Elvis Presley on film and television

Elvis Presley was an American entertainer who achieved great initial success as a singer and stage performer. He publicly expressed an early career goal of following in the footsteps of his role models James Dean and Marlon Brando to become a top dramatic actor.^[1] His manager Colonel Tom Parker's persistent lobbying of William Morris Agency president Abe Lastfogel for a Presley screen test paid off on March 26, 1956, when the singer auditioned at Paramount for a supporting role in The Rainmaker.^[2] Although not chosen for the part, he signed a contract with Paramount producer Hal Wallis on April 25 that also allowed him to make films with other studios.^[3]

His feature debut was in Love Me Tender in 1956 for 20th Century Fox, which was the biggest acting debut of all time,^[4] with the commercial success of the soundtrack EP being a bellwether for the next three Presley films, Loving You, Jailhouse Rock, and King Creole. Elvis returned to acting after leaving the army in 1960, with G.I. Blues and a dramatic western Flaming Star. The popularity of his romantic musicals established a formula for the coming years, with Elvis films being credited as the start of the modern music video.

Over time, Presley became bitter that his hopes for dramatic roles were not coming to fruition,^[5] stating that Clambake was his worst film. He began to complain about the deteriorating quality of the films and his belief that his manager's objectives were more monetary than anything else.^[6] This resulted in a change to his acting career and a stop to the formula films in 1968, after which Elvis starred in some of the best films of his career, including the western, Charro! and the important drama Change of Habit, which showed his acting ability and was a major hit.^[7]

At the expiration of all studio contracts, he returned to live entertaining and soon became the biggest star in Las Vegas history and on tour in America.^[8] The two concert documentaries Elvis: That's the Way It Is in 1970 and Elvis on Tour in 1972 were the final theatrical releases for Presley.^[9] Both were among the most successful concert documentaries of their day with Elvis on Tour winning prestige with a Golden Globe award and starting off the career of Martin Scorsese.

Elvis was the highest paid actor in Hollywood, but said that he didn't need money to be successful^[10] and that no amount of money was necessary for him to take a good role. But he was so ahead of his time that Hollywood didn't know what to do with him.

It was expected for Elvis to be paid his usual million dollar salary to star in A Star is Born.^[11] This being the last film offer of Elvis' career, although after being excited about the part, Elvis wasn't going to get the top billing and rights he deserved so he changed his mind and was intending on producing and directing, with his first movie the karate film The New Gladiators unfinished at the time of his death.^[12]

Over the years and with a reassessment of his acting career, roles in films like Charro! or Wild in the Country have come to show how good Elvis was as an actor.^[13][14] Many consider him to have been the best and most successful singer-actor in Hollywood history.^[15]