Trivia: A phrase that is traditionally attributed to Liberace is "crying all the way to the bank." Liberace used the phrase throughout his career as a response to critics who often derided his extravagance and flamboyance on stage (in spite of the fact that he was a popular and financial success). The first documented time Liberace used the phrase was following a reception at Madison Square Garden (New York City) in 1956, when he humorously remarked, "The take was terrific, but the critics killed me. My brother George cried all the way to the bank." Thereafter, Liberace used the phrase so often that, over the decades, he came to be regarded as the originator of "crying all the way to the bank"; some sources have even retro-credited him with originating the phrase as far back as 1954. However, newspaper columnist Walter Winchell apparently originated the phrase in 1946, nearly a decade before Liberace started using it.
Trivia: Although they played mother and son in this film, Debbie Reynolds (born 1932) was only twelve years older than Michael Douglas (born 1944).
Chosen answer: Michael Douglas was not playing the piano himself. Special effects were used to digitally graft Douglas' head onto the body of Philip Fortenberry, a Julliard-trained pianist who also once played at the now-closed Liberace Museum in Las Vegas.
raywest