late January, 2008
- Elvis Presley's Lincoln Continental rolls into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum
By Chuck Crow
(cleveland.com, January 31, 2008)
It's no pink Cadillac but Elvis Presley once owned it and now it's on display inside the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland. The King's 1975 Lincoln Continental Mark IV was delivered to the Rock Hall on Thursday, where it will be exhibited for at least the next two years. It was purchased by Presley on July 28, 1975, at Schilling Motors in Memphis, Tenn., one of many cars Presley famously bought to give away as gifts.
He gave this car to his bodyguard Dave Hebler.
- Presley signs up for 'Dancing With The Stars'?
By Beth Hilton
(digitalspy.co.uk, January 31, 2008)
Priscilla Presley is reportedly being lined up to appear in the next series of Dancing With The Stars. Elvis Presley's former wife is said to be on the verge of agreeing a deal to take to the floor for the sixth season of the ABC dance contest. Brady Bunch star Florence Henderson is among other celebrities rumoured to be appearing. US reports suggest that Joan Collins met with show producers but turned down the opportunity to take part. The last series was won by Brazilian racing driver Helio Castroneves, with Spice Girl Mel B finishing second.
- Presley to go dancing?
By WENN
(uk.news.yahoo.com, January 31, 2008)
Priscilla Presley is in talks to hit the dancefloor for the upcoming season of U.S. TV show Dancing With The Stars, according to Internet reports. The former wife of Elvis Presley is close to signing on for the hit dance competition show, alongside The Brady Bunch star Florence Henderson. ...
- Coroner's deputy: As body hanged, I ran errands
(cnn.com, January 30, 2008)
A deputy coroner testified Wednesday that she was delayed in getting to a public suicide victim because she had to make personal deliveries for her high-profile boss, who is being tried on suspicion of using county staff to benefit his lucrative private practice. Cyril Wecht is on trial, charged with 41 counts of fraud and related offenses.
Darlene Craig said a supervisor told her to deliver documents or other items for then-Coroner Cyril Wecht as she left for the suicide call, which was a half-hour drive from the coroner's downtown office. "So I made those three deliveries before I actually went to the hanging," Craig testified. "And the body was hanging outside."
... Wecht, 76, built a multimillion-dollar practice that has spawned books and television appearances by inquiring into the deaths of Elvis Presley, JonBenet Ramsey and Vincent Foster, among others.
He is charged in a 41-count indictment with using his Allegheny County staff as bookkeepers, secretaries, couriers and gofers for his private practice and his family. Wecht, who earned no more than $64,000 a year as county coroner, resigned when he was indicted in January 2006. ...
- Dying young is no guarantee of icon status in the Internet age
By Maria Puente
(USA TODAY, January 30, 2008)
Live fast, die young, become immortal. Then again, maybe not. In this intensely accelerated and global Internet age, the traditional trajectory for achieving cult-figure status after death is changing.
So even as mourning fans declare young actor Heath Ledger "the James Dean of his generation," there's some question about that. Will we be talking about Ledger in the future the way we still talk about Dean - who died more than 50 years ago?
Ledger's death was unlike Dean's, though no less jolting. T he 28-year-old Australian was found Jan. 22 in his New York apartment by his housekeeper and his masseuse. The cause has not been determined. There's no mystery about how Dean died. In fact, it was his untimely end in 1955 that marked the point when American celebrity culture was born, says Chris Epting, author of James Dean Died Here and other books about pop-culture locations and artifacts.
Only 24 and with just three film roles to his credit, Dean died on a lonesome California road after a head-on collision in his Porsche sports car. Six months later his third movie, Rebel Without a Cause, was released, causing a sensation, especially with young people. Dean ascended to cult status, which has endured to this day.
"Heath Ledger is one of the first Dean-esqe people to die in the Internet age, so his death will be the testing ground to see how long the Net will fan the flame," says Epting. "It will be interesting to see: Will he be immortalized or will the next big thing totally supplant him in a couple of weeks?"
Karal Ann Marling, for one, thinks it might. A professor of American studies and popular culture at the University of Minnesota, Marling believes it's natural for everyone to feel sad about the death of any young person, famous or not. But the overwhelming interest in Ledger's death will soon fade, she predicts.
... But just being young, good-looking and dead, while tragic, is not always enough to ensure you live on in the public consciousness. Witness Brad Renfro, the young actor (he was 25) found dead in his Los Angeles apartment a week before Ledger. Renfro had more movie roles than Ledger (he started out as a child actor), but his career was stalled - and his death went almost unnoticed.
It's a barstool debate to argue about who belongs in the permanent pop-culture pantheon and who does not. The list of entertainment figures who indisputably belong is relatively short: Besides Dean and Marilyn Monroe, it includes Elvis Presley, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Bob Marley, Jim Morrison, John Belushi, John Lennon, Kurt Cobain.
"There's something mystical, some magic about them because (pre-Internet) not everyone knew everything about them when they were alive," says Lynn Bartholome of Monroe Community College in Rochester, N.Y., president of the Popular Culture Association - scholars who study American culture. The list of those about whom there is dispute is longer.
... So who gets to be among the immortals and why? ... It helps to be a little bit eccentric. It helps to have a tortured soul, personal demons, troubles with pills or booze or illegal behavior. Most of all it helps to have a passionate following before death ‹ as with Dean and Monroe, says Patricia King Hanson, film historian at the American Film Institute. Both struck strong chords with audiences, especially young people, who responded to the notes of vulnerability and tragedy they signaled on screen and in their personal lives.
"None are thrust into greatness by death alone," Hanson says. "It's a certain type of person who seems to attract a cult following and just by virtue of their death it seems to expand. People are left with a glossy image of them ‹ always young and always vibrant. The happy-go-lucky guy with no problems, who dies young, he's not going to be a cult."
The Internet speeds up and spreads the reaction to something like the death of Ledger, but it could fade just as quickly. "It's mini-cult status, and it's very temporary," she says. "Maybe in three months there won't be that much." ...
- Arson suspected in fire at old Fort Chaffee
(armytimes.com / Associated Press, January 30, 2008)
Arson is suspected in fires fanned by winds exceeding 50 mph that spread through the old Fort Chaffee on Tuesday, engulfing about 150 vacant barracks but sparing the building where Elvis Presley received his military haircut 50 years ago. ...
- Cleveland Orchestra in Miami Day 4: Elvis goes classical
(cleveland.com, January 30, 2008)
The Cleveland Orchestra and music director Franz Welser-Most are in South Florida for their second annual residency at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County. The ensemble's official photographer Roger Mastroianni's is chronicling the trip, which includes concerts and a series of education, family and outreach programs there and throughout the Miami community.
Roger Mastroianni Cleveland Orchestra bassoonist Jonathan Sherwin performs the part of an American pop icon in Michael Daugherty's "Dead Elvis" with orchestra colleagues Tuesday, Jan. 29 at Miami's Museum of Contemporary Art.
- Script About Bill, Monica, and Elvis Circulates Around Hollywood
SOURCE: Greenwich Creations
(Yahoo! News / PRNewswire-USNewswire, January 30, 2008)
While investors debate over Oliver Stone's (http://www.variety.com/VR1117979349.html) film "Bush," a script about President Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky has quietly circulated around Hollywood. Set to Elvis Presley music, "Bill and the Silk Box" is a comedy/drama about the popular President, whose Secret Service nickname was "Elvis."
"Nothing will be more entertaining than for the Clintons and the Bushes to compete at the box office," said Daniel R. Vovak, a screenwriter and owner of Greenwich Creations. "The challenge of writing the script was juggling the political motivations of the characters with the importance of giving the film broad appeal. The Clinton era needs to be put into proper perspective, with comedy as its medium."
Vovak said he's open regarding casting, contrasting with Stone's narrow approach of portraying Bush as Josh Brolin. He sees Bill Paxton, David Morse, or Tim Robbins in the role as Bill Clinton. Monica Lewinsky could be played by Amanda Bynes, Nia Vadralos, or Minnie Driver. (Hillary Clinton, the former First Lady, does not have any speaking parts.)
Vovak worked ardently to write the movie based on a true story, doing intense research and interviewing some colorful characters. Through his career, Vovak has met James Carville, George Stephanopoulos, and various reporters and White House photographers. He also had the chance to speak with Paula Jones, with whom the President settled a lawsuit for $850,000.
"Talking with the real-life characters gave me a well-rounded perspective of the former President," said Vovak. "I deduced that Bill is a lonely person in private, which is a consistent theme in Elvis' music, and a perfect hook for the script."
The plot of the film is from July 1995 through January 1998, while the White House was in turmoil over Paula Jones and a brief government shutdown. Meanwhile, Monica Lewinsky was secretly enticed by gifts from Bill. The script also depicts a scheming White House staff that sends Monica to permanent exile in the Pentagon until she licks her wounds and returns for a place in United States history.
According to Vovak, he has Japanese representation because of the complexity of Elvis music ownership and their overlapping business interests with Elvis Presley Enterprises. Vovak has also written the movies: Redeeming Stella, Unsilent Partner, and Whereabouts Unknown.
Media contact:
Daniel R. Vovak, Ghostwriter
Greenwich Creations
DanialVovak@gmail.com, 202-367-4835
http://www.greenwichcreations.com/movies
- The Elvis Party Cruise
By Amos Maki
(elitestv.com, January 30, 2008)
The organisers of the famous European Elvis Tribute Artist Championships and the website http://www.elvis.co.uk present the ELVIS PARTY CRUISE; the first European Elvis cruise, sailing on Royal Caribbean's new US$450 million Freedom Class ship, the Independence of the Seas.
Guests and performers for the Elvis Party Cruise now include:
- Ed Bonja - Elvis' tour manager and photographer
- Karen Sue Presley - Elvis Presley's first cousin
- Paul Larcombe - UK winner for Graceland's search for the Ultimate Elvis and top ten world finalist in Memphis.
- Rob Kingsley - Winner of the 2008 European Championships, recently signed to Sony BMG
- Colin Paul - A dynamic Elvis vocalist and performer, a Memphis regular and highly regarded with all fans.
We are also holding the first Elvis Tribute Contest at sea. The winner receives a cash prize and a reproduction of Elvis Presley's world famous International Gold Belt, made by the highly acclaimed Elvis costumers B & K Enterprises.
... The Elvis Party Cruise sails from Southampton to Cork and back, departing May 17, 2008.
- Apartment deal adds to EPE acreage around Graceland: Plans for area remain in refinement stage
By Amos Maki
(elitestv.com, January 30, 2008)
Elvis Presley Enterprises Inc., which is preparing for a $250 million overhaul of Graceland and the surrounding area, has bought another apartment community near Elvis Presley's former mansion in Whitehaven.
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