The Day Liberace Kissed Sabrina

Weekend magazine (Australia), 7 February 1959

by Winifred Atwell

It happened the night the Royal Command Performance [1956] was cancelled at the last minute. All of us who had been asked to take part in the show had looked forward to it for months.

When the performance was cancelled there were not two more disappointed people thant I – and my good friend Liberace.

To cheer everybody up, I decide to throw a party in my own home.

Liberace wore a woolly jumper, knitted with glinting silver thread. Everyone else came in slacks of informal dress.

Halfway through the evening I heard someone say to Liberace, "Why are you still a bachelor? Don't you like women?"

Libby smiled that famous smile. "Of course I like women," he said.

The person he was talking to was persistent.

"If you really like women so much, why don't you go over and kiss Sabrina?" he challenged.

Liberace looked across the room at Sabrina. Suddenly, before anyone could move, the famous blonde was being held in Liberace's arms – and given a hearty kiss.

Later someone asked Sabrina what she thought of the kiss. "Mmmmm!" was her answer. "VERY nice."