Baby, Let's Play House Part 16

The last time she saw Elvis was about 1970. The first thing he asked her was, "Do you still have that d.a.m.ned little poodle?"

Elvis appeared to everyone to be on top of the world-thriving record career, movies, women, and now a mansion for himself and his family. But underneath, the stress was getting to him. That March, in downtown Memphis, he was accused of pulling a gun on a nineteen-year-old marine, who claimed that Elvis had intentionally b.u.mped into his wife. It turned out to be a Hollywood prop gun, and Elvis insisted he hadn't really meant any harm. Still, he sent the marine, Private Hershel Nixon, a rambling six-page telegram that offered both an apology and a window into his psychological state: "Many times there have been people who came up to me and stick [sic] out their hands to shake hands with me, and they hit me . . . and then take off for no reason at all. . . . So when you called me over the other night . . . I didn't know what you were going to do." women, and now a mansion for himself and his family. But underneath, the stress was getting to him. That March, in downtown Memphis, he was accused of pulling a gun on a nineteen-year-old marine, who claimed that Elvis had intentionally b.u.mped into his wife. It turned out to be a Hollywood prop gun, and Elvis insisted he hadn't really meant any harm. Still, he sent the marine, Private Hershel Nixon, a rambling six-page telegram that offered both an apology and a window into his psychological state: "Many times there have been people who came up to me and stick [sic] out their hands to shake hands with me, and they hit me . . . and then take off for no reason at all. . . . So when you called me over the other night . . . I didn't know what you were going to do."

The following month, on April 19, Elvis imported another Hollywood starlet to Memphis, this time for Easter weekend. Her name was Yvonne Lime. A California native, the wholesome blond had an uncredited role in Loving You, Loving You, but a costarring role as Michael Landon's girlfriend in but a costarring role as Michael Landon's girlfriend in I Was a Teenage Werewolf I Was a Teenage Werewolf.

Elvis had seen her in The Rainmaker. The Rainmaker. Since he'd read portions of the script for his screen test, he studied the picture intently on its release. When Yvonne came on the Since he'd read portions of the script for his screen test, he studied the picture intently on its release. When Yvonne came on the Loving You Loving You set, playing a small part in which she talked to a group of teenagers, he stayed to watch her do her scene. It made her nervous, but not as much as when he came over afterward and asked for her phone number. The next day, he introduced her to his parents, who were still visiting, and to his friend Judy Spreckels. Then after he came home to Memphis, he started calling her, saying, "Honey, I miss you so much. Please leave Hollywood and come." set, playing a small part in which she talked to a group of teenagers, he stayed to watch her do her scene. It made her nervous, but not as much as when he came over afterward and asked for her phone number. The next day, he introduced her to his parents, who were still visiting, and to his friend Judy Spreckels. Then after he came home to Memphis, he started calling her, saying, "Honey, I miss you so much. Please leave Hollywood and come."

They stopped first on Audubon Drive (where Yvonne's picture now replaced Kay Wheeler's in his bedroom), and then he gave her a quick tour of town on his motorcycle. At the end, he rode her out to Graceland, which was still being renovated. They posed for a newspaper photographer, Bob Williams, in front of the stately columns, but Yvonne had on a striped outfit that looked more like California lounge pajamas than Tennessee street wear, so the pictures telegraphed publicity, not pa.s.sion. Then they went home. A couple of Elvis's buddies were there, including Gene, who acted goofy, carrying around a doork.n.o.b and a sandwich and a pair of pliers in a briefcase. For dinner, the Presleys' new black maid, Alberta, served them all meat loaf and mashed potatoes, Elvis's favorite comfort food.

After dinner, they sat out on the front walk in lawn chairs, and Elvis took Yvonne's hand. Then he picked up his mother's. "My two best girls," he said. He might as well have declared, "My past, and my future," except that Elvis could never really let go of Gladys. He could share himself with someone, and he needed needed that third person to mend the ancient circle, broken long ago in Tupelo. But he could never let there be just two. It reminded Yvonne of their first date in Hollywood, when they'd gone to see James Dean's last movie, that third person to mend the ancient circle, broken long ago in Tupelo. But he could never let there be just two. It reminded Yvonne of their first date in Hollywood, when they'd gone to see James Dean's last movie, Giant, Giant, Elvis sitting between Gladys and Yvonne, holding his mother's hand with his right, and Yvonne's with his left. Elvis sitting between Gladys and Yvonne, holding his mother's hand with his right, and Yvonne's with his left.

"Are you going to be my little girl?" he asked once Gladys had gone inside.

"Yes, darling," she answered. But even then she realized it wouldn't happen. "I knew from what Elvis told me that he couldn't think of marriage for a long, long time. And I was just beginning to get the picture breaks I'd worked for since I was a child." Most of all, life in Memphis was just too different from the way she'd grown up in Glendale.

That Sat.u.r.day, Elvis took her to an all-night party at Sam Phillips's house. She could tell Elvis hadn't been feeling well-he had a skin infection on his shoulder, he told her, that had been bothering him for some time. "Even with all the noise and laugher, I could see Elvis was feeling worse by the minute. He was unusually quiet, and his eyes began to get a sick look." He excused himself to talk with Sam about it.

"Elvis came out with a rash just above his pubic hair," as Sam remembered it. "It was just what we call a nice, big ol' risen. The doctor will call it a carbuncle. He hadn't told anybody, and he ran around with that d.a.m.n thing festering up for two months. We went into the living room, and he showed me. He said, 'What can I do? You don't think I've got syphilis, do you?'

"It didn't look like it, but he was white as a sheet. I called Dr. Henry Moskowitz, my doctor, and I said, 'Henry, Elvis is over here, and he's got a big ol' risen on his stomach. Could you come and take a look at it?' And he said no, but he called down to Baptist [Memorial Hospital], and he said, 'You all run down there, and they'll take a look at it and let me know what they see.'

"We went down to Baptist about seven o'clock. When we first went in, there were three or four nurses there. I don't know what those sick folks did, because before we left, there were fifty nurses down there from every floor.

"Anyway, this thing was so red that when they lanced it, it shot two feet in the air. And you know how much pain he had to have been in for so long, but he was scared to find out what it really was. He hardly said a word on the way down there, and it was about a ten-mile trip. But on the way back, we couldn't shut him up, he was so happy."

When they got back to the house, Elvis told Yvonne they'd given him some penicillin to help clear the infection, and he was feeling well enough to stay at the party. But by 2 A.M. A.M., he'd lapsed into a somber mood, and began singing hymns and spirituals. It was raining by then, and Sam put some wood in the fireplace to cut the chill. It thrilled Yvonne to hear that famous voice in the darkened room, with just the light from the fireplace, and she saw he had more pa.s.sion for religious music than any other.

By daybreak, everybody was out by the swimming pool, laughing again and eating breakfast. Yvonne cooked Elvis's eggs for him-hard as a rock, the way he liked them.

On Easter night, Elvis, with Yvonne and the entourage, went to services at the First a.s.sembly of G.o.d. It was the first time he had been to church in a long time, and he felt both awkward and relieved. He pa.s.sed a note to one of the ushers for Reverend Hamill, asking if the pastor would see him in his office afterward.

He was sitting, waiting, when Reverend Hamill walked in. Elvis quickly rose. As the clergyman remembered, "He said, 'Pastor, I am the most miserable young man you've ever seen. I'm doing the things you taught me not to, and I'm not doing the things you said I should.' He cried and asked me to pray for him."

For more than an hour, the two prayed together, and Elvis continued to weep, asking the minister to forgive him for his sins. "He didn't say what they were, and I didn't know what they were." But clearly Elvis "was constantly in conflict with what he wanted to do and what he was doing." Reverend Hamill told him to call the next day, and he would give him the address of a pastor friend in Hollywood, M. O. Balliet. Elvis phoned Reverend Hamill's secretary on Tuesday morning, but he never followed through with the contact.

The last time Kay Wheeler saw him, at the press premiere for Jailhouse Rock, Jailhouse Rock, she, too, could tell that Elvis was not himself. "The change had set him. He seemed lonely and isolated, not the 'Memphis Flash' of the Texas tours of 1956. He walked in the room of probably a hundred reporters, and yelled loudly at me across the room, 'Is that you, Kay?' Everybody turned to look at me, and I answered, 'Yes, Elvis, it's me.' Those were our last spoken words. But he remembered me. I was the one who got away." she, too, could tell that Elvis was not himself. "The change had set him. He seemed lonely and isolated, not the 'Memphis Flash' of the Texas tours of 1956. He walked in the room of probably a hundred reporters, and yelled loudly at me across the room, 'Is that you, Kay?' Everybody turned to look at me, and I answered, 'Yes, Elvis, it's me.' Those were our last spoken words. But he remembered me. I was the one who got away."

The plot of Jailhouse Rock, Jailhouse Rock, in which Elvis's character, Vince Everett, goes to prison in which Elvis's character, Vince Everett, goes to prison for accidentally killing a man in a barroom fight, drew on two aspects of Elvis's life-his father's time at Parchman, and his own fears of violence at the hands of others, as Elvis alluded to so fervently in his telegram to Private Nixon. The story (by Nedrick Young, who won an Academy Award for for accidentally killing a man in a barroom fight, drew on two aspects of Elvis's life-his father's time at Parchman, and his own fears of violence at the hands of others, as Elvis alluded to so fervently in his telegram to Private Nixon. The story (by Nedrick Young, who won an Academy Award for The Defiant Ones The Defiant Ones) follows Vince as he learns the guitar from a fellow prisoner (Mickey Shaughnessy), and becomes a hot new singing star with the help of record promoter Peggy van Alden, played by Judy Tyler.

Jailhouse Rock, shot in black and white, is memorable as the movie in which Elvis first hints at his abilities as a serous dramatic actor. It also contains two scenes that would rank among the most unforgettable of his film career-the iconic, cell block production number ("Jailhouse Rock"), which ch.o.r.eographer Alex Romeo created from Elvis's natural stage movements, and his c.o.c.ky love scene with Judy Tyler, which mirrored his brash behavior in his early days at the Louisiana Hayride. When Vince impulsively grabs the tough but provocative Peggy to kiss her-a serious piece of manhandling-she pushes him away. "How dare you think such cheap tactics work with me," she admonishes. "Them ain't tactics, honey," he drawls. "That's just the beast in me." shot in black and white, is memorable as the movie in which Elvis first hints at his abilities as a serous dramatic actor. It also contains two scenes that would rank among the most unforgettable of his film career-the iconic, cell block production number ("Jailhouse Rock"), which ch.o.r.eographer Alex Romeo created from Elvis's natural stage movements, and his c.o.c.ky love scene with Judy Tyler, which mirrored his brash behavior in his early days at the Louisiana Hayride. When Vince impulsively grabs the tough but provocative Peggy to kiss her-a serious piece of manhandling-she pushes him away. "How dare you think such cheap tactics work with me," she admonishes. "Them ain't tactics, honey," he drawls. "That's just the beast in me."

"The beast" emerges in another famous image connected with Jailhouse Rock, Jailhouse Rock, a publicity photograph of Elvis in a nightclub scene with a blond striptease dancer. In it, he sits at a bar in the background, gazing up at the stripper onstage, his image framed between her legs in the foreground. a publicity photograph of Elvis in a nightclub scene with a blond striptease dancer. In it, he sits at a bar in the background, gazing up at the stripper onstage, his image framed between her legs in the foreground.

"They spent almost all day lining up the shot, shooting it, reshooting it, and changing the marks," remembers the dancer, Gloria Pall. "He watched me so intensely every single moment of that scene. He never took his eyes off me. Even when we took a break he kept watching me. I did a whole dance for him with b.u.mps and grinds, and I told him, 'This reminds me of what you do.' "

When Gloria first arrived on the set, Elvis thought she looked familiar. Then it hit him: She was the former showgirl whose fingers he'd sucked backstage in Vegas. He walked over to her for a playful reunion.

"What are you doing here-are you an extra?" Gloria teased.

"I'm the star of the movie," he said.

"You are? You flopped in Vegas and they made you a star?"

He liked her cool banter and invited her up to the Beverly Wils.h.i.+re for a party later that night. He had Suite 850, the Presidential Suite, he told her. It was four thousand square feet of opulence, one whole wing of the hotel-four bedrooms, a living room with a fireplace, dining room, den, kitchen, library, and a butler's pantry. "I'd love to," she said, "but can I bring my husband?"

It took him aback.

"When did you get married?"

"About a month ago."

"Gee," he said. "I don't mess with married women."

"Well, I'm sorry about that," she told him. "I don't mess around either."

That was the end of that. "But he invited me to lunch, and he held my hand all the way. He was very sweet and boyish."

One night, Byron Raphael, the William Morris agent-in-training, took his new wife, Carolyn, to one of Elvis's parties at the hotel. She was hoping to become an actress, and Byron could tell that Elvis found her attractive. The next day, when Elvis and Byron were sitting in his MGM dressing room, the star said, "Your wife sure is a sweet one, Byron. That's the kind of girl I've been looking for. There must be hundreds of girls outside the gate. Why don't you see if you can find me another Carolyn? In fact, take care of business for me."

From then on, Byron began supplying him with young girls, particularly his ideal type, a five-foot-four brunette with pretty eyes and a round behind. "To him, that was the most sensual part of a woman's body."

As Elvis's pimp, Byron would make one bad choice in two years-on the road, after a concert, he procured a luscious girl who stood five foot ten. He guided her into Elvis's room without warning him that she wasn't his usual cup of tea. Later that night, Elvis came out in his bathrobe and barked, "There were ten thousand girls out there, and you picked the only one on stilts! Don't send any more Amazons in here!"

Though Elvis described his s.e.xual appet.i.tes as voracious-he'd say, "I like it hot and heavy, Byron the Siren, hot and heavy"-Byron was surprised to find that Elvis was far more interested in heavy petting than doing the wild thing, especially with young virgins. One evening, he brought three young girls into Elvis's bedroom. Soon they were all naked, but Elvis stayed in his underwear, kissing and fondling them, and eventually falling asleep with them in his arms, his own records playing softly in the background.

"He would never put himself inside one of these girls. Within minutes, he'd be asleep, and often the girl would still be rubbing herself against him. I'd step in and say, 'It's time to go now, honey. Elvis needs to sleep.'"

Girls would come out in tears, crying that Elvis had told them to wait until their wedding night. Or they'd get hysterical and whine that Elvis didn't love them. Byron learned damage control on the job.

"I'd say, 'No, that's not true. He just wants to make sure you don't have a baby. He'll call you again.' Of course, he almost never did. But with some of the younger ones, he'd be like the tooth fairy, slipping hundred-dollar bills in their schoolbooks."

In May, Lamar Fike read in the paper that Elvis had aspirated a cap from one of his front teeth while sliding down the pole in the film's big production number, and that he was recuperating from surgery to remove it from his lung. For several months, Fike had been living in Texas and working as a deejay. His career was short-lived-he couldn't coordinate the turntables, check the Teletype machine, read the barometer, and get the commercials in order at the same time. "One day I just put an LP on, locked the doors, and got in the car. I heard the record going front teeth while sliding down the pole in the film's big production number, and that he was recuperating from surgery to remove it from his lung. For several months, Fike had been living in Texas and working as a deejay. His career was short-lived-he couldn't coordinate the turntables, check the Teletype machine, read the barometer, and get the commercials in order at the same time. "One day I just put an LP on, locked the doors, and got in the car. I heard the record going chick, chick, chick chick, chick, chick on my way out of town. That was my way of signing off." on my way out of town. That was my way of signing off."

Now Lamar picked up the phone and called Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles. He asked for Elvis's room, and the operator patched him through. Elvis answered the phone himself.

"I told him about my little exit from the radio station, and he laughed and said, 'What are you going to do?' I said I didn't know, and he said, 'Get your a.s.s out here.' " Fueled on uppers, Lamar climbed in his new two-door 1956 Bel-Air Chevy and drove thirty-six hours straight on Route 66 to Los Angeles. From then on, he was an official part of Elvis's entourage, and within a day, Elvis would get him work as an extra, along with Gene, Cliff, Junior, and George.

At the Beverly Wils.h.i.+re, Lamar was surprised to see Natalie Wood, whom he had met in Memphis on Audubon Drive.

"By now I knew that Natalie was a good person, but she wasn't very sure of herself, and you never knew what she was going to do. One day, she got out on the window ledge at the hotel. She must have liked Elvis better than she did in Memphis, because she said she was going to commit suicide over him.

"I came running in to Elvis, and I said, "She's out on that thing! She's going to jump!' He said, 'She won't jump.' I said, 'I'm telling you, she's going to do it!' She crouched out there about half an hour-promising, swearing-she was going to jump. He finally talked her back in. He said, 'Nat, come and sit down and quit being so dramatic.' She came back in, and I just collapsed in a chair. But Elvis was real nonchalant. He said, 'I told you she wouldn't do it.' "

As filming began, Elvis had a date with Anne Neyland, who had a credited, but minor, role in the picture. But as on his first two films, where he'd set the precedent, he quickly turned his attention to his costar. Judy Tyler was a newlywed, having just married second husband Gregory LaFayette in March. Despite what the singer told Gloria Pall about not fooling around with married women, "she and Elvis had a thing going," according to Lamar.

At twenty-three, Judy Tyler (real name Judith Hess) was a tough cookie and a show business veteran with a pedigree-her father, Julian Hess, was well known as a trumpeter for Benny Goodman and Paul Whiteman, and her mother, Loreleo Kendler, danced with the Ziegfeld Follies. At sixteen, Judy had won a Miss Stardust beauty contest, which led to a job as a singer-chorine at the Copacabana nightclub. In 1951, when she auditioned for-and won-the part of Princess Summerfall Winterspring on The Howdy Doody Show The Howdy Doody Show children's program, the irrepressibly s.e.xy seventeen-year-old failed to mention that she was married, to twenty-six-year-old Colin Romoff, the Copa pianist and her vocal coach. children's program, the irrepressibly s.e.xy seventeen-year-old failed to mention that she was married, to twenty-six-year-old Colin Romoff, the Copa pianist and her vocal coach.

She lasted two years as the grown-up puppet, but by then she had quite a reputation, drinking and stripping on nightclub tabletops. The consensus was that she was drop-dead beautiful, but she had a foul mouth, round heels with some of the cast and crew, and took no guff from anyone.

In his book, Say Kids! What Time Is It? Say Kids! What Time Is It? Stephen Davis, whose father, Howard Davis, was the show's writer-director, recounts numerous stories of Judy's wild behavior and numerous romantic liaisons. "She loved s.e.x-she slept with everybody," lamented Chief Thunderthud's Bill Lecornec. Stephen Davis, whose father, Howard Davis, was the show's writer-director, recounts numerous stories of Judy's wild behavior and numerous romantic liaisons. "She loved s.e.x-she slept with everybody," lamented Chief Thunderthud's Bill Lecornec.

Clarabell was especially shocked. "I would go out on weekend appearances with her," said Bob Nicholson, "and while we got along fine, she would just as soon tell a store manager to go f.u.c.k himself as she would look at him. She had stars in her eyes and thought she was bigger than he was."

And she was. In 1956, she earned a Tony nomination for her performance in the play Pipe Dream, Pipe Dream, which landed her on the cover of which landed her on the cover of Life Life magazine. magazine.

Jailhouse Rock was Judy's second film, and she appeared to be poised for a long career. But over the Fourth of July weekend, with filming just finished in mid-June, she and her husband were killed in a car crash near Billy the Kid, Wyoming. One story said she'd been cut in half. was Judy's second film, and she appeared to be poised for a long career. But over the Fourth of July weekend, with filming just finished in mid-June, she and her husband were killed in a car crash near Billy the Kid, Wyoming. One story said she'd been cut in half.

Elvis was devastated. "It really, really upset him," says Lamar. "He broke down and cried, sitting up in the bathroom at Graceland."

"Nothing has hurt me as bad in my life," Elvis told the newspapers. "I remember the last night I saw them. They were leaving on a trip. . . . All of us boys really loved that girl."

On July 4, Elvis, clearly distraught, showed up at George Klein's house early in the morning. It was so awful about Judy. He'd just saved her from one serious accident, when she'd run into a door, putting her arm through the gla.s.s. He'd managed to grab it, keeping her from falling through.

Then, changing the subject, Elvis mentioned he'd been watching this tiny blonde, Anita Wood, the replacement for Susie Bancroft on Wink Martindale's WHBQ Top 10 Dance Party Top 10 Dance Party. George said he could get him an introduction.

That was Thursday. On Monday night, Elvis had his first date with his next serious girlfriend.

Elvis and Anita Wood embrace as she steps from a plane at Memphis Munic.i.p.al Airport, September 13, 1957. She had been in Hollywood preparing for her first movie role. Elvis had given the nineteen-year-old a friends.h.i.+p ring the previous week. At some point, she would dye her hair black for him. (Robert Williams/the (Robert Williams/the Commercial Appeal, Commercial Appeal, courtesy David Troedson/Elvis Australia) courtesy David Troedson/Elvis Australia)

Chapter Fourteen.

Nipper Dreams.

Anita Wood was nineteen years old, wore her hair in an appealing blond bob, and was in all ways a perfect southern sweetheart. She had grown up in Jackson, Tennessee, where she developed a s.p.u.n.ky personality, as well as a soft, lilting accent that rolled the was in all ways a perfect southern sweetheart. She had grown up in Jackson, Tennessee, where she developed a s.p.u.n.ky personality, as well as a soft, lilting accent that rolled the r rs off the end of her words ("teen-agah"). It sounded cultured, though, so it didn't get in the way of her deejay work. And Anita was not only pretty and pert, with dimples at the ready, but she was also talented and poised. She'd cultivated her singing voice and knew how to perform on camera. She also had a strict code of ethics, which Elvis was soon to learn.

Instead of calling her himself for their first date, he'd asked Lamar to do it that Sat.u.r.day, after her dance party show. Elvis wanted to see her that night.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I already have a date tonight."

Lamar couldn't believe it. He went, as Anita remembers it, "ballistic." But she'd given her word to Jimmy Omar for that night.

"You mean you won't break a date to go with Elvis Presley? Are you crazy?"

No, she wasn't crazy, but she also really wasn't an Elvis fan, though as a disc jockey she played his records, and she'd grown up with Cliff Gleaves.

"Well, I don't believe Elvis would like that if I did that to him."

Anita thought she'd never hear from Elvis after that, but Lamar called again for Monday night, and this time she said yes.

She wasn't sure what she was getting into, though.

She'd grown up innocent and sheltered with stern parents, and since they wouldn't allow her to date, she'd never had a serious boyfriend. In the big city of Memphis, she rented a room from an older woman, Miss Patty, who clucked over her like a mother hen. When Elvis's sleek black 1957 Cadillac limousine pulled up at the house, George Klein got out and walked to the door. "I'm here to pick up Anita," he said. But Miss Patty pulled herself up in a self-righteous stance and refused him.

"No, I'm sorry," she said. "If Elvis wants to see Anita, he'll have to come to the door and pick her up."

George went back to the car and explained the situation, and then the two of them came up the walk. Elvis had on his red velvet s.h.i.+rt, black trousers, and a black motorcycle cap, and for a moment, he stole Anita's breath. "He was effervescent . . . absolutely the best-looking man I've ever seen, before or after."

The protective Miss Patty led Anita's gentleman callers into the living room. There, she laid down the law. "Now, you have to have her back at a reasonable hour," she said. Otherwise, Anita couldn't go.

Out in the car, Anita was surprised to find Lamar and Cliff, too, as she thought this was a date, date, the kind of thing where a boy and a girl go out together without other people. And where were they actually going? Elvis just seemed to be driving around. Then they pulled up by the Strand Theater, where Elvis showed her a giant cutout of himself as a display for the kind of thing where a boy and a girl go out together without other people. And where were they actually going? Elvis just seemed to be driving around. Then they pulled up by the Strand Theater, where Elvis showed her a giant cutout of himself as a display for Loving You, Loving You, which was scheduled to premiere the following night. which was scheduled to premiere the following night.

They drove around some more, stopping at a Krystal's stand to get three dozen hamburgers. Anita didn't like the little square steamed sandwiches, and she was amazed to watch the guys wolf down every one. After that, Elvis asked if she'd like to see Graceland.

"I said, 'Sure,' you know. 'I'd love to.' I felt really at ease because of the guys in the backseat that I knew."

As soon as they got in the door, Elvis gave her a pink-and-black teddy bear from a large supply in a box in the dining room. His double-sided single "Teddy Bear/Loving You" had just sold 1.25 million copies in a week, and the Colonel had bought a gross of stuffed animals from a wholesale carnival house.

It was a pleasant evening. Elvis introduced her to his parents and grandmother, and then gave her a tour of the lower floors. Then the group listened to some music, and Elvis played the piano. Finally, he said, "Come up. I want to show you my office."

There wasn't much to see in his office, really, but it was right next to his bedroom, and he gently led her inside. She couldn't believe how dark it was, with navy blue drapes. Then she saw his bed. It was ten by ten feet, and required specially made sheets, he told her. He had mirrors all around the room, too, and light blue mirrors in the bathroom that matched the baby blue carpet.

They were just talking, finis.h.i.+ng their tour, when Elvis began to sit her down and kiss her. She knew she was a small-town girl, but she was shocked-people didn't kiss on the first date then. She didn't care who he was. And she didn't like it, especially when "his hands moved just a little bit where I didn't think they should have been."

"I think I need to go home now," she said. He didn't put up a fuss.

A couple of nights later, he invited her with his parents to see a private screening of Loving You, Loving You, and then he came by one day in his old panel truck. He wanted to take her down to Lauderdale Courts to show her where he grew up, and then swing by Chenault's drive-in for hamburgers. After that, he saw her almost every night, even if it was just to go back to Graceland to watch TV. and then he came by one day in his old panel truck. He wanted to take her down to Lauderdale Courts to show her where he grew up, and then swing by Chenault's drive-in for hamburgers. After that, he saw her almost every night, even if it was just to go back to Graceland to watch TV.

Five days after that first date, Gladys invited Anita for dinner. She liked this girl, and she told Elvis not to let her get away. Elvis liked her, too. He talked baby talk with her ("I just ate that up. He treated you like you were a doll"), and because she stood only five foot three and weighed 110 pounds, Elvis affectionately called her "Little," or "Li'l Bit." He referred to himself as "The Thing."

Within two months, he was serious about her. He took her home to Miss Patty's one night and lingered on the porch. "Little," he said. "I think I'm falling in love with you." A diamond and sapphire ring quickly followed, and before long, he'd give her a car, a 1957 Ford.

At first Anita wasn't sure if she was in love with him or not, mostly because they'd been alone only a few times, and even then not for very long. It gave her serious reservations about their future. They'd go off together on his motorcycle and sit at the big white piano in the music room and sing together for hours. But some of the guys, like Lamar, lived at Graceland, and Lamar even spent the night in Elvis's room sometimes to keep him from sleepwalking. The cousins were always around, too. Elvis and Gene had that weird little language that only they seemed to be able to decipher (they said "ep skep, skep, skep" a lot), and little Billy was now fourteen, old enough to tag along places.

When they'd go to the Fairgrounds for crazed nights riding the Pippin, the rickety wooden roller coaster, or rent out the Rainbow Rollerdrome or the Memphian Theatre across town on South Cooper Street, he invited everybody who was at his home, and even the strangers standing around at the gate. "He always invited his fans to go. They would all go to the Fairgrounds-friends, family, and fans."

Sometimes the group numbered as many as two hundred. And now Elvis had added another guy to the circle, Alan Fortas, a friend of George's through the local Jewish organizations. Alan, a big, overfed boy, was a year younger than Elvis, but Elvis already knew who he was-Alan had been an all-Memphis football star at Central High. Given his own mediocre showing on the field in high school, Elvis liked having Alan around. But most of all, he liked Alan because he was full of the devil. Soon, he'd give him a nickname, "Hog Ears."

Around the same time, Marty Lacker started coming out to Graceland. A New Yorker who'd moved to Memphis at fifteen in 1952, he'd attended both Central and Humes, so he already knew Alan and George and Red, and to some extent, Elvis. The first time he went out to visit, Elvis and Anita were just coming out of the barn. He, too, would eventually become a part of the group, as would fifteen-year-old Jerry Schilling, who Elvis first met in 1954 through Red West, playing football in Guthrie Park.

Elvis would brag about Anita to the guys, and everything about her seemed to enchant him. He told his friends he was pretty sure she was a virgin, and he loved it when she showed off her figure. One day it was hot, and Anita suggested they go swimming. Lamar was there, and Elvis turned to Anita in her swimsuit. "Lamar, look at her. Just look at her. That hip is just a little bit bigger than the other hip. But other than that, she's just perfect. Turn around, Little."

Elvis was not alone in appreciating Anita's attributes. That summer, the Memphis Press-Scimitar Press-Scimitar ran a photograph of half a dozen girls who would compete on August 22 in the Mid-South finals of the "Hollywood Star Hunt," a beauty-talent contest that the newspaper sponsored with the Strand Theatre. Of the six, Elvis had dated three-Barbara Hearn, Anita, and Barbara Pittman. Both Anita and Barbara Pittman sang, two of the other women danced, and Barbara Hearn did a dramatic interpretation of George Bernard Shaw's ran a photograph of half a dozen girls who would compete on August 22 in the Mid-South finals of the "Hollywood Star Hunt," a beauty-talent contest that the newspaper sponsored with the Strand Theatre. Of the six, Elvis had dated three-Barbara Hearn, Anita, and Barbara Pittman. Both Anita and Barbara Pittman sang, two of the other women danced, and Barbara Hearn did a dramatic interpretation of George Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan, Saint Joan, the climactic burning at the stake scene. the climactic burning at the stake scene.

Anita won and went on to the finals in New Orleans, where she captured the grand prize-a seven-year contract with ABPT, American Broadcasting Paramount Theatres, which also entailed work with Paramount's movies, television shows, and record label. Elvis told Anita "the things that went on in California were the things that went on in h.e.l.l." But Elvis was happy for her and pleased to see that Little was still her unaffected self.

One morning about six, they were coming home from the roller rink with Lamar and Alan. It had been a ferocious night-they'd played tag and roller derby and the rough game of "knock down," skating toward each other with all their might with only the winners left standing-and everybody was bruised and battered. Elvis whispered something to Anita in the backseat, but Alan, sitting next to Lamar in the front, couldn't make it out. Suddenly, Anita leaned forward.

"Hey, y'all, my c.u.n.t hurts."

What? Alan wasn't sure he'd understood her. Surely she hadn't said what he thought she'd said. Lamar was driving and just sat frozen at the wheel. "G.o.d," he thought, "did I hear that? I have never-"