Elvis Presley Bought a Complete Stranger a Life-Changing and Expensive Gift
Elvis Presley made a fortune over the course of his life, but this didn’t stop his father from worrying about his finances. Elvis spent nearly as quickly as he earned, funneling money into hobbies, vehicles, and gifts for his friends and family. He also purchased expensive presents for strangers. He once gave someone a life-changing gift after reading about them in the newspaper.
Elvis Presley bought a stranger an expensive gift
While Elvis had a reputation for giving away cars — Johnny Carson even joked about it in one monologue — his gift-giving did not stop there. Once, while reading the newspaper, Elvis learned about a local woman in need of a wheelchair. He did not hesitate to buy her the nicest, most expensive one he could find.
“Man, that woman’s face was a picture when he just walked into this old rundown house and he got us to unload this expensive wheelchair,” bodyguard Sonny West recalled in the book Elvis: What Happened? by Steve Dunleavy. “It was a beautiful gesture and Elvis was very capable of doing those things. And yet, he would turn around and spoil it all by some thoughtless gesture.”
Elvis Presley enjoyed giving strangers presents
This was far from the only time Elvis showed a stranger his generosity. Once, he met a soldier on a plane and handed him all the money in his wallet before the flight was over.
“During the flight, Elvis befriended a young soldier just returning from Vietnam,” Priscilla wrote in her book Elvis and Me. “The soldier must have told him his life story. Before the plane landed, Elvis asked Jerry for the five hundred dollars and handed it over to the young man, wishing him luck.”
On another occasion, Elvis noticed a woman eyeing a car at a dealership. He bought it for her by way of introduction.
“Anyway, he sees this lady looking at a Cadillac Seville and he strikes up a conversation with her and idly asks, ‘Do you like that car?’ She replied, ‘Oh, yes, it’s very nice.’ Presley said, ‘Fine, pick one out. I’m going to buy one for you,’” bodyguard Dave Hebler recalled. “The lady looked like she was going to faint, but she did pick one out and he did buy it for her.”
When a newscaster heard the story, he jokingly asked Elvis for a car of his own. Elvis bought him one.
His spending stressed out his father
While the recipients of Elvis’ gifts were happy he was so generous with his money, Elvis’ father was not. He constantly worried about his son’s spending habits.
“Vernon didn’t have much respect for the guys,” Priscilla wrote. “He said Elvis just gave and gave and gave, and they took and took and took. He’d say, ‘Son, we have to save.’ Elvis would answer, ‘It’s only money, Daddy. I just have to go out and make more.’”
Elvis was so confident in his abilities to make more money that he never let his father’s concerns bother him.
