Great entertainer. Check.
Great singer. Check
Successful actor. Check
Greatest recording artist in history. Check
Tremendously charitable throughout his life. Check
But let’s look at some of his (yeah he was human) mannerisms.
Elvis had a great and sincere laugh. He got tickled. There were times he couldn’t stop laughing. He had a quick wit. He had a photographic memory. He, in private moments or those when he was recording, used foul language. Some of the unreleased “takes” show Elvis using curse words and though it may be seemly to others it was a part of his personality.
He said; sir, mam, yes sir, yes mam, thank you, and he went out of his way to thank everyone from the guard at the gates to the engineers to the secretaries to the fellow musicians. He was thoughtful and one example of this is that he always sent flowers to Ann Margret every time her show opened. He was “country” in his heart, some mannerisms, and in some speech. But don’t get lost in that because Elvis had extravagances that many can only dream of (4 engine airplanes, custom jewelry, handmade clothes, personal hair stylist, best of the best hotel suites in Las Vegas and elsewhere, vacations to Hawaii/Bahamas taking along family/friends/co-workers and of course loved ones.
He LOVED his mother. He loved his father but the love he had for his mother was palpable. He showed his affection for her in words, gestures. kisses, hugs, holding her hand, touching her hair, etc.
Elvis had one leg shorter than the other. This allowed him to move his legs in ways not seen before (note – one of my legs is shorter than the others and I can mimic those leg movements BUT the pains it causes in the lower back/hips can be excruciating and sometimes immobile).
Elvis wore lifts in his shoes. He started doing this in the late fifties and definitely in the 1960’s and 1970’s. This put his height to 6’1 and borderline 6’2. Without lifts medical documents put his height at 5’10, 5’11, and in interviews Elvis said several times in response to “how tall are you” he said “right at six feet”.
As a young man, teen, and through the 1950’s Elvis had an INCREDIBLE metabolism. He was a vivacious eater routinely eating several cheeseburgers, several order of fries, a milkshake or two, and washed it down with a soda. Sweets were a staple. Down home country southern meals awash with lard, butter, etc. Some of the meals (note – many times Elvis would eat the same meals for weeks at a time) he enjoyed were; meatloaf, potatoes (mashed and otherwise), corndogs, hotdogs sometimes with chili, fried chicken, chicken and dumplings, etc.
Elvis was not a drinker. If he drank it would be in moderation and it was a whiskey, peach brandy, and a few times a taste of bourbon. Growing up in the south, and his father had a history of drunk binges (this was not something Elvis was proud of and sadly Gladys took to the bottle with increasingly quantity which may have contributed to her (sadly) deteriorating health.
Elvis had, at first, a cap on his front teeth (it was one of the two that are exactly in the middle of the mouth and are slightly bigger than the others) which overlapped part of the other front tooth. Elvis also had a permanent remedy by having an implant (note – photographs of Elvis tooth, mould, and so many RARE photographs can be seen at our sister website of http://www.ElvisCollector.info). All in all Elvis took care of his teeth and they were a focal point of Elvis incredible looks.
Elvis had blonde hair. It started to get darker when he was a teenager. You can see in some of Elvis’ tv appearances and in Elvis’ first movie (note – it was the only movie that Elvis was not the headliner but was listed as a co-star) Love Me Tender circa 1956 that his hair was brown. But, starting in 1956, Elvis died his hair jet black. In later years, from what I can surmise by looking at countless photographs, Elvis died his hair blue black. This gave him a shine and enhanced his already almost inhuman great looks.
Elvis broke his finger playing football. It was his pinky finger. The advances in hand/finger surgeries didn’t improve greatly until the 1990’s and certainly now so Elvis was told by his surgeon that there could be a permanent disfigurement on the pinky. Elvis asked the surgeon “can you set it somehow so I can play the guitar”? The surgeon made an off hand comment causing Elvis ( note – accounts vary but this is the essence of what was said) to say “you don’t have to listen to my music but playing the guitar is part of my job”.
Elvis’ body shape, meaning his torso waist and shoulders, was in the shape of the letter. Those who dressed him for the movies, concerts, etc. have proclaimed that “Elvis had the perfect canvas to dress him for he had a slender waist with large shoulders forming an almost perfect V. The upper part of Elvis’ legs were strong and muscular. Everything looked good on Elvis. For concerts he preferred the color white but one of his favorite colors was blue and he was bummed a little that he couldn’t wear blue more often on stage but he affirmed that the color white played off well with the three primary colors used in his concerts. Worth noting is that Elvis thought the pores on his face, and especially on his nose, were too large. He thought this calves/bottom part of his legs were a little small. He popped his collars up to cloak the acne (note – as a teenager/young man he had terrible acne on his face and back of his neck. He underwent medical procedures, starting in 1956, to clear up the acne and the lessen the scarring that acne leaves behind) on the back of his neck. He also thought he had a “skinny” or “elongated” neck (note – firsthand accounts vary in the severity of Elvis being self conscious about the shape of his neck but everyone agrees he had an issue with it).
Elvis was self conscious about his weight/appearance that he would, when he could be seen by fans/others, wear a t-shirt when swimming. When doing things on the water. Elvis was visually muscular but he was strong. A stark contrast can be seen in many photographs with Tom Jones, on vacation, where Tom is totally comfortable shirtless and even though the temperature/humidity was hot Elvis wore t-shirts.
Elvis would comment to those close to him, when watching his movies/concerts/etc, to “get that fat ass or look at that fat ass”. He was VERY weight conscious about his weight and it was evident during the early and surely the late 1970’s and his weight shocked fans viewing the photographs of Elvis wearing a track suit with Priscilla, Vernon and a few others walking after the final court appearance circa October 9, 1973. There is no doubt that, and the medical aspects of this cannot be understated as it contributed greatly to his problems with his metabolism which once allowed him to naturally burn the calories, the problems in his marriage took a huge toll on Elvis psyche (note – like so many of us his medical/emotional/physical/monetary contributed severely to him eating unhealthy or in larger portions). Increased eating, like it is for millions, was drastically increased when he was sad and for many reasons starting mildly in 1972. Elvis was a few pounds heavy and Elvis was told, and this was rare because Elvis often was surrounded by “yes” persons, “that Elvis had to lost 25 pounds” for the 1973 Aloha from Hawaii concert which was the very first worldwide telecast via satellite and was seen around the world with a total viewing audience of a BILLION people (note – by far this is the greatest television accomplishment especially taking into consideration the population of the United States/word was far less than now and there was only one screen to view this and it was via a TV which many people, for various reasons, did not have access to a TV. If, in 1973, there were as many “screens” as now along with the same population, there is no doubt that the total worldwide viewing audience would vastly increase).
Another point is that there were cooks on hand at Graceland 24 hours a day. The pantry, fridge, freezer, etc. was always stocked with the foods/beverages that Elvis wanted. This included ice cream and I bring this up because in 1977 Elvis weighed the most and for the last week of his life (i.e. August 16, 1977) Elvis “dieted”. In the late hours/early morning hours the last 24 hours of Elvis life one of his cooks saw a sadness in Elvis and said “honey are you sure you don’t want something to eat a snack a sandwich”? The cook said “Elvis’ responded with a half-smile giving off part of his great facial expressions/smile and then said maybe a cookie or two and some ice cream”. She made, or recently had made, the cookies from scratch and she brought up two scoops of ice cream and five cookies. The remnants of Elvis’ bowl/plate showed he enjoyed the ice cream and ate all the cookies except one and a half.
Man, I have much to say on this topic but I have to go now. Though this is not related, and some may not appreciate me saying so, I encourage everyone to have the specific blood tests to check your thyroid levels every six months. Your thyroid manages everything from your metabolism to your mood to your lack of energy to your sleep to you gaining weight to how your look at yourself and/or life. Just about everything can be adversely effected by issues with your thyroid (note – I believed, like millions of others do, that my blood tests including the full spectrum of checking my thyroid. I believe that my thyroid contributed greatly to my health issues, personal interactions, actions, etc. for at least a year before it was diagnosed that my thyroid levels were awful. It got increasingly worse and contributed (which I am forever sorry for taking full responsibility for everything I said, did etc. and I am not proud of this) to the deterioration of my marriage/relationships. When I heard the news that I had thyroid cancer I almost didn’t believe it. I had been going through internal/mental/emotional/physical hardships that I mostly kept to myself. When I had my first surgery to remove the very very very large tumor on the right side of my thyroid they checked the left side (note – it is better in all ways to have part of your thyroid rather than none and this organ is very important/crucial) and it too confirmed carcinoma i.e. cancer and my entire thyroid had to be cut out). This was unexpected by my physicians, surgeon, and by me. I have been aggressive personally, and an advocate for as many people as I can be, in getting medications/health care/etc., for my thyroid levels (note – yes even though I have no thyroid it is crucial to the body so taking daily medications is mandatory. I still have ups and downs, pertaining to my thyroid and so many other adverse effects associated with thyroid disease, but I have good doctors/surgeons/specialists and I do everything I can to be physically and emotionally healthy.
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*** we hope you enjoy these Army related Elvis Presley photographs that are very rare, unique, and cool
Take care.
Jeff Schrembs
I have, throughout my life, have read so many books, magazines, articles, blogs, posts, etc. about Elvis’ life onstage and off in every aspect of his life. The year 1977 is widely known as the year Elvis died. Sadly, Elvis did die on August 16, 1977 but in this article/post I choose to write about how he (in part) lived in 1977.