Elvis Presley obtained many close relationships throughout his career. The preeminent of all his personal relationships, by far, was that he had with his mother Gladys, as described below.
Devotion to his mother In a newspaper interview with The Memphis Press Scimitar, Presley himself was open about the close relationship to his mother. "She was the number-one girl in his life, and he was dedicating his career to her."The writer called Presley "a hillbilly cat," poked fun at Presley closeness to his mama, and insinuated Presley was "talented but simple." Summarized by Earl Greenwood in The Boy Who Would Be King, p. 155. Throughout her life, "the son would call her by pet names," and they communicated by baby talk.Peter Guralnick. Last Train To Memphis: The Rise Of Elvis Presley, p. 13. According to Elaine Dundy, "it was agony for her to leave her child even for a moment with anyone else, to let anyone else touch Elvis."Elaine Dundy. Elvis and Gladys, p. 71. Presley himself said, "My mama never let me out of her sight. I couldn't go down to the creek with the other kids." His father, Vernon Presley, talked about Elvis's close relationship to his mother "after his son became famous, almost as if it were a source of wonder that anyone couldn't be that close to him."See Guralnick, p. 13.
During Presley's rising career, Gladys became despairing, depressed and lonely and began to neglect her health. She put on weight and began to drink every day. She had wanted Elvis to succeed, "but not so that he would be apart from her. The hysteria of the crowd frightened her."Robert Rodriguez. The 1950s' Most Wanted: The Top 10 Book of Rock & Roll Rebels, Cold War Crises, and All-American Oddities, p. 87. Published 2006. Doctors diagnosed liver problems, and Gladys's condition eventually worsened so much that she was admitted to hospital in August 1958. At that time, Presley was in Fort Hood, Texas, to fulfill his military obligations, but he got emergency leave to see her, and a special plane was chartered to take him home on August 12. Gladys died on August 14.See Rodriguez, The 1950s' Most Wanted, p. 87. Elvis and Vernon were deeply upset by her death, with Elvis "sobbing and crying hysterically,"Guralnick, p. 478. and eyewitnesses relate that he was "grieving almost constantly" for days.Guralnick, p. 480. During and shortly after the funeral, Judy Spreckels and Nick Adams, Presley's best friends at that time, attempted to comfort the singer.In a personal letter of August 25, 1958, to his secretary, Presley's manager, Colonel Thomas Parker, wrote that "Nicky Admas came out to be with Elvis last Week wich was so very kind of him to be there with his friend ... Judy Spreckels also came all the way to Memphis to be with Elvis for the Funeral [,] this was very kind of her also. And I know Elvis did appreciate this so very much."
High school and early stardom Presley's early experiences being teased by his classmates for being a "mama's boy" may have had an influence on his early dating experiences. He didn't have any friends as a teen. Beginning in his early teens, Presley embarked upon the "indefatigable pursuit of girls," but was totally rebuffed. It was said that at school, anyone wishing to provoke a little girl to tears of rage had only to chalk "Elvis loves -" and then the girl's name on the blackboard when the teacher was out of the room.Elaine Dundy. Elvis and Gladys, p. 125. For interviews with teachers and former fellow students at Milam Junior High school in Tupelo, Mississippi, see Dundy, p. 124.
His first true sweetheart was the fifteen-year-old Dixie Locke Emmons, whom the singer dated steadily after graduating from Humes and during his Sun Records time. While still a rising star, Presley also had a relationship with June Juanico, who is said to have been the only girl his mother ever approved of, and according to Juanico, she "never had sex with Presley."Quoted in Ruthe Stein. "Girls! Girls! Girls! From small-town women to movie stars, Elvis loved often but never true," San Francisco Chronicle, August 3, 1997. In Juanico's book Elvis in the Twilight of Memory, she stated she was afraid of getting pregnant. However, since the singer's death, many claims to relationships have been made by women who were no more than acquaintances or had short affairs which were exaggerated for personal gain.According to Ruthe Stein, "So many women, famous and not, have been linked to Presley that you wonder how he found time to have a career." The author also cites June Juanico who said, "I doubt Elvis was sleeping with those showgirls, either. The Colonel had told him, 'For God's sake, don't get anyone pregnant' – and Elvis wouldn't go against the Colonel." See Ruthe Stein. "Girls! Girls! Girls! From small-town women to movie stars, Elvis loved often but never true," San Francisco Chronicle, August 3, 1997. Juanico even blames Elvis's manager, Colonel Thomas Parker, for encouraging Presley to go out with beautiful women only "for the publicity."Stein, "Girls! Girls! Girls!" San Francisco Chronicle, August 3, 1997.
Between 1954 and 1956, when his stardom began to rise, Presley became the subject of adoration by young Hollywood starlets such as Natalie Wood, Judy Tyler, Shelley Fabares, and Connie Stevens. It was said that his mother believed that Wood was a schemer who hoped to "snare" the singer only "for publicity purposes."Gavin Lambert. Natalie Wood: A Life, p. 205. When a columnist wanted to know if the romance with Presley was "serious," Wood's answer was, "Not right now. But who knows what will happen?"Lambert, p. 206. The author adds, "By this time, Natalie had learned an important lesson in handling the press: titillating curiosity without satisfying it was always more effective than the standard denial of 'We're just good friends.'" One of her judgments of Presley was, "He can sing but he can't do much else."Lana Wood. Natalie – A Memoir by Her Sister, 1984.
The main women in his life Several authors have written that "Elvis busied his evenings with various girlfriends"Connie Kirchberg and Marc Hendrickx, Elvis Presley, Richard Nixon, and the American Dream (1999), p. 62. or that his "list of one-night stands would fill volumes."Jim Curtin, Elvis: Unknown Stories behind the Legend, p. 119. Actress Anne Helm, for instance, has stated that Presley "really liked sex" and "I had fun." She further claimed that Presley loved the flouncy, yellow baby-doll nightie he had bought her, and that he gave her pills after having sex with her.See Peter Harry Brown and Pat H. Broeske, Down at the End of Lonely Street: The Life and Death of Elvis Presley (1998), p. 242-244, 449.
It is unclear whether Presley actually had sexual intercourse with most of the women he dated.See, for instance, Byron Raphael with Alanna Nash, "In Bed with Elvis," Playboy, November 2005, Vol. 52, Iss. 11. Ruthe Stein, "Girls! Girls! Girls! From small-town women to movie stars, Elvis loved often but never true," San Francisco Chronicle, August 3, 1997. His early girlfriends Barbara Hearn and June Juanico say that they had no sexual relationships with Presley, and there were several women with whom Presley quickly bypassed sexuality altogether, settling into comfortable friendships. Spreckels, singer Betty Amos, hairstylist Patti Parry, and others close to Presley all filled sisterly roles for him. Despite claiming no sexual relationship with Presley, June Juanico did say in an interview for the movie Elvis 1956, "I will not say what happened between us. It is personal." Byron Raphael and Alanna Nash have stated that the star "would never put himself inside one of these girls..." (for a number of reasons).Byron Raphael with Alanna Nash, "In Bed with Elvis," Playboy, November 2005, Vol. 52, Iss. 11, p. 64-68, 76, 140. The article claims that "the so-called dangerous rock-and-roll idol was anything but a despotic ruler in the bedroom ... He was far more interested in heavy petting and panting and groaning" and "he would never put himself inside one of these girls ... within minutes he'd be asleep."
Albert Goldman speculated that Presley preferred voyeurism over normal sexual relations with women. Goldman went on to suggest that during his military service, Presley had "discovered prostitutes and picked up the intense fear of sexually transmitted diseases which led to claims that he had a morbid fear of sexual penetration."Tracy McVeigh, "Elvis Special: Love me tender." The Observer, Sunday August 11, 2002. Alanna Nash, in her book 'Baby, Let's Play House': Elvis Presley and the Women Who Loved Him (2010), reveals a need in Presley to play Pygmalion and father to very young girls, whom he delighted in making over. A late-blooming "Mama's boy," she argues, young Elvis was a flop with girls and super-religious.
Actress Rita Moreno has also acknowledged that she dated Elvis "several times," though she described their romance as brief, claiming that he was "sweet, but boring."
Other women whom Elvis Presley dated included Dottie Harmony, Pat Sheehan, Pat Mowry, and Yvonne Lime.Clemens, Samuel. "Dedicated to Philanthropy", Classic Images. September 2022
June Juanico "recalls a time when she stood up to Elvis in front of his band of hangers-on, who even then were beginning to accompany him everywhere. He grabbed her arm, took her into the bathroom and declared: 'Look, you are so right, I am really sorry.' He kept her there for five minutes, then swaggered out, his image intact." Julie Parrish, Presley's co-star in Paradise Hawaiian Style, relates, "One time on set I had a real pain in my side – a side-effect, I think – and Elvis scooped me up, carried me into his trailer and shut the door. Outside the crew was waiting and wondering, but Elvis was oblivious to the innuendo. He placed his hand over my side and tried to do some healing on me." Playboy star and actress June Wilkinson remembered that she "met Elvis on the set of King Creole. He invited me to dinner at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. ... Then Elvis gave me a tour of his suite, sat me on the bed in his bedroom and sang to me for two hours. That was it. The next day ... we had dinner again. He was very sweet, and he was friendly. He had more than sex on his mind. He got me to the airport on time, and our paths never crossed again."Paul Parla and Charles P. Mitchell, Screen Sirens Scream!: Interviews with 20 Actresses from Science Fiction, Horror, Film Noir and Mystery Movies, 1930s to 1960s (2000), p. 235.
However, the singer may not have always been sweet and friendly towards women. When Christina Crawford, the adopted daughter of Joan Crawford, visited Presley, they were watching Bonanza in the TV room. She was not a friend of Presley. "Elvis had been puffing on a cigar ... as Christina tickled him and kidded around, apparently seeking more direct attention." Suddenly, as Buzz Cason relates, "she slung the contents of her cocktail glass right into Elvis's face. ... The cigar went 'phhhtttt' and he jumped up. ... He grabbed her by the hair. 'Get this bitch out of here!' he screamed, leading her toward the front door as she struggled to keep up with the rather quick pace as he was pulling her locks. Turmoil ensued as the 'boys' scrambled to assist trying to prevent too big of a scene... "Buzz Cason, Living the Rock 'N' Roll Dream: The Adventures of Buzz Cason (2004), p. 81. Presley said to Cason that he was sorry and not raised to treat a woman like that. In his book, Joe Esposito (who was the one dating Crawford) confirmed that this behavior was out of character for Presley. Sonny West who was also there agreed with Esposito and noticed that Presley and Christina patched things up when he saw them getting along very well on a set one week later.