Glaucoma problem

[buttonhead]

Hy Every one, I am wondering..does any one here can enlightened me about Elvis wearing contact lenses due to his glaucoma? I heard he had glaucoma towards the end of his life, but not from the very beginning.

[vivaelvis]

I've heard he was going blind at the time of his death. But I question that, even if the source is his own private physician. :hmm:

[Lisarose]

I'd never heard of Elvis wearing contacts, I have seen him wearing eyeglasses. I've read about his glaucoma, but not a lot, so i dont' know a lot about it,however, i do recall that the primary blame, so to speak, was his constant performing - the lights. In an interview, Ronnie Tutt states that in those days, the concert engineers simply didn't have the knowledge they do now about the best way to set up lighting to protect the performers, andRonnie also suffers with a severe sensitivity to lights since he was directly behind Elvis.
I know there's a phone call recorded on a cd titled "Calling Elvis" where Elvis discusses his glaucoma with a Denver policeman, but I don't know what that phone call says as I don't own that cd.

[buttonhead]

Thank you both for the response, I am just trying to get more info, I heard from someone who is Elvis fans in Kentucky USA, that Elvis went to eye doctor there to fix his eye problem... (?? ) it is unheard of, the thing about Elvis World is that I try to get the fact out of the myth ... :D

[Lisarose]

there are several articles in http://www.elvis.com.au/ I usually head there first for information.

[hounddog]

i knwo when he filmed Flaming Star they asked him to wear colour contacts its the only time I've heard of him wearing them. I've read a few times that Elvis had mild Glaucoma in one eye

[Nicole Presley]

I only know he had glaucoma in his left eye. And I know it started in 1971. I´ve noticed something a few days ago, that might have something to with it: In the movie "That´s the way it is" the spotlight shines right in his eyes, but in "Aloha from Hawaii" the spotlights don´t shine in his eyes anymore. Did anyone else notice that? I think that´s because of the glaucoma. And I´ve noticed something else in the Aloha from Hawaii rehearsal concert: When he introduces Charlie the spotlight shines right in his face for a second and when it does he closes his left eye for a second. Did anyone else notice?

[peter]

Nicole:
I do not think that this has any relation to his eye problem.

I think that it has a relation to the position of spotlights. I think that there is very important factor - size of venue (Hilton is not as big hall as HIC arena or halls when On Tour was filmed). That means that spotlights are much closer to performer and probably much higher than in large hall. Other than that - in Las Vegas the lights in venue were not turned off - in HIC there (from DVD) it seems like there was weaker light. Thats horrible contrast of spotlight with the dark below the stage - thats the reason why artists are not able to see more than first few rows (like Elvis said before Funny How Time Slips Away in 72).

[readyseve]

Heya, my understanding is that there are different degrees of glaucoma but Elvis's condition though serious hadn't reached the worst stage. He did require some dramatic medical intervention on at least one occasion when he had to be injected directly into the eyeball. Two of his lovers in the early 70s Joyce Bova and Barbara Leigh attest to this episode and to hospital stays as a result of his condition. It may also be of interest to you to read Dr. Nick's book which elaborates more on this. Hope this was of some help.

[Cliff]

I noticed a long time ago that Elvis left eye always looked,for want of a better word, lazy. If you watch this clip from Double Trouble about 1:02 into it when he blinks the left lid is way out of synch with the other eye. This is when I first noticed it. Also it can be seen in some pulicity shots.
We must also take into account the camera flashlights he faced during his life, and lighting for still pics.


http://youtu.be/GxMus6EkhaY

[Raised on Rock]

I know that the March 16-18 1971 recording Sessions in Nashville had to be canceled as he had a severe pain in his eyes, or one of the at least.

There is picture too from the same year, probably around the same month, where you can see him wearing a patch in one of his eyes.

[KPM]

Glaucoma has stages and the fact that Elvis had to have his eye drained and had injections at different times tells me it must have been a pretty serious problem.

[Cliff]

The only time I have heard of Elvis having to wear contacts was for Flaming Star were he was required to wear brown contacts because of the part he was playing. Seems they irritated his eyes so he didn't wear them.

[buttonhead]

Wow thank YOU everybody... So basically Elvis' might had the symptoms of eye problem was way before 1977 ? :) I heard he already had it since the Army years ? hmmmmm I thought one' cant joined Army with such condition..? I agree with Cliff that he used different color of lenses on Flaming Star because its the part of the role he played .

[Cliff]

Wow thank YOU everybody... So basically Elvis' might had the symptoms of eye problem was way before 1977 ? :) I heard he already had it since the Army years ? hmmmmm I thought one' cant joined Army with such condition..? I agree with Cliff that he used different color of lenses on Flaming Star because its the part of the role he played .

You may be right about the Army thing.
Update on the Flaming Star contact lenses. I was right, but it seems he was fitted for them but they were never used. Hmmm, wonder if it was because of his eye problems.
Wonderful and interesting topic Buttonhead. Thank you for raising it. It's nice to be able to use all the useless information I have gathered in my memory banks over the years.
:D

[buttonhead]

LOL Cliff,... you re welcome and actually another elvis fan who brought this to my attention.. he said something about Elvis wearing contact lenses since he was in the Army... and there were pics where elvis eyes could be blue and green and brown in different occasion..he mentioned about Elvis eye doc was in Kentucky USA.. It makes me thinking ? if its real ? I have never heard it except towards the end of his life his glaucoma was mentioned due to his drug abused.

My concern is that there were too many bogus story about Elvis,... with internet some people also could altered so many elvis pictures, they put elvis head on someone else' body,.. or crop his pictures as if it was a part of some events while Elvis never attend,.. make up stories off it.. See I am alright with every one who such huge elvis fans to do that for fun. but not to content where it became a fool of the world to hear.... or spread rumor that never happen. I keep reading Elvis news and still reading some books.. which i gotten interested ( again )... SO thats why i asked this topic..

:D :D

[KPM]

One thing people need to remember is that Elvis had hazel colored eyes and they are known to appear bluer at times, browner at times, grayer at times.
Hazel is a very variable color.

[readyseve]

Sorry. have to correct you, his eyes were definitely blue. If you read any of the memoirs by Barbara Leigh, Joyce Bova and Kathy Westmoreland they all specifically mention how profoundly blue his eyes were. It was one of the first features they were all drawn to. When you see him in TTWII singing I Just Can't Help Believing and Bridge Over Troubled Water you will see what I mean.Excuse me for being so pedantic but wanted to clarify this.

[Cliff]

LOL Cliff,... you re welcome and actually another elvis fan who brought this to my attention.. he said something about Elvis wearing contact lenses since he was in the Army... and there were pics where elvis eyes could be blue and green and brown in different occasion..he mentioned about Elvis eye doc was in Kentucky USA.. It makes me thinking ? if its real ? I have never heard it except towards the end of his life his glaucoma was mentioned due to his drug abused.

My concern is that there were too many bogus story about Elvis,... with internet some people also could altered so many elvis pictures, they put elvis head on someone else' body,.. or crop his pictures as if it was a part of some events while Elvis never attend,.. make up stories off it.. See I am alright with every one who such huge elvis fans to do that for fun. but not to content where it became a fool of the world to hear.... or spread rumor that never happen. I keep reading Elvis news and still reading some books.. which i gotten interested ( again )... SO thats why i asked this topic..

:D :D

Back in the day we had no internet, no paparazzi. All we had were fan magazines which I always bought. If it had Elvis' pic on it I got it. Most of these magazines had little snippets of news from movie sets usually released by the press agent for the movie,I'd guess. This is were I remember reading about the contact lenses on Flaming Star. I suppose they thought that it would be strange having Elvis play a blue eyed Indian. For whatever reason he didn't wear them I guess they figured his character had a white father so he could have got the blue eyes from him.
Something else I remember reading in these magazines was that in the Cantina scene in Fun In Acapulco they had to have an oxygen bottle for Elvis as the smoke used in it would get to him and he would have to have a dose of oxygen now and then to help his breathing.
Of all the things I have read over the years never have I heard of him wearing contacts while in the Army. I don't know when contacts were developed for vision but I'm sure if he wore them it would be for this reason and not to enhance, or change his eye color.

[Diane]

Sorry. have to correct you, his eyes were definitely blue. If you read any of the memoirs by Barbara Leigh, Joyce Bova and Kathy Westmoreland they all specifically mention how profoundly blue his eyes were. It was one of the first features they were all drawn to. When you see him in TTWII singing I Just Can't Help Believing and Bridge Over Troubled Water you will see what I mean.Excuse me for being so pedantic but wanted to clarify this.

Sorry but Ken was right. Elvis' eyes were a light hazel which do appear blue, grey even green at times depending on what he wore or the colours around him...my son has the same eye colour and they do vary. We saw Elvis up close in person in Tahoe in '73 so there is no doubt in my mind on the colour of his eyes.

[Nicole Presley]

Sorry but Ken was right. Elvis' eyes were a light hazel which do appear blue, grey even green at times depending on what he wore or the colours around him...my son has the same eye colour and they do vary. We saw Elvis up close in person in Tahoe in '73 so there is no doubt in my mind on the colour of his eyes.


I´ve noticed that in "That´s the way it is" his eyes are blue, in the movie "Spinout" his eyes are gray, and in "Aloha from Hawaii" his eyes are dark. And some pictures they look brown. I always thought it´s because of the light. I thought his eyes are blue when the spotlight shines in his eyes and when no light shines directly in his eyes, his eyes look dark.

[KPM]

Hazel eyes can be more greenish, more brownish and even blueish...... they almost reflect the colors around them.
I would say his eyes were hazel blue but as you point out they definitely appear different in various situations and lighting.
My eyes are bright blue, they never look another color no matter the light reflection or what I am wearing- Elvis's do look different in picture to picture depending on lighting and colors around him.
My wife has one brown eye-and one eye that is multicolored, so I would call that eye Hazel because it does at times appear like blue, green, dark gray, etc.....
I just browsed our gallery here 50s, 60s 70s, and it is amazing how differing his eyes look in color- sometimes even dark brown other times dark blue, light blue, steely blue, greenish etc........another fascinating thing about him.

[Cliff]

The only way to really find out what color Elvis' eyes were is to either find his birth certificate or his induction papers to the Army.
I spent some years in photography and can promise you, you can not tell the true color of a persons eyes from photos. Like the skin the eyes reflect colors from the surrounding inviroment and the color of clothing that is worn. There are also lense filters to consider. As for Elvis eye color on stage, you must remember that the spotlight are of diffent colors too.
So, unless you have actually met Elvis face to face under natural conditions all this these discussions are speculation.

[buttonhead]

I think..well since Ken brought this up.. I have a coworker with hazel eyes.. it does appear greenish one time and could be brown in different occasion.. I did ask her , why her eyes looks different and she told me she didnt wear contact lense .. I guess thats why it calls 'hazel' because in the rainbow world they dont recognized hazel.. LOL i am talking jibbrish. I agree with Ken how Elvis has such uniqueness in him.. even his eyes :D

[buttonhead]

Thats probably my homework :D I need to find out if contact lense were there in the 50s.. You know In my country Indonesia.. contact lense was quite new.. probably in my junior high which was in the 90s .. I dont know how early that thing was in States. even in Europe..

[Tommy]

Someone should ask Lisa Marie or Priscilla this question, anyone know either of them? Let's try Facebook. (y)

[hounddog]

Elvis' eyes were very relfective as well, my eyes are very reflective also. Mine can change colour with the clothes i wear a blue shirt blue eyes blueish are green shirt greenish eyes etc. It can freak some people out and I've been asked a lot over the years if i wear colour contacts. It can be a lot of fun also you can kind of naturally enhance your eye colour by chossing what you wear.

[debtdbruno]

Sorry but Ken was right. Elvis' eyes were a light hazel which do appear blue, grey even green at times depending on what he wore or the colours around him...my son has the same eye colour and they do vary. We saw Elvis up close in person in Tahoe in '73 so there is no doubt in my mind on the colour of his eyes.


WOW.......you lucky person Diane........

[Nicole Presley]

Someone should ask Lisa Marie or Priscilla this question, anyone know either of them? Let's try Facebook. (y)

That´s a good idea. Who knows Lisa?

[KPM]

I believe most official documents have Elvis's eyes as blue, so officially Elvis has blue eyes.
But IMO Hazel is the correct color based on the photos I've seen and eyewitness's like Diane who saw him close-up.
But this is a very subjective topic.....one mans blue......is another mans cealing....uh I mean floor.....uh I have become confused.:D

[debtdbruno]

That´s a good idea. Who knows Lisa?

she's going to be at the VIP concert in Memphis in August.......I'll see how close I can get to her.....lol

[Turbo]

Marty Lacker's reply:


>Hello,

>I know that Elvis' eyes were blue but in photos from the 1960s,
>including those in the '60s and Elvis Aaron Presly boxed sets, his eyes
>are brown.

>Did Elvis ever wear contract lenses to change his eye color at any time?

>Just wondering.

>Darren
>--------------------



No, he didn't wear contacts, his eyes were always his natural blue.

if they show up brown on the box sets the picture was altered by the company.


Marty

[buttonhead]

Wow Diane sure was one lucky lady :-) I saw elvis closeup only from internet pictures of his .. :(

Now Turbo aka Darren response quite answered the question.. , some times its nice to know the answer from Elvis 'insider' or any one who used to be with the man himself, thank you for sharing the info, like you all have thought before Elvis eyes were : Blue.. I myself got confused because all this pictures i saw of Elvis, it makes me think his eyes was more of hazel .....

Tommy , yes we should asked Cilla or LMP.. ?? You got their number or FB page ? :D I do not follow them.

[readyseve]

Can we finish this thread? All in favour say "eye eye" lol.(still say they are BLUE)

[hounddog]

i wish i could remember where i heard or read it i think it was an interview though and Elvis himself said his eyes were Hazel. anyone else here help me out with what interview it may be?

[Lisarose]

i remember that interview as well, the interviewer was talking to him getting allthe basic questions first - 'You're 6 foot tall, blue eyes" and Elvis interrupts saying "hazel" and the interviewer goes on. I may just have to stay up tonight going thru all my cds....

[hounddog]

I'm so glad someone else knows that interview. I reckon Elvis knew what colour eyes he had so I'm gonna say he had Hazel eyes. Though I'm not sure how we went from a question about his glaucoma to his eye colour, lol.

On the Elvis Australia site they have this about his glaucoma
http://www.elvis.com.au/search.html?cx=007876832253945564589%3Aruhwknepfqm&cof=FORID%3A11%3BNB%3A1&q=glaucoma&sa=Search

[mistymorning]

The hazel eyes are one of the most beautiful eye colors and yes they reflect the colors around, he had very beautiful eyes.
Kathy westmoreland says that he had to go to hospital to drain his eyes because og glaucoma problem I felt soooo sorry for him

[Nicole Presley]

Marty Lacker's reply:

No, he didn't wear contacts, his eyes were always his natural blue.

if they show up brown on the box sets the picture was altered by the company.


Marty


That´s great! :D How did you contact Marty?