During his active military career Mr. Presley served as a member of two different armor battalions. Between March 28 and September 17, 1958, he belonged to Company A, 2d Medium Tank Battalion, 37th Armor, stationed at Fort Hood, Texas. During this assignment he completed basic and advanced military training.
The Navy suggested creating an “Elvis Presley company” composed of his friends from Memphis, and the Air Force wanted to use him as a recruiting model rather than sending him into combat, according to Military. The Army offered to have him only play concerts for the troops. Presley chose to serve as a regular soldier.
On March 24, 1958, 23-year-old Elvis Presley was inducted into the U.S. Army.
To everyone's amazement, instead of shaking, wiggling, and jumping around, Elvis stood perfectly still. Then he wiggled his little finger suggestively in place of his usual movements. This thrilled the crowd, who found "the finger" both hilarious and deeply erotic.
After being assigned to Company A, 2d Medium Tank Battalion, 37th Armor, Presley completed basic training by June. He had become a pistol sharpshooter, and expressed his enjoyment at the "rough and tumble" of the tanks obstacle course.
During his active military career Mr. Presley served as a member of two different armor battalions. Between March 28 and September 17, 1958, he belonged to Company A, 2d Medium Tank Battalion, 37th Armor, stationed at Fort Hood, Texas. During this assignment he completed basic and advanced military training.
In 1960, Elvis received his black belt in karate. Years later, he was promoted to the eighth degree!
Elvis' Pelvis Leads to His Arrest
In the film, Elvis is ordered by a court judge to tone down his gyrating hips before a show in Memphis. His wild dance moves are considered too lewd for an impressionable young audience, and the judge even comes prepared with an arrest warrant should Elvis so much as wiggle a finger.
On Elvis Presley's first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, then one of the most popular shows on television, he was shown only from the waist up. His “gyrations” were considered too sexual for a family television audience.
As Elvis grew more confident, so did his hair, becoming more sculpted and less greasy by the late 50s. The singer had his hair shorn off in 1958 as he prepared to join the Army.
Elvis was washed up for most of that decade, though a TV special in 1968 spurred a comeback. What put him on the ropes was the rock boom he himself had started.
How Long Was Elvis Presley in the Military? Elvis Presley served in the military for two years after being drafted in 1958 and was honorably discharged in 1960. His time was brief, and Elvis Presley's military rank would peak as an Army Sergeant (E-5).
By all accounts, Elvis was a good soldier, if not always a good boy. He performed his duties well (as a jeep driver in a tank battalion) and seems to have earned the respect of his fellow soldiers and his commanding officers while stationed in West Germany.
Fans sent tens of thousands of letters to the army asking for him to be spared, but Elvis would have none of it. He received one deferment–during which he finished working on his movie King Creole–before being sworn in as an army private in Memphis on March 24, 1958.
Out of the ridiculous $10.5million figure, Elvis received $4.5million and the Colonel received $6million.
The MPAA rating has been assigned for “substance abuse, strong language, suggestive material and smoking.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes several implied sex scenes, discussions of infidelity, several kissing scenes, many scenes of a singer dancing with hip gyrations and crowds of women swooning, reports of ...
He arouses things in them that shouldn't be aroused. '" According to rhythm and blues artist Hank Ballard, "In white society, the movement of the butt, the shaking of the leg, all that was considered obscene.
His sexy moves and black-influenced sound was condemned by certain factions of the “morally concerned” establishment and the religious community, but his seemingly unstoppable popularity continued to grow to new heights.
Thomas went on to say that Butler not only had to be fitted with prosthetics and wigs during each decade of Elvis's journey, but he also wore two sets of false eyelashes and makeup. The real Elvis wasn't shy about creating a larger-than-life persona for himself, but it was harder for him to demand privacy.
Thankfully that famous footage came through and we were able to use it, and that's the real Elvis. It's so interesting that a lot of people don't realize we cut to the real Elvis because it punches me in the heart every time I see that scene and you see Elvis' face.”
When he returned to Memphis, Elvis earned his first-degree black belt in 1960 under Chito-Ryu stylist Hank Slemansky. Later, he trained in a Memphis dojo under Master Kang Rhee, who bestowed upon him a seventh degree black belt in March of 1973 and his eighth in September of 1974.
The king was in fact a fan of makeup — more specifically, eye makeup — and loved making his vibrant blue eyes pop on stage while performing.