Elvis Presley on film and television

Elvis Presley in a publicity photo for Jailhouse Rock

Elvis Presley (1935–1977) was an American entertainer who achieved initial success as a singer, expressing an early career goal of following in the footsteps of his role models James Dean and Marlon Brando to become a top dramatic actor.^[1] His manager Colonel Tom Parker's persistent lobbying of William Morris Agency president Abe Lastfogel for a Presley screen test paid off on March 26, 1956, when the singer auditioned at Paramount for a supporting role in The Rainmaker.^[2] Although not chosen for the part, he signed a contract with Paramount producer Hal Wallis on April 25 that also allowed him to make films with other studios.^[3]

His feature debut was in Love Me Tender for 20th Century Fox, with the commercial success of the soundtrack EP being a bellwether for the next three Presley films. Loving You, Jailhouse Rock and King Creole were dramatic storylines written around Presley in the role of a musical entertainer.^[4] He would later state that King Creole was his favorite of all his films.^[5] Flaming Star and Wild in the Country were rarities in his career, non-musicals focused on dramatic storylines. According to music historian Peter Guralnick, the sluggish financial returns of those two films became the justification for ignoring Presley's wishes and limiting him to the more profitable musical format.^[6]

Presley became bitter that his hopes for dramatic roles were not coming to fruition,^[7] stating that Clambake was his worst film. He began to complain about the deteriorating quality of the films and his belief that his manager's objectives were more monetary than anything else.^[8] At the expiration of all studio contracts, he returned to live entertaining. The two concert documentaries Elvis: That's the Way It Is in 1970 and Elvis on Tour in 1972 were the final theatrical releases for Presley.^[9]

Acting credits

Television

Television credits of Elvis Presley (as himself)

Year	Title	Notes	Ref(s)
1956	Stage Show	6 episodes at the CBS studios in New York City, NY: January 28, February 4, 11, 18, March 17, 24; Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey's show, produced by Jackie Gleason as a lead-in for his show	[10]
1956	Texaco Star Theatre	2 episodes: April 3 aboard the USS Hancock in San Diego, CA; June 5 NBC studios Los Angeles, CA	[11]
1956	Teenage Dance Party	June 16; hosted by Wink Martindale, WHBQ-TV Memphis, TN	[12]
1956	Hy Gardner Calling	July 1 television interview, WRCA-TV, New York City, NY	[13]
1956	The Steve Allen Show	July 1; NBC, New York City, NY	[13]
1956–57	The Ed Sullivan Show	3 episodes: September 9, October 28, 1956; January 6, 1957, CBS New York City, NY	[14]
1960	The Frank Sinatra Timex Show: Welcome Home Elvis	Taped March 26, in Miami, FL; aired on ABC May 12	[15]
1968	Elvis	Also known as the Elvis Comeback Special, the '68 Comeback Special, and One Night With You; June taping at NBC Los Angeles, CA; air date December 3	[16]
1973	Aloha from Hawaii Via Satellite	Kui Lee Cancer Fund benefit concert at Honolulu's Neal S. Blaisdell Center broadcast by NBC world-wide live January 14	[17]
1977	Elvis in Concert	The last concert tour before Presley died; CBS broadcast after his death	[18]

Feature films

Feature film credits of Elvis Presley

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref(s)
1956	Love Me Tender	Clint Reno		[19]
1957	Loving You	Jimmy Tompkins (Deke Rivers)		[20]
1957	Jailhouse Rock	Vince Everett	Added to the National Film Registry in 2004	[21]
1958	King Creole	Danny Fisher	Final film before military service	[22]
1960	G.I. Blues	Tulsa McLean		[23]
1960	Flaming Star	Pacer Burton		[24]
1961	Wild in the Country	Glenn Tyler		[25]
1961	Blue Hawaii	Chad Gates		[26]
1962	Follow That Dream	Toby Kwimper		[27]
1962	Kid Galahad	Walter Gulick / Kid Galahad		[28]
1962	Girls! Girls! Girls!	Ross Carpenter		[29]
1963	It Happened at the World's Fair	Mike Edwards		[30]
1963	Fun in Acapulco	Mike Windgren		[31]
1964	Kissin' Cousins	Josh Morgan / Jodie Tatum	Filmed after Viva Las Vegas	[32]
1964	Viva Las Vegas	Lucky Jackson		[33]
1964	Roustabout	Charlie Rogers		[34]
1965	Girl Happy	Rusty Wells		[35]
1965	Tickle Me	Lonnie Beale / Panhandle Kid		[36]
1965	Harum Scarum	Johnny Tyronne		[37]
1966	Frankie and Johnny	Johnny		[38]
1966	Paradise, Hawaiian Style	Rick Richards		[39]
1966	Spinout	Mike McCoy		[40]
1967	Easy Come, Easy Go	Lt. (j.g.) Ted Jackson	Filmed after Double Trouble	[41]
1967	Double Trouble	Guy Lambert		[42]
1967	Clambake	Scott Heyward		[43]
1968	Stay Away, Joe	Joe Lightcloud	Filmed after Speedway	[44]
1968	Speedway	Steve Grayson		[45]
1968	Live a Little, Love a Little	Greg Nolan		[46]
1969	Charro!	Jess Wade		[47]
1969	The Trouble with Girls	Walter Hale		[48]
1969	Change of Habit	Dr. John Carpenter	Final film acting role	[49]
1970	Elvis: That's the Way It Is	Himself	Concert documentary	[50]
1972	Elvis on Tour	Himself	Concert documentary	[50]

Notes

1. Guralnick (1994), pp. 155–156, 443, 323.
2. Guralnick (1994), pp. 144, 241.
3. Guralnick (1994), p. 262; Guralnick and Jorgensen 1999, pp. 67, 127.
4. Guralnick, Jorgensen (1999), pp. 112–113, 118–119; Jorgensen, Guralnick (1998), pp. 78–80, 1962.
5. Guralnick 1999, p. 209.
6. Guralnick 1999, p. 122.
7. Guralnick 1999, p. 212.
8. Guralnick 1999, p. 212; Neibaur (2014) pp. 217, 219.
9. Guralnick, Jorgensen (1999), pp. 271, 305, 321.
10. Guralnick, Jorgensen (1999), pp. 61–62, 65, 67; Guralnick (1994), pp. 236, 244–246, 249–252, 257.
11. Guralnick, Jorgensen (1999), pp. 67, 73.
12. Guralnick, Jorgensen (1999), p. 75.
13. Guralnick, Jorgensen (1999), p. 77.
14. Guralnick, Jorgensen (1999), pp. 83, 89, 95.
15. Guralnick, Jorgensen (1999), pp. 151, 154.
16. Guralnick, Jorgensen (1999), pp. 242–248, 251.
17. Guralnick, Jorgensen (1999), pp. 319–321.
18. Guralnick, Jorgensen 1999 p. 375.
19. Guralnick (1994), p. 311; Marsh (1982), p. 241.; "Love Me Tender". AFI Catalog of Featured Films. AFI. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
20. Guralnick, Jorgensen (1999) p. 96; Guralnick (1994), pp. 344, 370; Marsh (1982), p. 241.
21. "Librarian of Congress Adds 25 Films to National Film Registry". Library of Congress. United States Government. December 28, 2004. Retrieved September 30, 2015.; Knowles (2013), pp. 97–108; Guralnick (1994), pp. 409–410; Marsh (1982), p. 241.
22. In a 1992 interview King Creole co-star Jan Shepard told historian Peter Guralnick that Elvis told her in 1965, "Honey, that was my favorite picture." Guralnick 1999, p. 209; Guralnick (1994), p. 442; Marsh (1982), p. 241.
23. Guralnick (1999), p. 28; Marsh (1982), p. 241; "G.I. Blues". AFI Catalog of Featured Films. AFI. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
24. Neibaur (2014) p. 64; Guralnick (1999), p. 78; Marsh (1982), p. 241.
25. Guralnick (1999), p. 84; Marsh (1982), p. 241.
26. Lisanti (2012), p. 60; Marsh (1982), p. 241.
27. Marsh (1982), p. 241; "Follow That Dream". AFI Catalog of Featured Films. AFI. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
28. Marsh (1982), p. 241; "Kid Galahad". AFI Catalog of Featured Films. AFI. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
29. Marsh (1982), p. 241.
30. Neibaur (2014) pp. 120, 123; Marsh (1982), p. 241.
31. Guralnick (1999), p. 141; Marsh (1982), p. 241.
32. Guralnick (1999), pp. 155–159; Marsh (1982), p. 241.
33. Guralnick (1999), pp. 152–153; Marsh (1982), p. 241.
34. Rose (1996), p. 270; Marsh (1982), p. 241.
35. Lisanti (2012), p. 203; Marsh (1982), p. 241.
36. Templeton, Craig (2002), p. 91; Marsh (1982), p. 241.
37. Neibaur (2014) p. 184 ; Marsh (1982), p. 241.
38. Neibaur (2014) p. 187; Marsh (1982), p. 241.
39. Lisanti (2000) pp. 135–137 ; Marsh (1982), p. 241.
40. Neibaur (2014) p. 207; Marsh (1982), p. 241.
41. Neibaur (2014) p. 200; Marsh (1982), p. 241.
42. Neibaur (2014) pp. 213–214 ; Marsh (1982), p. 241.
43. Neibaur (2014) pp. 219–220; Marsh (1982), p. 241.
44. Gulick (2006), pp. 143–144; Marsh (1982), p. 241.
45. Neibaur (2014) p. 229; Marsh (1982), p. 241.
46. Guralnick, Jorgensen (1999) pp. 239–240; Marsh (1982), p. 241; "Live a Little, Love a Little". AFI Catalog of Featured Films. AFI. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
47. Neibaur (2014) p. 242; Marsh (1982), p. 241.
48. Ellroy, Penzler (2011), p. 63; Marsh (1982), p. 241; "The Trouble with Girls". AFI Catalog of Featured Films. AFI. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
49. Neibaur (2014) p. 253; (Guralnick (1999), pp. 338–339; Marsh (1982), p. 241.
50. Marsh (1982), p. 241; Guralnick, Jorgensen (1999), pp. 315, 321.

References

• Ellroy, James; Penzler, Otto (2011). The Best American Noir of the Century. New York, NY: Mariner Books. ISBN 978-0-547-57744-9.
• Guralnick, Peter (1994). Last train to Memphis : The Rise of Elvis Presley. Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 978-0-316-33220-0.
• Guralnick, Peter (1999). Careless Love : The Unmaking of Elvis Presley. Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0-316-33222-4.
• Guralnick, Peter; Jorgensen, Ernst (1999). Elvis Day by Day: The Definitive Record of His Life and Music. New York, NY: Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0-345-42089-3.
• Jorgensen, Ernst; Guralnick, Peter (1998). Elvis Presley: A Live in Music: The Complete Recording Sessions. New York, NY: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-0-312-18572-5.
• Lisanti, Tom (2000). Fantasy Femmes of 60's Cinema: Interviews with 20 Actresses from Biker, Beach, and Elvis Movies. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-0868-9.
• Lisanti, Tom (2012). Hollywood Surf and Beach Movies The First Wave, 1959–1969. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-7297-0.
• Marsh, Dave (1982). Elvis. New York, NY: Time Books. ISBN 0-8129-0947-X.
• Neibaur, James L. (2014). The Elvis Movies. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-4422-3073-6.
• Rose, Frank (1996). The Agency: William Morris and the Hidden History of Show Business. New York, NY: HarperBusiness. ISBN 978-0-88730-807-9.
• Templeton, Steve; Craig, Yvonne (2002). Elvis Presley: Silver Screen Icon: A Collection of Movie Posters. Johnson City, TN: Overmountain Press. ISBN 978-1-57072-232-5.