Elvis Presley and Priscilla Presley were married for six years between 1967 and 1973 and his ex-wife still likes to share fun facts and secrets about The King of Rock and Roll. In a previous interview with the Hallmark Channel’s Home and Family, the 80-year-old revealed the special trick that Tony Curtis taught Elvis Presley. Priscilla shared how Elvis learned how to keep looking youthful thanks to the Hollywood star.
The King’s former wife said: “[Elvis] said that the eyes…are so expressive. When he was very young he was an usher at one of the theatres in Memphis. And he would study all the actors who all kinda had their longevity. Tony Curtis [was] one. Tony Curtis taught him how to put a little black eyeliner, just a little bit, above his eye. And that was a trick back in the day for men as well. If you look at him you can see a little bit of shadow there and he thought it was just great. He loved the art of transitioning from what he saw as realistic to him to that and that of course…gave it that punch. So when I say he loved makeup, he loved eye makeup.”
Elvis later met Curtis, who would have been 100 today, when the latter was filming 1960’s The Rat Race at Paramount Pictures. The Hollywood legend made the reveal during an interview at BFI Southbank in 2008, in which he said how The King modelled his hair after him. One day the actor walked by Elvis’ trailer on the lot and the door was open.
Curtis said: “I looked up, and there was Elvis and he grabs me and pulls me in. And he said, ‘Mr Curtis, I want you to know what a fan I am. I used to watch your movies in Tennessee.’ And I said, ‘Please, don’t call me Mr Curtis.’ And this handsome kid looks at me and said, ‘So what do you want me to call you?’ And I said, ‘Just call me Tony.’” “And he said, ‘Mr Presley.’ Bam, was he funny. We had a great time together. We passed a few girls between us, that’s what guys do.”