Elvis Trivia

When Presley was drafted into the US Army in March, 1958, his monthly pay went from $100,000 to $78.

Before he became famous, one of his employers told him "You ain't going nowhere, son. You may as well stick to driving a truck."

In 1960, following his return from military service, the various employees hired by Elvis Presley to handle security and his concert tours were dubbed the "Memphis Mafia" by the news media.

His given middle name at birth was Aron;^[69] however, Aaron was placed on his gravestone by his father because Presley preferred that biblical spelling and had legally changed it. Aaron is the official spelling used by his estate.

Presley had a twin brother named Jesse who was stillborn.

Cryolophosaurus was at one point nicknamed 'Elvisaurus' because of its head crest being similar to Elvis' hairstyle.

The estate of Elvis Presley earns over 40 million dollars every year which is a record for a deceased entertainer.

Presley made only one television commercial, an ad for Southern Maid Doughnuts that ran in 1954.

In 1970 Presley asked President Richard Nixon to ban the Beatles from America because of their left-wing political beliefs, which he denounced as "anti-American".

He owned a vast collection of firearms and badges.

His hair was a natural sandy brown but he dyed it jet black after filming "Love Me Tender."

Presley made famous a version of the peanut butter sandwich with banana (either mashed or whole) that was grilled or fried, and may have contained bacon and porridge.

Estimated to have sold over one billion records worldwide and is one of the best selling recording artists in history.

Has won three Grammy awards, all for his gospel recordings. These were for the 1967 "How Great Thou Art" LP, for the 1972 LP, "He Touched Me" and, in 1974, for the song "How Great Thou Art" (live).

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 gave a concert and, at its conclusion, a woman came forward with a crown resting on a plush pillow. She lifted the crown to Elvis and shouted, "You're the King!" "No, honey," he said, "I'm not the King. Christ is the King. I'm just a singer".^[70] Also, in September of 1974, during one of his two sellout shows at the University of Notre Dame, he stopped singing, as well as motioned for the band to quit playing, in order to tell those holding a huge banner which read ¨You are the King¨, that he was not going to resume singing until it was taken out from view, adding that "there was only one King, and that was the Lord, Jesus Christ".

Thousands upon thousands 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, was named after Presley by his mother, who was a big fan. Elvis Crespo, the King of salsa and merengue, was also named after Presley by his mother, a native of Puerto Rico who was also a big Elvis fan. Elvis Dumervil, a former University of Louisville All American football player, was also named after Presley by his mother, an African American. Elvis Mitchell, the former movie critic for the New York Times, was named after Presley by his parents, who were African-Americans. Elvis Perkins, a musician who is the son of actor Anthony Perkins, was also named after him, as was Elvis Polansky, whose father, movie director Roman Polanski, was aslo a huge Elvis fan.

Musician Elvis Costello borrowed Presley's first name, a few months before his death in 1977, in order to help his then fledgling career.

In 2005, and for the fifth year straight, Presley was named the richest deceased celebrity in www.Forbes.com. (see also reference above, under Elvis in the 21st Century)

He was proud of his role in King Creole because the part was originally offered to his idol James Dean. Although songs were later slipped into the movie, Presley considered it his best work.

His favorite rollercoaster was the Zippin Pippin at Libertyland. He would rent out the park to himself just so he could ride it non-stop.

He was offered the lead role of Tony in the film adaptation of the Broadway musical West Side Story but Col. Parker forced Presley turn it down as non-commercial despite Presley's arguments it would legitimize his acting career. The film won ten Academy Awards including Best Picture.

The 1960 Broadway musical Bye Bye Birdie is a supposed satire about the effects of the compulsory U.S. military draft on a famous singer similar to Presley.

The Broadway musical "All Shook Up" features the songs of Elvis Presley, and is based on the plot of William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.

Presley's favorite female singer was Anne Murray and he recorded a version of "Snowbird".

Presley was a practitioner of karate. He had an eighth degree black belt when he died.

Presley was also distantly related to both country singer June Carter Cash and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter.

Presley was a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon.

On his 70th birthday, Larry King wondered how Presley would look today. To this, Aaron Brown responded: "Probably like all those Elvis impersonators".

Presley's height was officially measured in the army twice and was stated at 5'11.5 inches in bare foot and 6'0.5 inches with shoes.

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.

Elvis Presley was a big fan of Captain Marvel Jr, and styled his trademark haircut after that of the comic book character. In addition, Presley's stage outfits (with a half-cape similar to those worn by the Marvels) and his TCB logo (with a Marvel-esque lightning bolt insignia) also show inspiration from Captain Marvel, Jr.

His death occurred only three days before that of Groucho Marx. As a result, the comedian's death did not receive as much media attention as many felt it deserved.

The Presley surname comes from the Preseli Hills in Pembrokshire, Wales, UK. The hills are the source of the famous bluestones that make Stonehenge.

Pop singer Michael Jackson was briefly married to Presley's daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, publicized as a wedding between the "King of Pop" and the "Princess of Rock". They were only wed for about six months.

Comedian Dennis Miller cited the Jackson-Lisa Marie wedding as conclusive evidence that Elvis was not alive, because were Elvis alive, he would have "put the kibosh on it".

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 Elvis is alive.

Presley had a pet rabbit called Dean, after his idol James Dean.

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.

Richard Dawson also paid tribute to Presley on an episode of Family Feud.

In December 2004 Wade Jones from Belmont, NC sold 3 tablespoons of water from a cup that Elvis Presley drank out of on eBay. The water fetched $455. One week later (January 2005), he sold an appearance of the Elvis Cup on eBay for $3,000 and currently tours with the Elvis Cup, which even has its own song "The Elvis Cup" written and recorded by a Filipino Elvis impersonator, "Renelvis". Jones says he scored the styrofoam cup at a 1977 concert the King played. Hoping for a better souvenir, he ended up getting a cup out of which he saw Presley drink.

In April 3, 2005, the UK-based "Doctor Who Adventures" magazine published a list of the top ten historical figures people would most like to travel back in time to meet. As reported by the BBC, Presley ranked 2nd, behind Sir Winston Churchill. Others in the top ten included, in ranking order, Albert Einstein, Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, Princess Diana, Nelson Mandela, Isaac Newton and Queen Elizabeth I.

Presley had a short mention in the S.E Hinton classic, The Outsiders.

The Chinese tend to nickname him The King of Cats (Traditional: 貓王, Simplified: 猫王, Pinyin:Māo Wáng) after the "hillbilly cat" remark in The Memphis Press Scimitar interview. (See:Mama's Boy)