Nicolas Cage will play flamboyant Las Vegas, Nevada, showman Liberace in a new biopic about the legendary piano man's life. The actor is producing the project, as well as starring in the film, and will begin meeting with directors in the coming weeks.

Liberace, real name Wladziu Valentino Liberace, rose to fame in the 1950s when his musical TV show competed with, and often beat, I Love Lucy in the ratings. For much of the 1960s and 1970s, he was Las Vegas' highest-paid performer.

Liberace always flatly denied he was gay and the film is expected to focus on his double-life, according to celebrity website TMZ.com. In the early 1980s, Liberace's live-in lover Scott Thornson sued him for $113 million in "palimony" after they parted ways.

Sources say the suit, which was ultimately dismissed, will be used as the starting point to introduce audiences to the alleged secret that haunted him for his entire adult life.

The film could start production as early as October.

(This news article provided by World Entertainment News Network)