded language to get intimations of homosexuality across. The same issue had an article on Liberace, and we’re returning to that today as part of our look at mid-century tabloid attitudes toward gay culture. Liberace is finally forced to take up arms against the tabloids.Ī long while ago we shared the cover of a 1956 Whisper featuring George Sanders. Schwarzeneggar, Stallone, Cameron Diaz, everyone. But the beauty of the internet is that everyone gets outed in the end. Porn, whether softcore or hardcore, just makes people want to hide in fake personas, doesn’t it? Scheuer was the only one who didn’t bother and he never worked in cinema again, so the incognitos had it right. It was helmed by Wes Craven-yes, that Wes Craven-under the pseudonym Abe Snake. Gosh! is a softcore comedy directed by Tom Scheuer featuring Kelly/Brennan as a waitress/wide-eyed ingénue trying to survive/succeed as an actress in Hollywood, while The Fireworks Woman is a fully hardcore tale about a man who joins the priesthood to escape an incestuous relationship with his sister. The other starred Jennifer Jordan, aka Sarah Nicholson, who also appears on the poster, though in the background.

This Japanese poster promoting a double bill of 1974’s Gosh! (aka Alice Goodbody) and 1975’s The Fireworks Woman features softcore/hardcore actress Sharon Kelly/Colleen Brennan front and center, but she appeared in only one of the films.

Got a little porn in your past? Don’t worry-the internet will find it.

X by Eunice Sudak