Unknown Stories Behind The Legend

[Polk-Salad-Annie]

Thank you for the great stories.
Diane

You're welcome

[Polk-Salad-Annie]

There is more to come!!

[Laura Harrell]

Thanks for the great stories. I'm enjoying reading them.

[Gloria]

WOW great stories, I'm ready for more

[Polk-Salad-Annie]

Thanks for the great stories. I'm enjoying reading them.

You're welcome

[Polk-Salad-Annie]

WOW great stories, I'm ready for more

Here are some more stories:


Teenagers In Trouble.....

The Chiefs of police in both Los Angeles and Memphis stated that Elvis had helped many people out of various situations.
In the 1970's, it was reported that Elvis occasionally helped out teeagers who were in trouble with the law, sometimes even paying their bail.
Before the policemen would let the teens go, however, Elvis would lecture them for a couple of hours about life, law, limits, and obeying the rules.
He read their rap sheets and lectured them about what they'd done wrong and what they could, and should do to be better citizens in the future.
Once these boys had their ears full of Elvis' words, they thanked him for bailing them out and ran off as fast as they could.

[Polk-Salad-Annie]

The King Sent Her Flowers...

A young woman by the name of Peggy Thompson was an avid Elvis Presley fan for many years.
In the 1970's, she purchased tickets to one of his shows near her hometown.
It would be her first Elvis concert.
Unfortunately, Peggy suffered an illness and was forced to have surgery.
To make matters worse, the only day the surgeon was available to perform the operation was on the day of the Elvis concert.
Unable to postpone the surgery, Peggy was forced to miss the show.
Elvis found out about Peggy's situation from a fan who had a rendezvous with one of his men.
He decided to send Peggy a dozen long-stemmed roses tied with one of his baby blue scarves.
Peggy was in the intensive care unit when the flowers arrived.
When she was released from the ICU later that day, she saw the marvelous bouquet.
She saw the blue scarf, read Elvis' name on it, and couldn't believe that the King had sent her flowers!.
Peggy marveled at how Elvis found out about so many unfortunate, sick, needy people, and how he always managed to make them feel better with his love and kindness.

[Polk-Salad-Annie]

AS TOLD BY... DAVID STANLEY

Elvis had a jet he leased to fly from show to show.
There were threats to bomb that plane, as well as other threats.
We walked out of our hotel on Long Island {New York}, where we were playing the Nassau Coliseum, and a guy pulled a switchblade on Elvis. I saw the blade reflecting in the sunlight.
He had it down by his side.
Elvis and I were walking together, and the guy moved forward as we moved forward, so I jumped across in front of Elvis and grabbed the guy by the back of the hair and slammed him agaist the wall.
I had my gun down his throat until the others took him away.
We ran into that from time to time, but that was the worst situation we had.
Other times, some guy would try to punch Elvis out - jealous boyfriends, jealous husbands, even sometimes just fanatical women.

[Polk-Salad-Annie]

AS TOLD BY... SAM THOMPSON

There were very few real threats to Elvis' person - threats as a result of malice - but there were threats that sprang from the love Elvis' fans had for him.
They all wanted a piece of him, and there were millions of fans and only one Elvis.
I've taken Elvis into hotels and places where fans would literally pull his hair out.
They didn't want to hurt him, but they wanted a piece of him.
After every show, Elvis would have claw marks on his hands, and he would have to wear Band-aids; if you see pictures of him during and after shows, you'll see Band-aids.
People would accidently claw him when reachng for him and reaching for scarves.
Somewhere out in the Midwest, I took a lady offstage who had scratched Elvis in an attempt to get to him.
As I was taking her off, she was yelling excitedly to her friends, "Look, Elvis' skin!".
It was bizarre.

[Polk-Salad-Annie]

Denise Sanchez, an 8-year-old girl from Santa Fe, New Mexico, had been a huge Elvis Presley fan since she was four.
After the Christmas holiday in 1971, Denise was diagnosed with cancer.
She had to have her leg and part of her hip amputated when a large tumor was detected.
A very short while later, the cancer spread to her lungs.
Her doctors stopped the chemotherapy treatments she had been undergoing, stating that there was no more they could do for her.


Several months later, Denise's mother, Trudi, found out that Elvis was performing in Albuquerque on April 19, 1972.
Mrs. Sanchez was able to get two tickets to the show.
Her daughter was thrilled.
As the day of the concert neared, Denise suffered a relapse and was given the devastating news that she was too sick to travel the 65 miles to see Elvis.
The young girl cried for several days and begged her mother to take her to the show.
She wanted to see Elvis in person before she died.
Finally, her mother and her doctor agreed to let her go to the performance.


Two days before the show, Mrs. Sanchez was advised to go to the newspapers and have them print a story on Denise.
Trudi went to the Albuquerque Journal and spoke with a reporter named Grace Marie Prather.
Prather helped Trudi and Denise set up a meeting with Colonel Parker in the early afternoon on the day of the show.
They spoke to Parker at length about Denise's condition and her wish to see Elvis.
Parker told the women that they should come to the Hilton Hotel at 4 PM and he would see what he could do.
Trudi brought her daughters, Denise and Paula, and her two best friends, Emma and Belinda Cantu, to the hotel at the appointed time.
Prather also went along to document the meeting.
The Colonel instructed them to come to the show at 5 PM.
Denese could meet Elvis after the concert.


The entire clan drove to the Tingley Coliseum and were seated in special box seats.
Denise fidgeted throughout the entire show, anxious for the performance to end so that she could meet her idol.
During intermission, the Sanchez party was invited backstage to Elvis' dressing room.
Denise was scared, fearing Elvis' reaction to her missing leg and hip and to her bald head.
Elvis took one look at the child and knelt down in front of her, kissing both her cheeks.
He told Denise that she was beautiful.
Trudi started crying.
She could not believe how loving Elvis was to her daughter and saw how happy and alive he made her feel.
Denise shyly unrolled a poster of the King and asked him to autograph it.
Elvis signed it: "To Denise - Love You, Elvis Presley".
Denise then asked him to sing her a song once he went back onstage.
As the second part of the concert began, Elvis dedicated the first song, "You Gave Me A Mountain", to Denise.
He explained to the audience, "This song is for a very special little girl I just met backstage - Denise".
Denise was thrilled and cried through the entire song.


When Denise got back home she told her mother that under no circumstances was she going to clean her face and wash off Elvis' kisses.
Three days later, Denise had still not washed her face.
On the fourth day, her mother finally forced her to clean her face.
Elvis made little Denise's short life a happier one.
His love for her helped her to feel better and eased her discomfort.

[Polk-Salad-Annie]

CONCERTS WERE SCARY SOMETIMES
AS TOLD BY...MAE AXTON

Girls would try to get onstage with him, especially when he was throwing those scarves out.
In Oklahoma City one night I saw a girl get so excited she jumped out of the balcony.
It might have killed her, but the people below her broke the fall.
It was scary sometimes in those concerts.

SHAUN NIELSEN

One time Elvis threw a scarf out to a lady, and the lady made the mistake of crossing it around her neck.
Suddenly there was one woman on one side and another on the other, both pulling at that scarf, literally choking the middle woman to death!.
Elvis yelled, "Here now! Hold it!.
Hold it!" and he threw scarves to the women on both sides of her.
I do believe they would have choked the woman to death right there on the front row, all because they were determined to get that scarf.

[Polk-Salad-Annie]

During the filming of Kid Galahad in the winter of 1961, Elvis' friends ordered a custom-made director's chair as a prank gift.
The chair had "MR. PRESLEY" stamped on the back of it; they presented it to the star on the first day of filming in mid-November.
Elvis turned to the crew, the director, and the producer and asked, "Mr. Presley ?.
Why so formal ?".
Director Phil Karlson said, "Only the best for our star!".
Elvis hated the formality of it.
He wanted to be treated like one of the boys, and the chair destroyed that illusion.
The next day a new chair replaced the formal one.
The bright red canvas sported bold print that read "JUST PLAIN OL' ELVIS".
Elvis laughed out loud and plopped into the chair.

[Polk-Salad-Annie]

Elvis gave a couple from Arkansas a check for $1,000 in 1969.
The money was to get the couple back on their feet after a series of disasters.
When 34-year-old James Bullock was hospitalized with serious injuries, as the result of a car accident, his car was stolen from the hospital parking lot.
He was forced to call a taxi and pay the large fare with money he really couldn't afford to spare.
To top it off, later that same year, Bullock lost his arm and his leg in a tractor accident.
His wife was forced to get a menial job in order to support them.
Whatever money she earned went toward bills and a little bit of food each week.
They were in serious financial trouble.
A local newspaper found out about the couple's bad luck and printed a short article about them.
Elvis happened to see the story and, after reading of their tragedies, he wrote out the check.
He had one of his men drive to the adjacent state and hand-deliver the check to the couple.
The Bullocks claimed that Elvis was an angel sent from God.
The money came in very handy and they were able to pay their rent and eat well for a few months.

[Polk-Salad-Annie]

On June 25, 1973, a summer camp in Holden, Louisiana was robbed by thieves.
They stole everything that was not bolted to the floor.
A local newspaper covered the story of this misfortune and printed it in their June 26th issue.
Several major newspapers picked up the story.
When Elvis saw the story in the Cincinnati Post on June 28, 1973, he was shocked at the crass boldness of the thieves and it made him angry.
That same day, Elvis ordered new equipment from a local sports store in Holden and had it delivered to the camp.
He completely restocked the camp and turned the unhappy situation around.

[Polk-Salad-Annie]

During a break on the set of Loving You, Elvis allowed his female lead, Dolores Hart, to set his hair in curlers.
Elvis had always been curious about how he would look in curly or wavy hair, and let Dolores talk him into trying it.
Five minutes later, director Hal Kanter came to Hart's dressing room and burst out laughing.
What a sight Elvis was, with little pink rollers all over his head.
Kanter laughed so har and for so long that he started to get stomach cramps.
He had to leave because he could not look at Elvis anymore.
Producer Hal Wallis stopped Kanter and asked why he was laughing so hard.
Wallis caught Hart frantically yanking the rollers out of Elvis' hair.
Elvis could not believe his bad luck: both producer and director had caught him in curlers!.
He was reluctant to come out onto the set, and when he did, he saw both Kanter and Wallis hiding smiles.
Elvis reshot his scene with Hart and ran quickly back to his dressing room as soon as it was done.

[Polk-Salad-Annie]

While Elvis was filming "Live A Little, Love A Little" in downtown Los Angeles in April 1968, two old ladies started running towards him.
When Elvis got in their way, they pushed him so hard they knocked him down.
Elvis then realized that the women were after his co-star, Rudy Vallee.
As he lay on the ground, Elvis watched the women make a mad dash to get Vallee's autograph before he got into his car.
Elvis went over to his famous co-star and asked the man how he kept the women interested.
Vallee replied, "Sex appeal, my dear boy!".
Elvis walked away laughing.

[Polk-Salad-Annie]

During his senior year at L.C. Humes High School in 1953, Elvis' history teacher was Mildred Scrivener.
She was also his homeroom teacher.
One day, Elvis was caught eating an apple in her class.
This was unusual because the school had a strict rule of no eating outside the cafeteria.
Mrs. Scrivener did not reprimand Elvis for eating in class, nor did she stop him from finishing the apple.
She knew that he came from a very poor family, and surmised that he did not have any money to buy lunch in the cafeteria.
She could not force herself to stop him from eating, even though she knew she was allowing him to break the rules.
The following day, Mrs. Scrivener found a bright red apple sitting on her desk.
She knew right away that it was Elvis' way of thanking her.

[Polk-Salad-Annie]

When Elvis was young, he wanted a bicycle so that he could have a newspaper route, but his parents could not afford to spend the $55.
In addition, Gladys did not want her son to have a bicycle because she was afraid he would have an accident.
After much scrimping and saving, Vernon and Gladys were finally able to purchase a bicycle for their son in 1948.
Elvis couldn't thank them enough.
His happiness was short-lived, however, when he fell off the bike and couldn't move his arm.
Gladys and Vernon drove their son to the hospital where they were given the bad news.
Elvis had a broken ulna.
The Presleys did not know what an ulna was and they feared for the worst.
They were quite relieved when the doctor explained that their son had a broken arm.
Elvis would have to wear a cast for two months.
The next day, Gladys gave Vernon orders to get rid of the bike and use the money to pay the medical bill.
Elvis was silent as his precious bicycle was sold to one of his best friends.

[Polk-Salad-Annie]

On occasion, Elvis would allow some of the fans waiting at the Graceland gates to come up to the house.
One night in 1963, he told one of his men to invite all the girls at the gates.
He was very surprised when approximately 150 girls walked into Graceland.
Elvis chose his ten favorites and told his men to select theirs and enjoy themselves.
Each man had to entertain ten girls.
Everyone had the time of their lives that night.
Whenever the word "party" came up in conversation, Elvis would mention that party and he and his friends would howl like wolves at their fond memories.

[Polk-Salad-Annie]

During one party, Elvis was desperately craving peanut butter cups.
When he was unable to find any in the house, he asked a young boy to go down the street to buy a carton of his favorite candy.
The boy, all too eager to run an errand for Elvis, agreed.
Elvis gave him $10 and told him where to go.
The boy ran to the store, bought the candy, and ran all the way back.
He did not want to make Elvis wait.
Elvis ripped open the carton, took two packs of peanut butter cups for himself, and distributed the rest amongst his guests.
After devouring the candy, Elvis approached the young boy and asked, "Can I have my change back, please ?"