Baby, Let's Play House

by Alanna Nash

  329 “We would kiss for hours”: Ibid.

  329 “There were no expectations”: Sandy Ferra Martindale, quoted in Elvis World, no. 44.

  329 “Don’t ever wear pants again!”: Ibid.

  330 “He pulled this article out”: Sandy Ferra Martindale in the documentary The Definitive Elvis: The Many Loves of Elvis.

  330 “Forget him, honey”: Ann Beaulieu, quoted in Elvis by the Presleys: Ritz, David, editor.

  330 “he was not afraid”: Tom Muldoon, quoted in Finstad, Suzanne, Child Bride.

  330 “She and Tom Stewart”: Suzanne Finstad to author, 2009.

  330 “this child”: Suzanne Finstad to author, 2009.

  331 “The parents would say”: Al Corey, quoted in Finstad, Suzanne, Child Bride.

  331 “I stayed with Grandma a lot when he was gone”: Anita Wood to author, 2009.

  331 “There was a lot to go around”: Lamar Fike to Larry King, CNN, December 5, 2007.

  331 “Elvis playing guitar”: Barbara Eden to author, 2007. All Barbara Eden quotes come from this interview. Portions of the Barbara Eden material previously appeared in Ladies’ Home Journal, August 2007.

  332 “It didn’t matter”: Joe Esposito to Peter O. Whitmer, raw interview transcript, 1994.

  333 “One time we came in”: “Interview with Charlie Hodge,” on the Web site Elvis Australia, April 9, 2005.

  333 “and a lady looked out”: “Interview with Charlie Hodge,” on the web site Elvis Australia, April 9, 2005.

  333 “It was a round house”: “Interview with Charlie Hodge,” on the Web site Elvis Australia, April 9, 2005.

  333 “very sensitive”: Millie Perkins, quoted in “El’s Leading Ladies,” by Gerry McLafferty, Elvis: The Man and His Music, issue 83, 2009.

  334 “I wasn’t that impressed”: Hope Lange, quoted in This Is Elvis: Special Collector’s Edition of TV Guide, August 2002.

  334 “It hurt so much”: Alan Fortas to author, 1989.

  334 “What’s the problem?” Hope Lange, quoted in Esposito, Joe, with Oumano, Elena, Good Rockin’ Tonight.

  334 “She decided to chuck a quart of milk”: Esposito, Joe, with Oumano, Elena, Good Rockin’ Tonight.

  334 “dynamite, real dynamite”: Tuesday Weld to Guy Flatley for the New York Times, 1971, re: his article, “Tuesday Weld: I Didn’t Have to Play Lolita—I was Lolita,” on the Web site Moviecrazed.

  334 “She thought Elvis was very emotionally immature”: Kevin Eggers to author, 2009.

  335 “He shouldn’t have to light your cigar”: Christina Crawford, quoted in Esposito, Joe, with Oumano, Elena, Good Rockin’ Tonight.

  335 “an excellent dramatic actor”: Phillip Dunne, Academy Oral History Program, Margaret Herrick Library, the Academy of Motion Pictures.

  335 “a terrible film”: J. R. Salamanca, Publishers Weekly, July 24, 2000.

  335 “Whatever he would say”: Barbara Hearn to author, 2009.

  336 “Let’s go see who’s in that Rolls-Royce”: Patti Parry to Larry King, CNN, December 5, 2007.

  336 “Hey, girls. Hi!”: “Patti Parry Interview,” by Piers Beagley, on the Web site Elvis Information Network, August 12, 2003.

  337 “He didn’t have a mom or a sister”: Patti Parry to author, 2009.

  337 “and I couldn’t give up”: “Patti Parry Interview,” by Piers Beagley, on the Web site Elvis Information Network, August 12, 2003.

  337 “He was a good, good man”: Patti Parry to author, 2009.

  337 “which was the greatest honor”: Ibid.

  337 “On Perugia”: Patti Parry to author, 2009.

  338 “But you know what?”: Ibid.

  338 “The way he would look at you”: Lamar Fike to author, 1993.

  338 “Well, he’s done thrown up”: Billy Smith to author, 1994.

  338 “We were the first there”: “Interview with Anita Wood,” on the Web site Elvis Australia, November 25, 2006.

  339 “He just kept saying”: Guralnick, Peter, and Jorgensen, Ernst, Elvis Day by Day: The Definitive Record of His Life and Music.

  339 “It affected Elvis”: Joe Esposito to Peter O. Whitmer, raw interview transcript, 1994.

  339 “We went up”: Billy Smith to author, 1994.

  339 “He would do things”: Joe Esposito to Peter O. Whitmer, raw interview transcript, 1994.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  341 “To his great credit”: Guralnick, Peter, and Jorgensen, Ernst, Elvis Day by Day: The Definitive Record of His Life and Music.

  341 “Negro cotton field harmony,” Commercial Appeal, as quoted in Guralnick, Peter, and Jorgensen, Ernst, Elvis Day by Day.

  342 “Here this entity”: Ann Ellington Wagner, in the documentary The Definitive Elvis: The Many Loves of Elvis.

  342 “Of course, the people just went bananas”: “Interview with Ann Ellington,” on the Web site Elvis Australia, December 21, 2007.

  342 “the finest honor”: Guralnick, Peter, and Jorgensen, Ernst, Elvis Day by Day: The Definitive Record of His Life and Music.

  342 “kind of awkward”: Ann Ellington Wagner, in the documentary The Definitive Elvis: The Many Loves of Elvis.

  343 “Elvis thought that was so neat”: “Interview with Ann Ellington,” on the Web site Elvis Australia, December 21, 2007.

  343 “Please watch your language”: This story comes from Kittra Moore, who heard it from Millie Kirkham. Miss Kirkham alludes to this story in “A Conversation with Millie Kirkham,” by Gordon Minto, in Elvis: The Man and His Music, issue 84, 2009.

  343 “He always wanted me where he could see me”: “Interview with Ann Ellington,” on the Web site Elvis Australia, December 21, 2007.

  345 “not for one minute”: “Joan Blackman Talks,” Essential Elvis magazine, no. 23, 2002.

  345 lean, hard: letter, Hal Wallis to Colonel Tom Parker, January 30, 1961, Hal Wallis collection, Margaret Herrick Library, the Academy of Motion Pictures. “It is very important that [he] look lean and hard . . .”

  345 “how encapsulated”: Minnie Pearl to author, 1981.

  346 “His buddies had gone out”: Darlene Tompkins, “Aloha from Elvis’ Blue Hawaii Co-Star,” Essential Elvis magazine, no. 58, 2008.

  347 “He was always looking”: Joan Blackman, quoted in Elvis World magazine, no. 58.

  347 “We had rooms next to each other”: Joan Blackman, quoted in Brown, Peter Harry, and Broeske, Pat H., Down at the End of Lonely Street: The Life and Death of Elvis Presley.

  347 “There was something between us”: Joan Blackman, quoted in Elvis World magazine, no. 58.

  347 “was not the kind of person”: Joan Blackman, quoted in Elvis World magazine, no. 58.

  347 “He needed to do stuff like that”: Ibid.

  347 “It takes a lot of courage”: Ibid.

  347 “The army calmed him down”: Joe Esposito to Peter O. Whitmer, raw interview transcript, 1994.

  348 “He might have done”: Joan Blackman, quoted in Elvis World magazine, no. 58.

  348 “A Presley picture is the only sure thing in show business”: Hal Wallis, quoted in the documentary Elvis in Hollywood.

  348 “Elvis was really good in that film”: Anne Helm, Elvis International Forum magazine, vol. 8, no. 2, Summer 1995.

  349 “become one of the guys”: Anne Helm, quoted in Elvis World magazine, no. 63.

  349 “I really fell for Elvis”: Anne Helm, quoted on the Elvis Information Network, 2009.

  349 “It was so strange”: Anne Helm, quoted in Brown, Peter Harry, and Broeske, Pat H., Down at the End of Lonely Street: The Life and Death of Elvis Presley.

  350 “the sweetness and cream in him”: Ibid.

  350 “He was really mad”: Ibid.

  350 “He had many lives”: Anne Helm, quoted on the Elvis Information Network, 2009.

  350 “sure enough”: Esposito, Joe, with Oumano, Elena, Good Rockin’ Tonight.

  351 “I knew”: Connie Stevens, quoted in People magazine, August 18, 1997.

  351 “He was just s
o beautiful”: Connie Stevens, in the documentary The Definitive Elvis: The Many Loves of Elvis.

  351 “Elvis never carried a dime”: Joe Esposito, in the documentary The Definitive Elvis: The Many Loves of Elvis.

  352 “you had to follow the crowd”: Connie Stevens, quoted in People magazine, August 18, 1997.

  353 “I can’t believe”: Alan Fortas to author, 1990.

  353 “Naturally, he did it again”: Billy Smith to author, 1993.

  353 “Believe it or not”: Marty Lacker to author, 1994.

  353 “Listen, you gotta realize”: Patti Parry to author, 2009.

  354 “She fell right over”: Joe Esposito to Peter O. Whitmer, raw interview transcript, 1994.

  354 “Elvis had no parameters”: Lamar Fike to author, 1994.

  355 “He dressed”: Esposito, Joe, with Oumano, Elena, Good Rockin’ Tonight.

  356 “Elvis did not like this film”: Laurel Goodwin, Filmfax magazine, issue 81–82, October 2000/January 2001.

  356 “all treated me like protective big brothers”: Letter, Laurel Goodwin to Randy Erdman, January 19, 1999.

  356 “I was looking”: “Stella Stevens Talks,” Essential Elvis magazine, no. 44, 2006.

  356 “I was thought of as the bad girl”: Stella Stevens, quoted in This Is Elvis: Special Collector’s Edition of TV Guide, August 2002.

  356 “hang out”: “Stella Stevens Talks,” Essential Elvis magazine, no. 44, 2006.

  356 “I said, ‘Why do you do pictures like this’ ”: Stella Stevens, quoted in This Is Elvis: Special Collector’s Edition of TV Guide, August 2002.

  356 she couldn’t stand him: Elvis World magazine, no. 86.

  357 “I saw it was from Priscilla”: Anita Wood to author, 2009.

  357 She didn’t want to talk to him: “Interview with Anita Wood,” on the Web site Elvis Australia, November 25, 2006.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  359 “two torturous years”: Priscilla Presley, quoted in Elvis by the Presleys: Ritz, David, editor.

  359 “When I didn’t hear from him”: Ibid.

  360 “When Elvis wanted something”: Ibid.

  360 “they knew that the two of them”: Joe Esposito to author, 2009.

  360 “I want you to know something”: Esposito, Joe, with Oumano, Elena, Good Rockin’ Tonight.

  360 “She pretty well”: Esposito to Peter O. Whitmer, raw interview transcript, 1994.

  361 “There she is!”: Priscilla Presley quoting Elvis Presley in Presley, Priscilla, with Harmon, Sandra, Elvis and Me.

  361 “Let me look at you”: Priscilla Presley, quoting Elvis Presley in Elvis by the Presleys: Ritz, David, editor.

  361 “flipped out”: Ibid.

  361 “I didn’t ask you”: Ibid.

  361 “Up the stairs”: Priscilla Presley, quoting Elvis Presley in Presley, Priscilla, with Harmon, Sandra, Elvis and Me.

  361 “I immediately thought”: Ibid.

  362 “discovered that I was still as untouched”: Ibid.

  362 “I was ready”: Priscilla Presley in Elvis by the Presleys: Ritz, David, editor.

  362 “reluctantly”: Priscilla Presley in Presley, Priscilla, with Harmon, Sandra, Elvis and Me.

  362 “I believe that with all my heart”: “Interview with Charlie Hodge,” on the Web site Elvis Australia, April 9, 2005.

  362 “in that big boom-bah”: Patti Parry to author, 2009.

  362 “She’s a nice girl”: Alan Fortas to author, 1991.

  363 “if my eyes were black, blue, or black and blue”: Priscilla Presley in Presley, Priscilla, with Harmon, Sandra, Elvis and Me.

  363 “That was what Elvis wanted”: Ibid.

  363 “Elvis wasn’t going to let me go home”: Ibid.

  363 “obviously had been crying”: Ann Beaulieu, in Elvis by the Presleys: Ritz, David, editor.

  363 “Her eyes looked like two piss holes in the snow”: Paul Beaulieu, in Elvis by the Presleys: Ritz, David, editor.

  363 “You’re going straight home”: Prisilla Presley quoting Paul Beaulieu, in Presley, Priscilla, with Harmon, Sandra, Elvis and Me.

  364 “It was a tough choice”: Joe Esposito to author, 2009.

  364 “I heard Elvis say”: Anita Wood to author, 2009.

  364 “I heard what you just said”: Ibid.

  365 “I hope to God”: “Interview with Anita Wood,” on the Web site Elvis Australia, November 25, 2006.

  365 “You can’t keep me from going!”: Ibid.

  365 “It doesn’t matter”: Anita Wood to author, 2009.

  365 “Elvis became very upset”: Essential Elvis magazine, no. 15, 2001.

  365 “Well, if you must leave”: “Interview with Anita Wood,” on the Web site Elvis Australia, November 25, 2006.

  365 “I don’t know”: Ibid.

  365 “He caught me in the hall”: Ibid.

  365 “like a smart”: Doll, Susan, The Films of Elvis Presley.

  366 “The need for uniformity”: e-mail, Peter O. Whitmer to author, 2009.

  366 “It was not a good film”: Yvonne Craig to Jerry Hopkins, from the Jerry Hopkins Collection, Special Collections, the University of Memphis.

  366 “He said to one of his men”: Sandra Giles, in the documentary The Definitive Elvis: The Many Loves of Elvis.

  367 “It wasn’t predatory”: Yvonne Craig to author, 2009.

  367 “Elvis wanted me to ask”: Yvonne Craig quoting Joe Esposito to author, 2009.

  367 “I lived in an apartment”: Yvonne Craig to Jerry Hopkins, from the Jerry Hopkins Collection, Special Collections, the University of Memphis.

  367 “I said, ‘Oh, my!’ ”: Yvonne Craig to author, 2009.

  367 “It had deep, deep, deep carpeting”: Ibid.

  368 “I’m thinking”: Ibid.

  368 “There was this thing”: Yvonne Craig to Jerry Hopkins, from the Jerry Hopkins Collection, Special Collections, the University of Memphis.

  368 “He was really obstreperous”: Yvonne Craig to author, 2009.

  368 “there was kissing and hugging”: Ibid.

  368 “I said, ‘You know, Elvis’ ”: Ibid.

  368 “this is a dangerous move for you”: Yvonne Craig to Jerry Hopkins, from the Jerry Hopkins Collection, Special Collections, the University of Memphis.

  368 “it did occur to me”: Yvonne Craig to author, 2009.

  368 “I had seen”: Yvonne Craig to Jerry Hopkins, from the Jerry Hopkins Collection, Special Collections, the University of Memphis.

  369 “He dragged out”: Ibid.

  369 “Do you have any pills”: Yvonne Craig to author, 2009.

  369 “Gene was wired”: Fortas, Alan, and Nash, Alanna, Elvis: From Memphis to Hollywood.

  370 “the fact that”: Elvis Presley to Lloyd Shearer, August 1962, “Face to Face with Elvis,” CD.

  370 “At first I said no”: Ann Beaulieu, quoted in Elvis by the Presleys: Ritz, David, editor.

  370 “I want to drive her through the gates”: Patsy Presley quoting Elvis Presley in Elvis by the Presleys: Ritz, David, editor.

  371 “When we drove though those gates”: Priscilla Presley, quoted in Elvis by the Presleys: Ritz, David, editor.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  373 “The first time I saw Priscilla”: Patsy Presley, quoted in Elvis by the Presleys: Ritz, David, editor.

  373 “Someone’s waiting to see you”: Priscilla Presley quoting Elvis Presley in Elvis by the Presleys: Ritz, David, editor.

  373 “I feel like I can confide in you”: Priscilla Presley, quoted in Elvis by the Presleys: Ritz, David, editor.

  373 “These pills will relax you”: Priscilla Presley quoting Elvis Presley in Elvis by the Presleys: Ritz, David, editor.

  373 “It scared the hell”: Billy Smith to author, 1993.

  374 “You haven’t missed anything”: Priscilla Presley quoting Elvis Presley in Elvis by the Presleys: Ritz, David, editor.

  374 “More and more”: Priscilla Presley, quoted in Elvis by the Presleys: Ritz, David, editor.r />
  374 “You got the idea she was his one true love”: Patsy Presley, quoted in Elvis by the Presleys: Ritz, David, editor.

  374 “Here she comes”: Billy Smith to author, 1993.

  374 “like a fifteen-year-old kid”: Ricky Stanley, quoted in Finstad, Suzanne, Child Bride.

  374 “We sat and talked”: Marty Lacker to author, 1994.

  375 “He’d accuse me”: Priscilla Presley, quoted in Elvis by the Presleys: Ritz, David, editor.

  375 “You’ll finish your senior year”: Priscilla Presley quoting Elvis Presley in Elvis by the Presleys: Ritz, David, editor.

  376 “I’ve been talking with my dad”: Letter, Priscilla Beaulieu to Elvis Presley, reproduced as illustration in Elvis by the Presleys: Ritz, David, editor.

  376 “I was enormously resistant”: Paul Beaulieu, quoted in Elvis by the Presleys: Ritz, David, editor.

  376 “You hear about people”: Ann Beaulieu, quoted in Elvis by the Presleys: Ritz, David, editor.

  376 “Elvis pledged to care for her”: Paul Beaulieu, quoted in Elvis by the Presleys: Ritz, David, editor.

  377 “I kissed my father good-bye”: Priscilla Presley, quoted in Elvis by the Presleys: Ritz, David, editor.

  377 “sent her ahead”: Commercial Appeal, April 2, 1963.

  377 “My boss called him Joe”: Phillip Barber to author, 2009.

  378 “My feelings were mixed”: Priscilla Presley, quoted in Elvis by the Presleys: Ritz, David, editor.

  378 “Her mom more or less”: Jamie Lindberg, quoted in Finstad, Suzanne, Child Bride.

  379 “I come from a background”: Jackie DeShannon in the documentary The Definitive Elvis: The Many Loves of Elvis.

  379 “No chips, no dips”: Garr, Teri, and Mantel, Henriette, Speedbumps: Flooring It Through Hollywood.

  380 “I was embarrassed”: Alan Fortas to author, 1989.

  380 “He didn’t think”: Mindi Miller to author, 2009. All Mindi Miller quotes come from this interview.

  380 “The only way”: Ursula Andress, quoted in “El’s Leading Ladies,” by Gerry McLafferty, Elvis: The Man and His Music, issue 83, 2009.

  380 “She went after him”: “Interview with Sonny West,” by Scott Jenkins, on the Web site Elvis Australia, May 13, 2005.