The lightest Elvis ever weighed, as an adult, was 170 pounds in 1960, following his discharge from the U.S. Army. The heaviest was at the time of his death, which was 260 pounds. He gained 90 pounds, in his final 17 years of life.
The media coverage of his death overshadowed that of the 86-year-old comedian and film star Groucho Marx, which occurred three days later.
The very last song he sang in public was "Can't Help Falling In Love", at The Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, Indiana, on Sunday, June 26, 1977.
Turned down leading role in The Fastest Guitar Alive (1967), which went to his friend Roy Orbison.
Voted the third greatest singer of the rock era in a Rolling Stone magazine poll in 2008.
Was a fan of actors Peter Sellers and Tony Curtis.
Was a huge fan of professional wrestling.
Was a huge fan of the television shows "The Jeffersons" (1975), "Good Times" (1974), "Happy Days" (1974) and "Flip" (1970).
Was always known to be generous to a fault with family, friends and even total strangers. Anyone who admired any posession of his, from one of his many Cadillacs to any bit of bric-a-brac in his home, often found themselves the new owners of that posession.
Was director Robert Wise's original choice to play Tony in West Side Story (1961).
Was extremely proud of his Cherokee Indian roots. Wanted to be more open about it but was advised against it, according to some sources by Tom Parker, since this was around the time that there were still racial tensions in the US. Sometimes the audiences were "deceived with the truth" like in G.I. Blues (1960) when his character tells about his Cherokee Indian background. In real life his Cherokee Indian roots started with his maternal great-great-great grandmother Morning Dove White and it was even rumored in Memphis that he had Cherokee blood from his father's side of the family as well, though never confirmed.
Was one of the first people in the U.S. to own a "Betamax" system VCR
Was one of the performers featured on a set of stamps of rock and blues legends issued by the U.S. Postal Service in June 1993.
Was originally considered for the Kris Kristofferson role in A Star Is Born (1976), but Elvis turned it down because his manager, Tom Parker refused him permission to act in a movie where he wouldn't have top billing. Also, he didn't like the fact that the producer, Jon Peters, was completely unknown.
Was the first entertainer to introduce karate in an American motion picture (Flaming Star (1960)).
Was voted best singer of all time by Q Magazine.
When Ed Sullivan finally allowed him to appear on "The Ed Sullivan Show" (1948), he was filmed from the waist upwards only once, on his third and final appearance on Sunday, January 6th, 1957.
When The Beatles came to America in 1965 there was only one person they wanted to meet: Elvis. On Friday, August 27, 1965, they got their wish and, according to John Lennon, spent an entirely enjoyable evening at the Presley home in Bel Air, California, talking, singing and laughing with each other.
When he was an infant a tornado struck his hometown of Tupelo, Mississippi. He and his family survived uninjured, but 233 people in the city were killed and hundreds were injured.
While Elvis appeared on NBC's "The Steve Allen Plymouth Show" (1956), on Sunday, July 1, 1956. Ehis manager Colonel Tom Parker was contacted by Ed Sullivan about Elvis' appearing on his weekly CBS variety show, "The Ed Sullivan Show" (1948), on CBS. Elvis was signed for a then staggering $50,000 for three appearances. This was quite an accomplishment--or lack of foresight--as Sullivan and Allen were broadcast in the same Sunday-evening time slot and had an ongoing "ratings war" against each other. Even more amazing was that Elvis' prestigious record label, RCA, was a subsidiary of the corporation that owned NBC. Elvis already had sold at least 5 million records for RCA-NBC with several hit 45-RPM and 78-RPM records. Allen would later state that his reason for "giving away" Elvis was that he ran strictly a comedy show. Ironically. the following summer Allen hosted Jerry Lee Lewis twice. After this Sullivan no longer expressed interest at having Elvis on his show.