Scott Thorson

Scott Thorson (January 23, 1959 – August 16, 2024) was an American known for his relationship with and lawsuit against Liberace. Thorson wrote a memoir on his time with Liberace, Behind the Candelabra: My Life with Liberace, which was published in 1988 and adapted into the Emmy-winning film Behind the Candelabra in 2013. Thorson was also a key witness in the trial for the 1981 killings known as the Wonderland murders.

Relationship with Liberace At the age of 17, 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".

According to Thorson, Liberace introduced him to pop star Michael Jackson in the late 1970s. Thorson claimed that he had an affair with Jackson for about six years, starting around the release of the Thriller album.

Thorson said that his drug addiction and Liberace's promiscuous behavior caused their relationship to come to an end. 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. Thorson stated that following his plastic surgery, the surgeon provided for him a cocktail of addictive drugs that included cocaine, Quaalude, amphetamine, and Demerol. 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. where he stated that memories of his time with Liberace were still difficult for him.

Lawsuit and book In 1982, after he was dismissed by Liberace, Thorson filed a $113 million lawsuit against Liberace, part of which was a palimony suit. This was the first same-sex palimony case filed in U.S. history.

In the Canadian-American television film Liberace: Behind the Music (1988), Thorson was portrayed by Michael Dolan.

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. The film was directed by Steven Soderbergh from a screenplay by Richard LaGravenese, with music adapted by Academy Award-winning composer Marvin Hamlisch.

Wonderland murders

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.

Legal issues In 2008, Thorson pleaded guilty to felony drug and burglary charges and was sentenced to four years in prison. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years' probation in July 2013. Dennis Hof, owner of the Moonlite BunnyRanch, paid Thorson's $125,000 bail.

he was completing his term in unsupervised custody in residential confinement, with a projected release date of August 30, 2022 unless paroled earlier.

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.

Illness and death Previously diagnosed with hepatitis C, in the autumn of 2012, Thorson was diagnosed with stage II cancer. 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.

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.

Thorson died from cancer and heart disease at a Los Angeles healthcare facility, on August 16, 2024, at the age of 65.