The Jewish World of Elvis Presley

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There was a lot of mystery surrounding it,” said Angie Marchese, Graceland’s vice president of archives and exhibits, and the one who came up with the idea of unveiling Gladys’ headstone on the 60th anniversary of her death, partly to dispel doubts about Elvis’ Jewish lineage. “The star is on it, so it answered a lot of questions that were out there.” And here’s the story of Elvis Shmelvis, a.k.a. Dan Hartal, “the world’s only Orthodox Elvis impersonator” and a longtime devotee of the Jewish Elvis. I’ll put my hands up, I’m a big Elvis fan. I have been since my mum took me to see him in Girl Happy in 1965 when I was six years old, the first of many. Admittedly, I became a bit more circumspect about the films Elvis had been compelled to make as I got older. But he was always on my mind. I’ve been to Elvis’s home, Graceland in Memphis. A friend and I go to every concert of Elvis music by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, hosted by Elvis’s wife Priscilla. It goes without saying that I am beyond excited about the new Baz Luhrmann film, Elvis, released on 24 June. I’m a new Elvis fan, thanks to the pilgrimage I made to Graceland during Elvis Week last August, marking the anniversary of The King’s passing. The place was deserted due to Covid. Austin offered Parker the opportunity to move to Nashville, Tennessee, where music was becoming a big business, but for reasons unknown, Parker turned down the offer. [16] Instead, he decided to stay with his family in Temple Terrace, Florida, perhaps to avoid having to submit paperwork that could expose his illegal status. [16] Within a year, Parker had the opportunity to become a legal citizen of the United States – a new law allowed illegal aliens the chance to become citizens in return for their promise to fight for the U.S. during World War II if required. [17] Parker served in the peacetime army as a precondition for taking advantage of that stipulation, but he never subsequently applied to become a citizen. [17] He decided against registering, possibly to prevent his previous army record from becoming public.

Gladys Presley’s grave marker, now on display at Graceland. It was designed by her famous son to honor the family’s Jewish heritage. (Dan Fellner via JTA) It is estimated that more than one billion Elvis Presley records have been sold worldwide. From his early sessions at Sun Records to the end of his career and beyond, Elvis albums and singles enjoyed strong sales across every format–vinyl, cassette, CD and digital. In America alone, Elvis has had 150 different albums and singles that have been certified gold, platinum or multi-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), with more certifications expected as research into his past record sales continues and as current sales go on. It is estimated that 40% of Elvis Presley records have been sold outside the United States. For what it’s worth, the film has it right when Elvis gets suggestive with a plaster Nipper, the RCA dog, in concert. But it’s said to have happened at the Pan-Pacific show. He Only Took Credit for Elvis’s Success, Not Blame for His Demise Elvis’ paternal line is very different. According to Elvis Australia, the singer descended from a German vine dresser named Johannes Valentin Bressler who moved to New York in 1710. As time went on, the family’s last name evolved from Bressler to Presley. Hartal's unusual story begins in an unusual place -- the Montreal Hospital of Hope, a home for the aged where Hartal is employed as the Music Coordinator. When he began his work, he wanted to find a way to combine his love of performing for the elderly Jewish residents with his love for Elvis Presley's music. The result was Elvis songs with a Jewish twist like "Jerusalem Hotel" instead of "Heartbreak Hotel," or "Love me Blender" instead of "Love me Tender."Regardless of Parker and Presley's success, Parker was still struggling to believe that Presley's career would last longer than a year or two. [36] Parker had seen many acts come and go during his earlier years in management and felt that it would be foolish to believe that Presley, despite being Parker's most successful act to date, would be any different. In January 1958, Presley received his draft notice from the United States Army. [37] Presley was upset about the potential negative effect accepting the draft would have on his career, but Parker was secretly overjoyed. [36] The claim of Parker's Dutch heritage was publicly confirmed when Parker failed to avert a lawsuit brought against him in 1982 by asserting in open court that he was a Dutch citizen. The opposing counsel responded by presenting into evidence a copy of Parker's U.S. Army enlistment form which stated, through a legal loophole, that because Parker signed his enlistment papers under his alias "Thomas Andrew Parker" and swore allegiance to the United States, that he had renounced his Dutch citizenship. [67] [a] In 1993, in one of Parker's last media appearances, he was interviewed by Dutch TV director Jorrit van der Kooi. The two spoke in Dutch about the Netherlands and about Elvis Presley's life and career and Parker said he was not aware that another of his sisters, Adriana van Kuijk, had died in the Netherlands a few years earlier. Present-day photograph of a whitewashed house, about 15 feet wide. Four banistered steps in the foreground lead up to a roofed porch that holds a swing wide enough for two. The front of the house has a door and a single-paned window. The visible side of the house, about 30 feet long, has double-paned windows.

For the remainder of Presley's life, Parker saw little of him. The two had become almost strangers, and false reports in the media suggested that Presley's contract was up for sale. [58] Although Parker publicly denied these claims, he had been in talks with Peter Grant, the manager of Led Zeppelin, about the possibility of him overseeing a European tour for Presley. [58] Despite the new rumors of Presley touring overseas, however, Parker never followed through with the deal. As documented in the movie, in the end, the group was successful in giving Elvis the Jewish tribute that they felt was long overdue. Initially they had only 7 of the 10 Jewish males required for a minyan (quorum) to recite the mourner's kaddish. But fortunately, or miraculously as Hartal asserts, three more Jews came "out of nowhere" and Rabbi Reuven Poupko led the group in prayer. There have been suggestions that Elvis’ handlers didn’t want his Jewish heritage known to the public, fearing it might prompt some of his Southern fans to abandon him. But Marchese says there is no evidence of that. On March 26, 1956, after Presley's management contract with Neal expired, Presley signed a contract with Parker that made him his exclusive representative. [26] Later, when Hank Snow asked Parker about the status of their contract with Presley, Parker told him: "You don't have any contract with Elvis Presley. Elvis is signed exclusively to the Colonel." [27]Turns out, Elvis’ maternal great-great grandmother, Nancy Burdine, was believed to be Jewish. Her daughter gave birth to Doll Mansell, who gave birth to Elvis’ mother, Gladys Smith. That, according to a Jewish law, which confers Jewish lineage by way of the mother, makes Elvis technically a Jew. Dowd, Maureen (May 22, 2022). "A Larger-Than-Life Look at a Larger-Than-Life Star". The New York Times. pp.ST10. ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved September 21, 2023. Jerry Schilling, a member of the Memphis Mafia Van der Steen, Paul (September 14, 2020). "Staatloos na het dienen in vreemde krijgsdienst". Trouw.nl. Trouw . Retrieved August 19, 2023. If there is one regret that Geller has about his time with Elvis it's that he wasn't able to wrap teffilin with him.

Beiffus described this dramatic event, noting that fans and mourners attending the 2018 Elvis Week would be among the first in decades to encounter the grave marker, which was last seen in 1977. Apparently, it was then that Elvis’s father, Vernon, who was open about his antisemitic views, decided to place the marble stone with the Star of David in storage. He had removed the remains of both his wife and son from Forest Hill Cemetery because of what he said was evidence of grave robbing. Let’s begin with the fact that Elvis was halachically Jewish. I can hear you with your suspicious minds doubting that fact. But genealogists have now confirmed Elvis’s maternal great-great-grandmother was a Jewish woman named Nancy Burdine. It’s believed her family immigrated to America from what is now Lithuania around the time of the American Revolution. Burdine was born in Mississippi in 1826 and died in 1887. Elsewhere in this section of the film, Parker—who in real life had sold the network on the idea of a Christmas special so he could turn Elvis into a late-’60s Bing Crosby—appears as a bumbling rube in his insistence that Elvis sing “Here Comes Santa Claus.” It’s funny, but renders Parker ridiculous. Sure, he was out of touch with the times by then, and didn’t see the Phoenix-like potential of what the special could do for his “attraction,” as he called Elvis. But he was never inept, and he was fiercely loyal in his business dealings and determined to honor his contracts to the letter. The Colonel Goes to Nightmare Alley The Jerusalem Post Group Breaking News World News Iran News IvritTalk- Free trial lesson The Jerusalem Report Jerusalem Post Lite Trending Articles חדשותמעריב Real Estate Listings Hype Special Content Insights 50 JewsThis impressive monument belies rumors, circulating over the past few years, that Elvis may actually have been halachically Jewish through his maternal great-great grandmother. That thought troubles the current generation of Fruchters. As I took the tour, the mystery deepened. After you visit the various rooms on the ground floor (the upstairs was off limits, I was told, as it was still occupied by Elvis’s two elderly aunts) you were sent to the basement to view an endless row of display cases with all of Elvis’s album covers, gold records, jumpsuits and more. The very last display case, before you left the building to roam the grounds, featured the things Elvis was wearing the night he died. Included were his religious paraphernalia, which he “always wore,” the docent told me: a cross and a Chai pendant (visible in the photo above). I just don’t want to miss getting through the gates of Heaven on a technicality,” Elvis would quip. 3. Elvis was the “Shabbos goy” for a Rabbi’s family. He was always searching for answers as to why he was chosen to be who he was,” Marchese said. “I think he found some of those answers through different religions.”