Scott Thorson
| Scott Thorson | |
|---|---|
| Born |
January 23, 1959 La Crosse, Wisconsin, United States |
| Residence | Northern Nevada Correctional Center, Carson City, Nevada, United States |
| Other names | Jess Marlow |
| Partner(s) | Liberace (1976–1982) |
Scott Thorson (born January 23, 1959) is an American man best known for his relationship with and lawsuit against the entertainer Liberace.
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 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". Other sources, such as Thorson's own book Behind the Candelabra: My Life with Liberace, list Thorson's age at 18 when he met Liberace, though Thorson has in recent years claimed he was "16" and Liberace was "48 years older" at the time of their first meeting. Liberace also incorporated Thorson into his Las Vegas stage performances (e.g., Thorson drove Liberace's Rolls-Royce onstage, and was a dancer). According to Thorson, their committed relationship ended because of Liberace's promiscuous behavior and Thorson's drug addiction. Thorson also claimed that it was Liberace that originally started him on the drugs, but then when it 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 highly addictive drugs that included cocaine, quaaludes, biphetamines, and Demerol. Thorson stated that since he was so young at the time of meeting Liberace he would do anything he could to please him, including getting plastic surgery so that he could resemble him, but he felt that their relationship was one-sided. He called Liberace both generous and possessive.
In 1982, 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. Thorson decided to sue because he claimed that Liberace threw him out on the streets with nothing. In 1986, Thorson and Liberace agreed to settle out of court for $95,000. Throughout their lawsuit, Scott stated that Liberace referred to him in the media as a disgruntled employee, a liar, a gold digger, and claimed that there was never a sexual relationship between them. Despite these accusations, he visited and reconciled with Liberace shortly before the entertainer's death in 1987. A year later, Thorson published a book about their relationship, Behind the Candelabra: My Life with Liberace, which was later adapted by Richard LaGravenese and Steven Soderbergh into the 2013 film Behind the Candelabra, in which Thorson was played by Matt Damon opposite Michael Douglas as Liberace.
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