Liberace Talks About the Value of Being an Entertainer in a 1968 Interview Animated For PBS

The latest episode of Blank on Blank features the flamboyant piano virtuoso Liberace as he talks about his fabulous wardrobe, growing up poor and the value of being an entertainer in a 1968 interview conducted by reporter Jay Kent Hackelman of KTRH Houston.

I don’t profess to be a healer, a minister, a priest. I feel as an entertainer I can do more good for the world than I would if I were a soapbox orator or a self-made politician. I was, some years ago, privileged to have an audience with Pope Pius XII and later with Cardinal Cushing, and both of these men likened my work, dealing with the public in all parts of the world, to the work that they were trying to do from the pulpit. So I feel that if entertainment is that important, the media, then it’s my duty, not only to mankind but to God, to fulfill the promise that I carry on this work. If someone, for instance, can forget their pains and their ills and their strife by watching any performer then I think this work is worthwhile, yes.