Elvis ‘Hated’ 1 Actor’s Attitude and Was ‘Always Putting Him Down’
By 1962, Elvis Presley was already growing weary of his film career and some of the actors he met. He wanted more substantial, dramatic roles and began to feel embarrassed about the growing list of breezy romances on his resume. Because of this, he grew irritable on set, especially when someone didn’t treat him with the reverence he felt he deserved. Elvis’ bodyguards said the singer consistently spoke poorly about one of his co-stars.
Elvis treated one actor poorly
When Elvis left the army, he began to work his way through a lengthy roster of films. In 1962, he shot Kid Galahad, a film in which his character is a boxer. Charles Bronson played his trainer, and Elvis’ bodyguards admired him for his performance. Elvis did not feel the same way.
“Elvis just did not go for him,” bodyguard Sonny West said in the book Elvis: What Happened? by Steve Dunleavy.
West believed Elvis’ dislike of Bronson was ego-driven. Bronson didn’t seem all that impressed with the singer, which frustrated him.
“He was a very quiet kind of guy, a loner, and he just didn’t think Elvis was that big a deal,” West said. “Elvis hated this, and he was always putting him down. He used to call him a muscle-bound smart aleck and a muscle-bound ape. Just never stopped putting him down, although I never heard Bronson knock Elvis.”
He was often critical of other artists
According to Elvis’ bodyguards, the singer often had a combative attitude around other artists. Elvis saw himself as the biggest star in any room, and he didn’t like it when someone else took the attention away from him.
“For instance, Elvis doesn’t like too many other singers — at least living ones,” his bodyguard Red West said. “He did admire Bobby Darin very much, but he has passed away. But generally Elvis will always have something critical to say about another singer. He doesn’t like competition.”
Elvis often acted out minor power plays around other performers to establish dominance.
“He wasn’t interested in other performers. In fact, he didn’t like other performers,” Sonny West said. “He would always have something catty to say about them. If they came to his dressing room to see him, he would keep them waiting for an hour on end before he would make his entrance.”
Elvis grew frustrated with his own work as an actor
Elvis made movies for years, but he had little space to grow as an actor. He played similar roles in each film and struggled to get his manager to take him seriously when he asked for better parts.
“He would always say to me, ‘Why in the hell do they keep on giving me lousy scripts?’ He would complain and complain, but the scripts never got better,” Red West recalled. “The money got better, but the scripts didn’t.”
As a result, Elvis grew bored with acting. He made his last film in 1969.
