By Neena Strichart
Today, January 8, 2010, is a very significant day in the world of entertainmentâ it would have been Elvis Presley’s 75th birthday. It’s hard to believe that so much time has passed since his demise in 1977â nearly 33 years ago.
I wonder how his career would have changed had he not died. Would he have reinvented himself as Tom Jones (70 this year), Johnny Mathis (also 75 this year) and Tony Bennett (84 this year) have done? Those fellows are still touring and performing to sold-out venues with a fan base of old and new admirers. I wonder if Elvis’s charm and talent would have withstood the passage of time. I also wonder if he would have ventured into more mainstream filmsâ rather than the less than critically acclaimed movies he turned out year after year. Now, I’m not saying all his films were stinkers. Some were quite good. If you get a chance, take a look at some of his early movies like Love Me Tender, Loving You, Jailhouse Rock, Wild in the Country and King Creole. I think you’ll be surprisingly impressed.
Through the years he co-starred with some pretty amazing actors/actresses: Charles Bronson (Kid Galahad), Barbara Stanwyck (Roustabout), Lizabeth Scott & Wendell Corey (Loving You), Walter Matthau, Dean Jagger & Carolyn Jones (King Creole), Barbara Eden (Flaming Star), Mary Tyler Moore (Change of Habit), Shelley Fabares (Girl Happy and Spinout), Donna Douglas (Frankie & Johnny), Hope Lange (Wild in the Country), Juliet Prowse (G.I. Blues), Nancy Sinatra (Speedway), Ursula Andress (Fun in Acapulco) and of course Ann Margret (Viva Las Vegas). I love watching those movies and seeing Elvis performing with people who either already were, or later became, such well known movie stars.
Last month, while watching a documentary on the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor, I discovered that Elvis played a big role in having the memorial built. Doing some further research, I found that after World War II, there was discussion about building a memorial near the U.S.S. Arizona’s submerged hull and in 1958, President Eisenhower authorized the creation of the memorial to be built with $500,000 of private money. Time passed and fundraising failed. Thanks to newspapers around the country, editorials were published about the possibility of the memorial, and support soon surfaced.
One means of support was in the form of a fundraising concert donated by Elvis at the Bloch Arena, near Pearl Harbor. The concert was held March 25, 1961, and all proceeds went toward the memorial. Reports vary, but the take was somewhere between $50,000 and $60,000.
Though government money was needed to complete the memorial, Elvis’s concert brought in a great deal of dollars and awareness to the project. The memorial was completed in 1962.
Whether you enjoyed his records, concerts and moviesâ or notâ you have to admit he was, and still is, a very important part of our American fabric. Elvis may have âleft the building,” but he is still in my heart… and I am proud to call myself a life-long fanâ a fan who saw him in concert 40 times.
