Biography: Elvis's Rise to Stardom

Elvis Aron (some say Aaron) Presley was born on January 8th, 1935, in Tupelo, Mississippi. At birth, he had a twin brother named Jesse Garon Presley. Sadly, he died when he was born. His parents were Gladys Love Smith and Vernon Elvis Presley. Gladys was the backbone of the family and kept everything in order. Vernon was a truck driver who wasn’t very good at keeping a job and once had gone to jail for forging a check. Although Presley was an only child, he was shy, dreamy, polite, and had a very close relationship with his mother, Gladys. ("Elvis Presley." Biography Resource Center: American Decades. Gale Research, 1998. Web. 26 Feb. 2010.)
Elvis started singing when he was in his church choir. When Elvis was ten, he sang a song called ‘Old Shep’ in front of several hundred people at the Mississippi- Alabama Fair and Dairy Show. When he was eleven, Elvis got his first guitar and his church pastor, Frank Smith, helped him learn how to play. Elvis’s influences for his music were gospel and country music. As he grew older, Elvis started playing for his church every Saturday afternoon during what the church called “amateur hour”. ("Elvis Presley." Biography Resource Center: American Decades. Gale Research, 1998. Web. 26 Feb. 2010.)
According to Biography Resource Center, “It was during high school that Presley began experimenting with his looks and dress style. At a time when others his age were wearing plaid shirts and blue jeans, he favored flashy "pimp"-type clothing. Colors not ordinarily worn by the era's males, including pink, were a Presley fashion favorite. His hair style was equally distinct. Though crewcuts were the rage, he wore his dark blond hair slicked back with rose oil. That "greaser" look would go on to become a "cool" statement in films and on television. But Presley was far from popular at school. Most students recoiled from the young man with the greasy-looking hair and the acne. His shyness, thick Mississippi accent, and a tendency to stutter, further hampered his status among both classmates and teachers, who were taken aback when he performed in a student show during his senior year. Most were unaware that he sang. But in fact, Presley was consumed by both music and ambition.” ("Elvis Presley." Biography Resource Center: St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture. 5 Vols. Gale, 2000. Web. 26 Feb. 2010.) Elvis Presley graduated from Humes High School in Memphis Tennessee in 1953.
On January 28th 1956, Elvis made his first television appearance on the Dorsey Brothers “Stage Show” on CBS. Then, he made many more appearances on shows until finally, he got a manager by the name of Colonel Tom Parker. With his help he landed a part in a 1956 movie called, “Love Me Tender”. During his 1957 movie, “King Creole”, Elvis got drafted into the army for two years. While on base in Fort Hood, Texas his mother became sick with hepatitis. So, Presley moved off base to his parents’ nearby rented home. Gladys died a short time later due to a heart attack. People say that during her time of death he was inconsolable. But happy times were on the way. About a month after his mother’s death, Elvis was stationed in Germany when he met the 14 year- old Pricilla Ann Beaulieu. He fell immediately in love. Elvis asked Pricilla if she wanted to move in with him and his family. When Pricilla was 16 she moved in with the Presley family in Graceland while she finished high school. ("Elvis Presley." Biography Resource Center: American Decades. Gale Research, 1998. Web. 26 Feb. 2010.)
In the 1960’s, Elvis made 27 movies in all. Elvis played a variety of characters but always played the “good guy”. Some of the “good guy” movies are: G.I. Blues (1960), Flaming Star (1960), Kid Galahad (1962), Blue Hawaii (1961), and Change of Habit (1969). Presley didn’t want to be known as the “bad guy” so every time someone offered a part like that; he would always turn them down. Some of the movies Elvis was considered for are, A Star is Born (1976), Midnight Cowboy (1969), and Sweet Bird of Youth. ("Elvis Presley." Biography Resource Center: American Decades. Gale Research, 1998. Web. 26 Feb. 2010.)
When Pricilla turned 21, Elvis and Pricilla got engaged then married on May 1st, 1967. Then on February 1st, 1968, the Presley’s had their first and only child, a baby girl named Lisa Marie Presley. Later that same year, Elvis made his comeback and started taping NBC- TV specials with live audiences. Even though Elvis’s great comeback was a success, it didn’t help very much with his family life. In 1973, Elvis and Pricilla divorced. ("Elvis Presley." Biography Resource Center: American Decades. Gale Research, 1998. Web. 26 Feb. 2010.)
Although Elvis looked great, he suffered a great amount of pain. According to Biography Resource Center, “Elvis had several physical ailments and was hospitalized many times for hypertension, heart arrhythmias, headaches, impacted colon, and gastroenteritis.” Elvis’s job requires that he looks good for his performances, debuts and important events. So, since his looks needed to be good, Elvis got a facelift in 1975. After his facelift he started to gain lots of weight, was forced to endure great amounts of pain, and started taking a large variety of prescription pills. Biography Resource Center states that Elvis, “took a wide variety of prescription pills including narcotics, amphetamines, opiates and antidepressants.” As a big shock to the world, at age 42, Elvis Aron (some say Aaron) Presley was found dead on the bathroom floor in his home in Graceland. Elvis was buried next to his mother but to an attempted body snatching, Elvis and his mother, Gladys, were moved to a private graveyard in Graceland. ("Elvis Presley." Biography Resource Center: American Decades. Gale Research, 1998. Web. 26 Feb. 2010.)