elvis presley acting career

Elvis Presley acting career From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Elvis Presley became a film star in 1956, and would go on to appear in a total of 33 feature films. He first became interested in acting in his youth; despite later declarations that he had no acting experience, fellow Humes High School students recall that he was often cast as the lead in the Shakespeare plays they studied in English class. He admired actors such as James Dean and Marlon Brando, and reportedly paid close attention to their performing styles long before he ever set foot on a movie set. [1] On March 26±28, 1956, just days after the release of his first album, he did a screen test for Paramount Pictures . Part of the test was an audition for a supporting role in The Rainmaker , starring Burt Lancaster . Screenwriter Allen Weiss compared his acting to that of "the lead in a high school play." Then, to his recording of "Blue Suede Shoes", Presley gave a lip -synched performance, compl ete with gyrations. In Weiss's description, "The transforma tion was incredible...electricity bounced off the walls. ... [It was] like an earthqua ke". [2] In a radio interview two weeks later, Presley excitedly declar ed that he w ould be making his motion picture debut in The Rainmaker . [3] The part ultimately went to Earl Holliman. [4] King Creole (1958) was Presley's personal favorite among his many films. [5] On April 25, Presley signed a seven-ye ar contract wit h Paramount that also allowed him to work with other studios. [6] In November, he made his big-screen debut with the musical western Love Me Tender . It was panned by the critics but did well at the box office. [7] The original title² The Reno Brothers ²was changed to capitalize on the advanced sales of the song "Love Me Tender". The commercial success led to the release of three more Presley film vehicl es over the next twenty months. The singer

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