From the 1950s to the 1970s, which musician was the highest-paid US entertainer?

The duo in the picture is Wladziu Valentino Liberace (1919-1987), known simply as Liberace and Elvis Aaron Presley (1935-1977).

Liberace was an American pianist, singer, and actor who was born in the state of Wisconsin to parents of Italian and Polish origin. For 4 decades he enjoyed a career performing concerts, making recordings, appearing on television programs and in motion pictures. At the height of his fame, from the 1950s to the 1970s, Liberace was the highest-paid entertainer in the world with established concert residencies in Las Vegas.

Liberace was said to be worth over $110 million at the time of his death in 1987 and to have bequeathed $88 million to the Liberace Foundation. Only in 2015 did the Foundation's Chairman Jonathan Warren reveal in a lecture at the Mob Museum in Las Vegas, that these figures were all part of the showmanship of Liberace- the real figures were closer to 1/10th of that amount.

His nickname was 'Mr. Showmanship' due to his lifestyle of flamboyant excesses both on and off stage. Other names and nicknames during his career included Walter Busterkeys, Claide Forget Jr., Walter Liberace, Lee, and The Glitter Man.

His genre of music included easy listening, big band, and traditional pop and his instrument of choice was a Mirror Chandler Baldwin Piano. He was recognized during his career with two Emmy Awards, 6 gold albums, and two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

He died of pneumonia as a complication of AIDS.