Cultural depictions of Elvis Presley

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Young Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley has inspired artistic and cultural works ever since he first entered the national counsciousness, in 1956, after the Sullivan Shows then that of the world's, starting the year after, most notably with his induction into the US Army. From then on, interest in his personal and public life has never stopped, with his death, in 1977, increasing even further the number of works dedicated to his memory and legacy. The following lists cover various media to include items of historic interest, enduring works of high art, and recent representations in popular culture. The entries represent portrayals that a reader has a reasonable chance of encountering rather than a complete catalog. Lesser known works are not included.

For purposes of classification, popular culture music is a separate section from operas and oratorios. Television covers live action series, TV movies, miniseries, and North American animation but not Japanese anime, which appears with manga and graphic novels.

Trivia

Music

• Billboard historian Joel Whitburn declared Presley the "#1 act of the Rock era", beating out The Beatles, based upon his dominance of Billboard's list of top 100 singles artists since 1955.
• Elvis guest starred on T-Unit's Second Album in their performance of "Jailhouse Rock."

Name

• A number of people the world over are named after Presley, many of them becoming quite well known themselves: Elvis Stojko, a Canadian who was the three-time World Figure Skating Champion; Elvis Crespo, a salsa and merengue musician; Elvis Dumervil, a former University of Louisville All American football player, now with the Denver Broncos; Elvis Perkins, a musician who is the son of actor Anthony Perkins; and Elvis Polansky, son of movie director Roman Polanski.
• Musician Elvis Costello adopted Presley's first name a few months before Presley's death in 1977.

Legacy

• The 1960 Broadway musical Bye Bye Birdie is a satire about the effects of the compulsory U.S. military draft on a famous singer similar to Presley.
• Kirsty MacColl's 1981 song "There's A Guy Works Down The Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis" is a reference to all the unusual sightings in the United Kingdom of the singer.
• The Broadway musical All Shook Up features the songs of Presley, and is based on the plot of William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.
• Freddie Mercury wrote the song "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" as a tribute to Presley. The song remained in the #1 position on the U.S. charts for four weeks in 1980.
• Wink Martindale, who was a close friend of Presley, aired a nationwide tribute in his memory following the news of his death. Martindale was an up-and-coming radio DJ in Memphis at the time Presley's career began to take off in high gear.
• The 2002 Disney animated feature Lilo and Stitch contains more Presley songs than there are in several movies in which Presley himself starred. The film's closing sequence also features a montage of photographs, one of which portrays the film's main characters posing before the gates of Graceland. The film also broke several rules related to Presley in films which included using his photo, shortening his songs for time and dressing up like him. However, the Graceland estate allowed the producers this degree of freedom.
• British satirical puppet show "Spitting Image" did an Elvis parody entitled "I'm Sure Livin' Since I Died".
• Dread Zeppelin is an American band best known for covering the songs of Led Zeppelin in a reggae style, sung by an Elvis Presley impersonator.
• The Norwegian rock band Kaizers Orchestra has a stagehand who is dressed like Elvis, and he can be seen in the Viva La Vega DVD, coming out on stage several times to help with the instruments. Janove Ottesen even encourages him to come out on stage for applause, insisting that "He's still working in the industry. He never left the building!" He goes on to insist that Elvis is assisting the band in their rise to stardom, and that they "wanted Roy Orbison, but they said he was dead".
• In 1985 Bruce Springsteen, a longtime admirer of Elvis, released "Johnny Bye Bye" as the b-side to his single "I'm on Fire." The song pays tribute to Elvis and contains modified lyrics from a Chuck Berry song of a similar name.
• Former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is a longtime Presley fan who has released a CD of his favorite Presley songs with his own commentary. He also helped finance a statue of the music pioneer and made a historical visit to Graceland in June 2006 with United States President George W. Bush.
• Probably the most unusual film with an Elvis related plot is 1999's "underground" slasher movie, Evil Elvis Christmas [1]
• In the English Digimon Adventure anime series, Etemon is a parody of Elvis, including mocking his voice, the "Thank you very much", "I'm the king" and "Uh-huh!".
• In Dean Koontz's Odd Thomas series, three novels detailing the life of a man who can see the dead, Elvis is one of the spirits that Odd frequently encounters.

Miscellaneous

• His death occurred only three days before that of Groucho Marx. As a result, the great comedian's death did not receive as much media attention as it might have otherwise received. Coincidentally, the two owned houses next door to each other in Beverly Hills, California.
• Although not in practice, Elvis was technically Jewish according to Jewish law because of his uninterrupted maternal Jewish heritage (i.e. his mother's mother's mother...etc. was Jewish). He was known to wear both a cross and a Star of David around his neck, explaining that he "wouldn't want to be kept out of Heaven on a technicality."
• Punk band Peter and the Test Tube Babies recorded a song titled "Elvis is Dead" for their album "Pissed and Proud" making fun of his weight and drug problems. Notable lyrics include "Elvis had a heart attack/because he got so big and fat"
• Funk/rock group Living Colour recorded a song titled "Elvis Is Dead" for their Time's Up album. The song ridicules those who contend that Presley is alive.
• Country comedy duo Pinkard & Bowden recorded a song titled "Elvis Was a Narc", which mocked Presley's stand on illegal drugs while himself consuming large quantities of pharmaceuticals. A live version also poked fun at the "Elvis Lives?" phenomenon.
• McFarlane Toys came out with a line of action figures that depict Elvis in his greatest moments like "Jailhouse Rock", "Blue Hawaii", "'68 Comeback Special" etc... there have been 6 figures released as of now.
• Elvis's beloved teddy bear Mabel was made in 1909 by the German manufacturer Steiff. It was on display at a children's museum near Wookey Hole Caves near Wells, England, when Barney, a Doberman-Pinscher guard dog went wild and destroyed it and damaged about 100 other valuable stuffed animals in the summer of 2006. The insurance company had insisted that the valuable teddy bears be protected by guard dogs.

Actors who have played Elvis Presley

The table below omits:

1. Actors playing a role in a film where the script calls for them to act in a non-Elvis role, but nevertheless purposely imitating Elvis' style of singing, Elvis himself, or to appear dressed as Elvis did, both in a performance scene, or off stage, e.g., "Bye-Bye Birdie" (actors Jesse Pearson and Marc Kudisch, starring in the two filmed versions of the early sixties' famed Broadway play), "Top Secret" (Val Kilmer -see also his separate entry in table below-), "Wild at Heart" ( Nicolas Cage -see also paragraph B, below-); or as in various episodes of TV sitcoms like "Cheers" & "Full House" (John Stamos)
2. Actors in movies where the plot calls for them to specifically wear Elvis-impersonator apparel, or desguise themselves as an Elvis impersonator, e.g., as in Honeymoon in Vegas (Nicolas Cage) and 3000 Miles to Graceland (Kevin Costner, Christian Slater, David Arquette, Bokeem Woodbine, Shawn Michael Howard and Kurt Russell -see also separate entry for Russell, in table below-)
3. Actors playing the character of a real, or fictionalized entertainer other than Elvis Presley who impersonate him as part of a stage act within the movie's plot itself, e.g., as in the movie biographies "Wired" and "Man on the Moon", where the characters of comedians John Belushi ( played by Michael Chiklis), and Andy Kaufman ( played by Jim Carrey) are seen impersonating Elvis Presley, or in "Let's make love", (Jackie L. Cochran)
4. Actors playing characters based on specific, actual periods in the life, and/or music of Elvis Presley, e.g., in motion pictures such as "Living Legend" (Earl Owensby), or on Broadway, or London-based musical plays, such as "Jailhouse Rock" (Mario Kombou), and "All Shook up" (Cheyenne Jackson), respectively.
5. Actors, extras and/or Elvis impersonators, either male and female, whose specific role in a film is that of an Elvis impersonator, e.g, My Fellow Americans, The Client, Independence Day, 3000 Miles to Graceland, Honeymoon in Vegas, Something in the air, George of the Jungle 2, Wedding Bell Blues, Bachelor Party: Vegas, and in many other films, and TV sitcoms.

Thus far, more than 65 actors have tried, with varying degrees of success, to play an Elvis Presley character, an Elvis impersonator, his mannerisms, or even other actors impersonating Elvis Presley at any age, and during every period of Presley's life and career, both on films and in the theater.

See also

• Elvis Presley
• American art
• American music
• History of film" Joe Sagal also played Elvis Presley on a T.V. show for sci-fi chanel called" The Chronicle"the episode was called "The King is Undead"His character was called Jesse Garon he takes Elvis's dead twin brothers name,but it is Elvis Presley he play's.Joe Sagal also played Elvis Presley in the original Steppenwolf prodution of Steve Martins "Piccaso at the Lapin Agile",at the Geffen Playhouse,in 1994-1995.

[Patrick Weathers] Elvis Presley (1982) "Rock-N-Roll, The First 5000 Years", St. James Theatre, Broadway, NY

[Patrick Weathers] Elvis Presley (1989-88) "Elvis, An American Musical", The Las Vegas International Hilton Hotel

[Patrick Weathers] Elvis Presley (1993) Sandra Bullock's "Velvet Elvis", Theatre, Theatre, Hollywood, CA

[Bruce Campbell] in the 2002 horro black comedy film "Bubba Ho-Tep" as a nursing home patient who claims to be the real Elvis.

Actor	Credited character	Title (year of theatrical release, unless otherwise noted)
Jason Biggs	(fictional) Elvis Presley	Picasso at the Lapin Agile (2008)
Paul Boensch	Elvis Presley, age 10.	This Is Elvis (1981)
Lucas Cain	Elvis Presley, age 10.	Elvis (1990) (TV mini-series)
Bruce Campbell	i) and ii) (fictional) Elvis Presley	i) Bubba Ho-Tep (2002) ii) Bubba Nosferatu (2006/7)
Peter Dobson	i) (fictional) young Elvis Presley ii) The King	i) Forrest Gump (1994) ii) Riding with Elvis (2007)
Casting as of 25/1/07	Elvis Presley, ages 23-25	Sgt. Presley (2007)
David Dunavent	teenage Elvis Presley	Elvis (1990) (TV mini-series)
Jerry Eeten	Aaron Presley (Elvis re-incarnated)	Elvis took a bullit (2001)
Rob Fenton	young Elvis Presley	Ricky Nelson: Original Teen Idol (1999) (TV-made)
Martin Fox	(fictional) Elvis Presley	Give My Head Peace (2003) (BBC TV comedy show)
Randy Gray	Elvis as a boy	Elvis (1979) (TV-made)
Johnny Harra	Elvis Presley, age 42.	This Is Elvis (1981)
Tyler Hilton	young Elvis Presley	Walk the Line (2006)
Paul Hipp	Elvis Presley	Liberace: Behind the Music (1988) (TV-made)
Don Johnson	Elvis Presley	Elvis and the Beauty Queen (1981) (TV-made)
Stephen Jones	(fictional)Ghost of Elvis Presley	Mystery Train (1989)
Harvey Keitel	(fictional) Elvis Presley	Finding Graceland (1998)
David Keith	(fictional) Elvis Presley	Heartbreak Hotel (1988)
Val Kilmer	(fictional)Ghost of Elvis:The mentor	True Romance (1993)
Shawn Wayne Klush	young Elvis Presley	Shake, Rattle and Roll: An American Love Story (1999) (TV mini-series)
Matt Lewis	Elvis Presley	Tears of a King (2006/7)
Steve Martin	The visitor (Elvis Presley, age 21).	Picasso at the Lapin Agile (1993, play)
Dana MacKay	Elvis Presley, age 35.	This Is Elvis (1981)
Gil McKinney	(fictional) Elvis Presley	Elvis Has Left the Building (2004, Video release only)
Karlo Metikos	Elvis Presley	Going for the Gold: The Bill Johnson Story (1985) (TV)
Dale Midkiff	Elvis Presley	Elvis and Me (1988) (TV-made)
Ryan Pelton	(fictional) Elvis Presley, age 26	Hounddog (2006/7)
Robert Patrick	(fictional) Mr. Aaron	Lonely Street (2006/7)
Rick Peters	Elvis Presley	Elvis meets Nixon (1997) (TV-made)
Todd Peterson	young Elvis Presley	Shake, Rattle and Roll: An American Love Story (1999) (TV mini-Series)
Jonathan Rhys-Meyers	Elvis Presley	Elvis (2005) (TV mini-series)
Kurt Russell	Elvis Presley	Elvis (1979) (TV-made)
Joe Sagal	i), ii) and iii) (fictional) Elvis Presley	i) Nightmares and Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King: "You Know They Got a Hell of a Band" (2006) (TV-made)Elvis (1990) (TV mini-series) ii) Redline! (2007) iii) Unbeatable Harold (2006)
David Scott	Elvis Presley, age 18.	This Is Elvis (1981)
Martin Shaw	Elvis Presley	Are You Lonesome Tonight? (1985, play)
Jason Alan Smith	Elvis Presley	Crazy (2006/7)
Ed Shifres	Elvis Presley	King and Me, The (1999)
John Sparks	(fictional) Elvis Presley	Smokin' Mary Jane (2002)
Jack Smink	(fictional) Elvis Presley	Buried dreams (2005)
Frank Stallone	(fictional) Elvis Presley	Angels with angles (2005)
Michael St. Gerard	i)and ii) young Elvis Presley iii)(fictional) young Elvis Presley	i) Elvis (1990) (TV mini-series) ii) Great Balls of Fire! (1989) iii)Heart of Dixie (1989)
Jeff Yagher	(fictional) Elvis Presley	The Twilight Zone - Season 2, "The Once And Future King" (1986)
Rob Youngblood	Elvis Presley	Elvis and the Colonel: The Untold Story (1993) (TV-made)
Jack White	(fictional) Elvis Presley	Walk hard (2007/8)