TEN THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT ELVIS
When Elvis and Priscilla divorced in 1973, they made a joint appearance in court and left the building smiling, arm in arm.
Always a religious man, Elvis believed at times, usually when heavily drug-taking, that he could cure the sick. When one of his employee’s children was unwell, he demanded to be taken to his home, where he laid his hands on the child, who, to his delight, recovered the next day.
According to his biographer Ray Connolly, in a three-night spree in 1970, Elvis spent $20,000 in a gun shop, $10,000 on a deposit on a house for an employee, an additional further $10,000 on jewellery and a further $85,000 on 10 Mercedes bought as presents.
When his wife and father confronted him about his spending habits, he threw a tantrum and went AWOL. He was found at the White House, pitching himself to Richard Nixon as a federal agent at large, charged with controlling the hippy drug culture. He had gained entrance by a handwritten note given to guards at the gate. Nixon gave him a special badge.
When Priscilla left him for his karate teacher, he offered his security guards the gun he regularly used to shoot out hotel TVs, and urged them to assassinate the man, or to track down a hired killer, which they did. Luckily, by this time, his temper had abated.
When his then seven-year-old daughter Lisa Marie wanted a puppy, a trip to the pet store ended with Elvis buying dogs for most of his retinue and their girlfriends.
In 1975, when Barbra Streisand was remaking A Star is Born, she offered the role of the male lead to Elvis, who turned it down.
Performing on the Ed Sullivan Show, Elvis was once censoredfilmed from the waist up in order to shield viewers from his energetic hip thrusting.
The Beatles once visited Elvis’s home, a private visit; no press, no fans. Initially, Elvis and the Beatles were shy of each other, but when Elvis brought out guitars and a piano, a raucous session ensured.
Figures estimate his album sales at over 1 billion.