Liberace’s former lover Scott Thorson has died at the age of 65.
Thorson – who was portrayed by Matt Damon in the 2013 HBO film “Behind the Candelabra,” based on his 1988 book – died Aug. 16 at a Los Angeles medical facility following a battle with heart disease and cancer, TMZ reported.
Thorson’s relationship with Liberace (whose full name was Władziu Valentino Liberace) began when he was 18 and Liberace was 57, the outlet said.
Liberace fired Thorson in 1982 after firing him after five years of employment, five years before the entertainer’s death from complications of HIV/AIDS in 1987.
Thorson filed a $113 million child support lawsuit against Liberace, terminating his employment with the entertainer—according to TMZ, it was “the first child support lawsuit involving same-sex couples ever filed in the United States”—which was settled out of court in 1986.
Liberace’s former lover Scott Thorson has died at the age of 65. Photo taken in 2013 in Reno, Nevada
Scott Thorson and Liberace at the Coconut Grove in LA in April 1979
According to Variety, Liberace said he was not gay and stated in court that he and Thorson were never intimate.
As part of the settlement, Thorson received a total of $75,000 in cash, three vehicles and three dogs valued at $20,000, Variety reported.
Thorson published his book “Behind the Candelabra: My Life with Liberace” in 1988.
Among Thorson’s allegations were that Liberace had financed numerous cosmetic surgeries to make Thorson look like a younger Liberace, such as a chin implant and a nose job.
Liberace had included Thorson in his stage show in Las Vegas, wearing a rhinestone-studded outfit while chauffeured the entertainer onto the stage.
Thorson has said in the past that his drug problems were partly due to the numerous surgeries he underwent at Liberace’s request, as he took drugs such as Quaaludes, amphetamines, cocaine and Demerol following the medical procedures, Variety reported.
Steven Soderbergh directed the 2013 HBO film based on Thorson’s novel. Damon played Thorson, while Michael Douglas played Liberace. The film also starred Scott Bakula, Rob Lowe, Dan Aykroyd and the late Debbie Reynolds.
The film was a critical success and earned Douglas a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie, as well as nominations for Damon and Lowe.
Thorson sat with Liberace at the wheel at La Cage Aux Folles in LA in 1981
Scott Thorson and Liberace were photographed together in 1982, the year Liberace terminated Thorson’s employment with him
Thorson was portrayed by Matt Damon in the 2013 HBO film Behind the Candelabra, based on Thorson’s 1988 book.
Michael Douglas played Liberace in Steven Soderbergh’s 2013 HBO film
The film also won 13 Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie for Douglas and Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Drama Special for Soderbergh.
Thorson was also involved in another violent crime in Hollywood’s past: the Laurel Canyon Murders in 1981, which also involved the late porn star John Holmes.
Thorson testified in the 1989 trial of nightclub owner Eddie Nash, who was accused of ordering the murders of four people – Ron Launius, William “Billy” Deverell, Joy Miller and Barbara Richardson – in response to a home robbery with which Holmes was linked.
Thorson said in his testimony that he had been to Nash’s house to buy drugs two days before the July 1, 1981, murders and saw Holmes being beaten and questioned about the robbery. The trial ended in a failed jury agreement and Nash died in 2014 without being convicted in connection with the murders.
Thorson said he would change his name and enter the federal witness protection program after testifying.
The gruesome murders inspired a scene in the 1997 film “Boogie Nights” as well as the 2003 film “Wonderland,” in which Val Kilmer played Holmes.
It will also be re-examined in the upcoming documentary series “The Wonderland Massacre & The Secret History of Hollywood,” which will stream on MGM+ starting September 8.
It is an adaptation of a 2022 podcast Thorson made with author Michael Connelly called “The Wonderland Murders and the Secret History of Hollywood.”
