Episode 2: Elvis and The Legend of the Jeweled Cross Pendant | ELVIS: BEHIND THE IMAGE - THE SERIES

[Music] this story follows the curious trail of a very unique gift that was first given to elvis and much later received from elvis and an incredible incident that's become famous in elvis history it involves a future president an attempted theft and a legendary act of generosity after elvis comes to the aid of a choking little girl at one of his live performances now this story is one you may think you know but trust me you ain't seen nothing yet i'm way ahead of you [Applause] [Music] but the price that [Music] very hard to live up to an image [Music] proudly stand behind the image [Music] there's a man [Music] one of elvis's most incredible attributes was his legendary generosity today we're going to explore a very unique story that's become folklore among fans now this is in large part because of a 1979 film that put a spotlight on this real life event over 40 years ago [Music] it's pretty well known that whenever hollywood tells a real life story accuracy is a subjective term although there's usually a grain of truth to it the rest is pretty much a fabrication of colorful embellishments that's intended for sheer entertainment value oftentimes the reason is simply that films attempt to sometimes cram several actual events spanning several decades into a single scene you know to get the most out of the 90 minutes of allotted running time and the problem is oftentimes that skewed account unfortunately becomes legend and when the legend becomes accepted as fact and people tend to begin treating it as gospel furthering the spread of the sometimes distorted version of the legend down through the years there's been a lot of mistakes made and we're gonna do something about it case in point is the 1979 dick clark film elvis starring at 28 year old kurt russell although a few books would go on in later years to casually mention it for many their first and oftentimes only exposure to the existence of the story of the famed cross pendant began here the scene in the film mistakenly depicts a younger 1950s elvis in his golame suit giving a teenage girl a massive cross pendant from around his neck after someone in the audience steals the bow tie he had just given her from his costume although the general notion of the incident was correct the actual facts are quite different and actually much more interesting as you'll soon see for yourself after literal years of investigation the true legend of the famed cross pendant led me down an intriguing path that i'd like to share with you today although the ending is quite amazing let's start at the beginning at the genesis of this true life adventure it not only showcases elvis legendary giving nature it's a virtual pay-it-forward object lesson that has spanned decades and encapsulates the real essence of the true man behind the image [Music] elvis 10th concert tour of the 1970s began in mobile alabama on june 20th 1973 and ended in atlanta georgia on july 3rd it consisted of 17 total performances over 14 days in eight different cities but strangely enough elvis made three separate trips to the omni midland on this tour and gave four performances because of such high demand for tickets now returning to the same city on the same tour happened on occasion but rarely did elvis return to a city a third time on the same tour as he did with atlanta [Music] coincidentally atlanta is where it all begins for this fascinating tale just half a year since his career crowning achievement the previous january with the famous aloha from hawaii show that was broadcast via satellite to most of the entire globe elvis was still filled with enthusiastic vigor as the tour began [Music] his first performance of the tour was in mobile on june 20th incidentally the ticket price for an elvis presley show started at only five dollars then 750 then only 10 for the most expensive tickets if you can believe it from mobile elvis flew straight to atlanta and checked into the massive stouffer's hotel which was just a short distance from the varsity which was one of elvis's favorite hamburger joints in the day the last time elvis appeared in atlanta was almost 17 years to the day when he performed at the paramount theater in 1956. his first performance back in atlanta in 1973 was on june 21st when elvis gave a stellar performance to over 17 000 enthusiastic fans at the omni among those fans were seven friends from atlanta who had bumped into elvis stage manager charlie hodge before the show after the performance charlie invited them up to elvis's suite to meet elvis tony beverly sherry linda ivali judy and patty went to elvis hotel curiously skeptical if they would actually get to meet elvis since they had assumed he had already left town after the show they were taken up to a suite room number 2410 and entered the surreal world of elvis private sanctuary while he was on tour they were trying their best to play it cool but actually shaking in sight with nervous anticipation so as we as the door opens and we're walking back all of a sudden elvis stood up and there he was bigger than life and he just came you know walking towards us and he kissed everybody hello and asked us to have a seat which of course we were glad to do and he sat in the chair with his back to the window and we sat kind of in a semicircle on the floor around him and one of the girls i think sat on the sofa with vernon that was his dad and the rest of us just sat there and we just he was so easy to talk to it was just crazy how easy to talk to he was he was just as pleasant and he's in every day as somebody could be just made you very comfortable and so he asked us how did how did we like the show and suddenly we absolutely loved it and he asked us you know how was the sound in the building he was always concerned about sound in the buildings of course and we said it it was great and he uh he said that he liked later on he told us he liked to play the omni he liked that building he had on a a white karate key and black pants and we talked about his karate and and you know how far along he was in that he talked about the the different jewelry that he had on he had on some rings and bracelets and and he just would sit there and ask us questions about the music and things like he did ask us um he said i bet there's not one of you 25 and we just said no and then he said uh and are y'all married and we said yes and he said well what do your husbands think about y'all being up here we said we don't care and we knew that they'd be thrilled to death that we were up there anyway we asked him um would he are we asking why he didn't sing help me make it through the night and so he told charlie to put that down on their raster list and that to to write it down because we asked him would he please sing it that we all loved it so much and he started teasing us a little bit and he started sort of singing it takes a ribbon from here and linda one of the girls she had her hand on his knee and she didn't even realize she was just rubbing his knee and he kind of picked up her hand and laughed and said she's rubbing my knee and she said i didn't even know i was and um but everything was sort of i remember at one point looking up and it was sort of dreamlike that you it was just mesmerizing you just couldn't believe that you were there and it was it was like a dream and i remember thinking well if it is all my friends are here this is good we were in there about two hours i'd say and then food came over or someone brought food to the door from the varsity and so we excused ourselves and he did he asked us if we had tickets for the other shows and we said yeah we did and so we excused ourselves when his food came and everything and at that point when i noticed a beautiful girl linda thompson who had been sitting just just a little bit back behind me but to the side and i hadn't even seen her the whole time i had not even noticed her but that's how mesmerized i was and when we stood up she was singing some little song about can't get enough of that sugar crisp uh talking about kisses if he was just everybody goodbye can't get enough of that sugar crisp now for those of you who don't quite get the reference in the south when you kiss someone you're giving them sugar [Music] we did ask for an autograph that night i didn't have anything good to write on so i had a dollar bill in my purse so asking for his autograph and he told me okay and then he started to sign and he said oh honey i can't sign this and i said why he said well that would be defacing government property and i said well you don't need to worry because it's never going to be in circulation again and of course it is not and so he just kind of laughed signed that and found one of those also for another girl beverly that was with us so everybody got autographed and we went our way we got downstairs and then we started to breathe when we got downstairs and realized oh my god we've just met elvis presley you know how has this happened to us this is amazing the excited girls left reeling from the surreal evening of hanging with the king in his private suite after first seeing him tear it up on stage i mean can you just imagine they immediately anticipated elvis return to atlanta eight days later and they knew they wanted to do something special for him so we had a week and so we decided within that week he is so nice so special in so many ways what could we do we wanted to do something special for him so we decided we were going to buy him a present and so we went and we started looking and we went to a department store in atlanta called riches and we went to riches at north dekalb mall into their fine jewelry place and so we're walking and we're looking and we're walking and looking and then all of a sudden i spotted this gorgeous cross just beautiful and it just said elvis just said it to me and i called him over there i said this is it girls this is the one and so everybody agreed oh yeah and this is great and so then we had to get a chain for it so we got a train for it and the man knew what we were doing he could hear us laughing and giggling and carrying on and he said i don't think you girls are going to get up there in elvis presley's room and i told him i said well we got up there before and we're supposed to be able to go back but if something happens then we can't can we bring this back and he said sure this cross was uh gold with tourmaline stones in it which are really really dark dark green stones they actually look black when you look at them most of the time and so we got that got a nice chain for it it was like a i think it was a triple link chain so we put this necklace which was quite expensive at the time and we put this necklace on a club payment plan at rich's and we put it in in one of the girls names and then we all paid on it so we wrapped it in a pretty box and we're just so excited can't wait to go back and see elvis and give this to him together with the gold chain they paid a whopping 750 dollars which is nearly 4 500 in today's money now keep in mind the average and minimum hourly wage back in 1973 was only a dollar sixty an hour hell a brand new volkswagen bug was under two thousand dollars the girls had to purchase the cross pendant on a club plan with monthly installment payments split equally among the girls but they were determined to give elvis something that he would simply adore elvis had most definitely made quite an impact on those girls and long before they made it up to a suite but they were not alone an entire arena in atlanta filled with seventeen thousand fans had also lost their collective minds as evidenced by the write-up in the newspaper the following day elvis had left town but not for long [Music] after a week of eight different concerts in uniondale pittsburgh cincinnati and st louis elvis was back in atlanta for his performance on june 29th he would perform three more concerts in two days for the eager fans of atlanta but no one was more eager than the atlanta girls who could barely contain themselves in anticipation of presenting elvis with their special gift tony's mother kathleen adams was photographed before the show on friday june 29th holding the black and white gift wrap box that contained the cross pendant for elvis well it was friday and we of course all were getting ready and we uh we got the the cross which was wrapped in you know in a box for him and my mother took it cause she said i'm gonna keep this till the end of the show because you girls might throw it you're too wild you can't keep it so for safekeeping my mother held the cross during the whole show and then gave it to us and then the show so we could go back up there and give it to him and she was thrilled just to be that much a part of it elvis thrilled the audience in atlanta with an energetic show that had them on their feet for most of the performance it was friday the 29th so we go and we go to the show and again fabulous show just fabulous and a wonderful crowd in atlanta they absolutely loved him the atlanta girls were amazed to hear the chris christopherson song helped me make it through the night had indeed been added to the show's song lineup just as elvis promised a week earlier it's interesting to note how a mere suggestion from a loyal fan literally altered the song lineup for the rest of the summer tour it just goes to show how in tune elvis was with his fans and how important it was for him to please them after the show the girls immediately headed over to the hotel where elvis had just been driven after leaving the stage at the omni he wasn't i don't think he was going to be seeing a lot of people that night it wasn't going to be like that first night from the impression that i got from everything and we were downstairs in the lobby same place that where they stayed before at the stoppers inn i believe it was kenny hicks that came down and and we we said we wanted to you know we hope we get to come up and he said well he said he's not having a lot of company up there tonight but he said three of you can come up because we told him we had a gift for him and he said well three of you could come up so i stood up immediately and then beverly stood up and then linda stood up we knew we were going so we stood up and we followed kenny up there and when they opened the door um right as soon as they opened the door of the suite it was very quiet in there just um it was real dark and there was elvis at the door real close to the door and linda thompson was there the stamps quartet was there and charlie was there and so they were singing with no music and they were just singing acapella and they sang three gospel songs in a row and it was beautiful it was really one of my very very favorite memories but they sang the bosom of abraham they sang i john and lead me guide me and it was absolutely beautiful [Music] so after that broke up then we went over to the other side of the suite and they told them that we had something for him and so he said how nice and so he we handed him a card and he uh he was fixing to open it and then i said well now there's uh former girls downstairs that went in on this and so he looked at i believe it was kenny he looked at kenny and said go down there and get those other girls and so he did he went down and got the other girls and during that time we just chit-chatted with him and about different stuff and one of the things was about the songs that he had sang and he said to me well he said i know which one you liked best and i said switzerland and he said loading his body and i said why is that and he said because i say goodbye tony o'darlin in it and i just laughed [Music] and we were all there we had these little necklaces going that said tce which in our our mind was taking care of elvis and they thought those were amusing for whatever reason and so we talked about those and then by this time the other girls were up there um first you read the card he opened it and he started reading it and he read it out loud to everybody in the ring [Music] sometimes someone special deserves a little more than a simple thank you but how can we thank you for being you forgiven us so much of you for giving us happiness for being there in times of sadness and times of joy for singing songs of love when we need love spreading excitement and giving us comfort and warmth these things you've done through your music but most of all thank you for being the person that you are a warm tender and wonderful person who has and always will give us so much happiness [Music] and then he said thank you that's nice linda would you his girlfriend linda would you put this up i'd like to keep it so we said oh that you know it's all worth it right there so then he opened the gift and he and he really you could tell he really liked it thank you and he had linda his girlfriend linda put it on him and she reached over there and put it on around his neck and he just you know he complimented what a pretty piece of jewelry he really liked it and he said to me well to all of us he said well and i needed a cross and he said so i gave my last cross to don rickles and we said oh okay and so we were just happy even if he never had had his own after that night he had it on that night and he seemed to really really like it so we went home happy happy happy because he seemed to love it and we were told later that he um the next morning that he he slept in it and that the next morning he was picking it up and looking kind of over towards the varsity and in the light of day that he well one morning it was probably afternoon but they said he picked it up and he looked at it and he said oh it's a tourmaline i thought it was onyx so he thought too that it was onyx because it is such a dark tourmaline but he he just said that's even better he liked the tourmaline so [Music] we were thrilled elvis rarely held on to much of anything that he owned for very long he was a giver he simply loved giving to people so when these atlanta girls turned the tables on him giving elvis such a stunning and heartfelt gift he was genuinely moved the next day elvis would perform two shows the first was a 3 p.m matinee show elvis stepped onto the stage in his stunning thunderbird suit in front of 17 000 screaming fans and an endless sea of popping flash bulbs the atlanta girls unfortunately missed the very first performance where elvis wore the new cross pendant from them on stage unfortunately they had tickets for every other atlanta performance except this one but according to the photos taken by other fans in attendance that beautiful pendant around his neck was truly a sight to behold the fortunate members of the audience who were in attendance were all eye witness to elvis legendary impromptu giving nature during this performance a woman up front was holding a young boy wearing a little elvis style jumpsuit elvis brought the boy up on stage and gave him the heavily jeweled cape to his thunderbird suit bass singer jd sumner said give him your belt too elvis which elvis promptly did yeah there was no end elvis immense generosity the true tales of the selfless gestures of kindness are legendary and as this story continues you'll soon see the true depth of that magnificent giving nature [Applause] [Music] before his evening performance on june 30th elvis met with several people in his dressing room backstage most notable was the georgia governor and future president of the united states jimmy carter and his wife rosalind the famous cross pendant can clearly be seen around elvis neck as they pose for photos backstage moments later elvis walked on stage to a deafening wave of thunderous applause so intense you could almost feel it in the air elvis gave another stellar performance to yet another packed crowd of fans at the omni for this evening show that was uniquely special to the atlanta girls who were beaming with prideful delight after seeing elvis for the first time wearing the cross pendant on stage displayed proudly on the outside of his jumpsuit we ran our same seat which was over to the left of the stage and with a whole fan club set and so and he knew that's where we were sitting and when he came out he did two three songs and then and but he had the cross on he had it out on top of his car and i believe he had on the white star and he had it out on top of the scarf and of course we went nuts uh sherry was pulling my hair linda was pulling on the other side everybody was screaming because he had it on and so then he just did two or three songs and then he said it's great to be back in atlanta and then he kind of did the microphone you know tapped it on his chest and then he pointed up to where we were sitting and he said it's great you know it's great to be back in atlanta with your friends and then he went straight into that song that we had asked him to sing help me make it through the night [Music] so again we were crazy we were pulling hair and acting crazy and it was beautiful just the whole memory the whole night was absolutely wonderful [Music] immediately afterwards elvis went directly to the airport and flew out of atlanta for shows the following two days in nashville and oklahoma city without missing a beat elvis was immediately back on the plane and returning to the omni in atlanta for his last performance of the tour closing it out on july 3 1973. [Applause] [Music] in his dressing room immediately before the final show elvis can be seen wearing the cross pendant as he posed for photos with fortunate people with enough clout to make it backstage elvis daughter lisa marie can be seen in one of the rare photos she really went on tour with her daddy bear in mind this was just three months before his divorce was fine with priscilla in october of 1973. moments later elvis burst onto the stage looking like a greek adonis for his tuesday evening performance [Applause] several of the atlanta shows were photographed by famed elvis photographer keith alverson who captured some of the most amazing shots and existence of elvis wearing the cross pendant on stage [Applause] the most breathtaking were the final show of the tour in atlanta on july 3rd the whirlwind 1973 elvis experience that included five performances in the peach state had escalated into a full-blown rock and roll hurricane by the time elvis was through he had left an indelible mark on the quivering soul of atlanta [Music] he also left behind one of his jewel encrusted capes and belts and in a more profound sense a little piece of himself that individually went home with tens of thousands of enamored fans what he took with him when he left was the love and adoration of those grateful fans in a jeweled cross pendant that he would wear religiously until he paid it forward eight months later in an incident that has become legendary in elvis history [Music] by the time they had said those famous words elvis has left the building thank you and good night elvis was indeed already out the back door in the car and on the road immediately after the last show elvis was whisked away to the airport and flown home to memphis there he would rest and enjoy some personal time until his next vegas engagement that began a month later on august 6th [Music] when he was not wearing it around his neck the cross pendant soon found itself in elvis presley's private jewelry chest upstairs at his graceland mansion quite a jump from the display case at rich's department store in atlanta before being gifted to elvis by the atlanta girls the cross was worn by elvis extensively throughout the remainder of 1973 and early 74 both on and off stage he can be seen wearing it backstage as well as in many concert photos as he toured the nation also during his engagement in las vegas in august and september of 1973 it's truly a stunning piece of fine jewelry and elvis adored it as evidenced by the fact that it was worn extensively by him over the next eight months [Music] now what are the odds that one of the very girls who gave that cross to elvis in atlanta would just happen to be two thousand miles east at the exact right place at the exact right time to prevent that very same cross from disappearing forever into the las vegas night well what happened next was a freak incident that if the stars had not all aligned just right things would have ended very differently and the cross would never have fulfilled its eventual destiny the cross pendant had not yet become the legendary elvis relic that it would eventually become known for now that would happen the following year but first let me tell you about a crazy incident in las vegas that involves the cross and a crafty fan with sticky fingers that almost got away with the goods the july 3 performance back in atlanta was the last show of the last tour of 1973. it was just about six weeks later that elvis was almost halfway through his last four-week las vegas engagement of 1973. [Music] beverly brown one of the atlanta girls along with a friend decided to fly to vegas to see elvis perform there and they were in for a real treat because vegas performances for elvis were a totally different animal than tour city shows the hilton was a smaller more intimate setting and elvis was more loose and talkative between songs and physically closer to the fans in the audience there was also much more interaction with his mainly adult vegas audiences it was the august 18th 1973 dinner show and beverly got to see elvis after the performance and he signed a hilton napkin for her as luck would have it that evening elvis was wearing the cross pendant on stage if beverly and her friends had given him in atlanta and also as luck would have it she just happened to be at the right place at exactly the right time to not only see what happened next but have the nerve to do something about it [Music] and i do remember that we flew in that day went to the show that night we went to the dinner show we did not do the midnight show so we go to the show and it's of course fabulous because there was never a bad show for him and then i would say it was it was midway through the show but everything just happened so fast and people just kind of panicked because it was like when anything like that happens and you see when they start grabbing for him and the security kind of takes over um which is what they did to me kind of seemed like it stopped everything became still for a minute [Music] throughout his career elvis routinely interacted with his fans bending down to give kisses to the girls and giving away the scar from around his neck in the showroom at the hilton the rows of tables that were down front ran right up to the actual edge of the elevated stage and the fortunate fans in the very front could actually touch the stage during the performance as elvis bent down and kissed a girl and let her have a scarf that he was wearing he was leaning forward and the pendant was hanging in mid-air it was easily snatched from his neck along with the scarf by an overzealous fan for some reason we were in that center seat very close to the stage we were very very lucky there that we had really great seats and so we saw it come off and we're like oh no and this was not long after we gave it to him in atlanta i don't believe that she was trying for anything other than the scarf of the kids but i think the way the girl you know which what most people would have done she's like i'm grabbing i don't care what i'm getting but i'm grabbing you know and so so she that's when she took it all you know and i said i don't even know that he realized what was going until security came up real quick but they were always coming up if anybody got too close the cross pendants chain broke and the fan quickly returned to her table with her prize as beverly watched in horror never taking her eyes off her as the lady balled the scarf up with the cross inside and quickly crammed it into her purse as elvis continued singing never missing a beat she tried to i think she tried to put it in her purse because she wasn't real close to where we were because she didn't stay there and want to embellish the moment she was like taking what she got okay when like she inside the scarf okay and that's when we said that no no no y'all she got the necklace got it you would have thought that elvis would have felt the chain snap and been aware the cross was gone but he never stopped singing or said anything at all as he continued his performance beverly on the other hand was focused on the ballsy broad that had the nerve to steal right from elvis neck while he was generously kissing her and giving her a scarf she got the attention of elvis bodyguard sunny west and told him what had happened and pointed out the culprit at first sonny said that because it was one of the hotel's patrons hilton security officers had to deal with searching her purse but she assured sonny that if he didn't act immediately the cross would be stashed somewhere else and would be gone forever when we were right there we were so close to them we had to say y'all have to get that cross because i remember saying sonny that's the cross we gave him not that that mattered i know to them but to us it was important okay and so we said you have to get that he said i don't know what we can do on this this is different he said we're not security for uh the hotel we are elvis's security so it's a whole different kind of ball game but luckily they were able to get it you couldn't have planned that out any better sunny immediately retrieved the cross and elvis later had his memphis jeweler lowell hayes to replace the broken chain with the cross pendant back in his possession elvis would continue to wear it often both on and off stage well into the next year every time we saw any performance would look like oh my gosh does he have it on you know because he had so many things to wear you know and he did wear for some performances he did [Music] in march of 1974 our story takes a unique unexpected twist the first tour of the year consisted of 25 performances starting in tulsa oklahoma on march 1st and ending on march 20th in elvis's hometown of memphis on march 4th elvis performed in monroe louisiana at the civic center and returned again for two more performances on march 7th and 8th but it's the march 8th performance that we want to focus our attention as the gift from the girls in atlanta the previous year takes out a whole new life and the legendary story in elvis folklore is born less than two years after elvis death dick clark produced a biopic about elvis's life that starred former child disney star kurt russell and as most elvis fans know kurt actually had a small role in elvis's 1963 film it happened at the world's fair elvis paid a random kid a quarter to kick him in the shin so he'd have an excuse to see the lady doctor on the fairgrounds who he had a thing for i'll tell you what if you kick me in the shin real hard i'll give you a quarter okay go ahead play it [Applause] sixteen years later kurt played elvis himself in the 1979 dick clark movie the famous cross pendant story was loosely represented further cementing its place in elvis history [Applause] this is yours and ain't nobody gonna take us away from all right you say we're going to make sure that sir in the hollywood version of the cross pendant incident elvis is shown on an outdoor stage in the 1950s in the famous golda mei suit giving his western bow tied to a young girl the full impact of the real incident in 1974 was actually much more physically terrifying to the much younger little girl and the detailed events have never been fully explored until now [Music] when tickets went on sale in 1974 for the upcoming elvis shows in monroe glenda bowler of west monroe purchased tickets for herself her two children rhonda and tony and her sister jackie totally unaware of what path this would ultimately lead them down after shows in tulsa and houston on march 1st through the 3rd elvis boarded a plane in houston on march 4th for the next stop of his tour of monroe a short flight later he was met at the airport in monroe by mayor ralph troy who presented him with the monroe police chief badge [Music] backstage before the concert the governor of louisiana edwin edwards presented elvis with a plaque in recognition of a donation made by elvis to the louisiana state police boys camp elvis had only performed one other time in monroe and that was back in 1955 and he was only 20 years old he was actually only an extra added attraction to the show at the west monroe high school auditorium headlined by grand old opry star hank snow 19 years later elvis thrilled the audience in 1974 in monroe in a stellar concert on march 4th elvis donated all the proceeds of the souvenir sales to the east monroe home for the he and his manager colonel tom parker each donated additional funds [Music] individually the local paper said the man is good he knows what pleases his audience and he gives it to him he could have sung three blind mice and they would have loved it after leaving monroe elvis had show scheduled in auburn alabama on march 5th and montgomery alabama on march 6th before returning to monroe for his performances on march 7th and 8th [Music] [Music] my name's ray clary i'm a police officer with monroe police department in monroe louisiana back in march of 1974 we had an opportunity to have elvis presley come to our civic center in monroe to do a show and though actually he did multiple shows and when he did and his entourage came we naturally the people that were off duty at the time were allowed to work extra jobs and so everybody signed up and as i was signing up my major told me he said don't you sign up clary because you know we have a special detail for you and said well we want you to be a personal uh bodyguard for elvis he said well i want you to go home and pack for about three days and you're going to be with him from the time he gets off the plane until he leaves and i looked at him and sort of in a stair like thinking well dead gun do i how much do i have to pay them to work this detail you know so so i was lucky enough that i met him at the plane and immediately i was introduced and told that i would be with him and so we came back to the ramadi and at the time in monroe and we went up to the room and everything and i was advised then that i was going to have a room of join in his the way it was set up at the remodel ramada was a pretty good sized motel for the time but it was not a hotel it was a motel the main area was a two story and the second floor was completely blocked off for elvis group there was a constant group of people downstairs at the bottom down at the foot of the stairs and in the lobby of a hundred plus people mostly women uh all the time and when i'm saying all the time that you know you could see them four in the afternoon four in the morning so it was a constant thing the realization that the elvis presley was actually sleeping for a few nights just inside a building that you could drive up to and walk inside was an opportunity too good to pass up for many folks in monroe the die hard fans were persistent to say the least and oftentimes very creative in their quest to get close to the king a lot of those people that were downstairs in the lobby we could see them from the second floor of a little concourse there or or whatever that would be we could see them and talk to them and there was a lot of them that was telling me how much it would be worth for me to let them come up there and just touch them and one woman that i knew uh real well she was a good friend in high school now she said and her husband was with her that's what tickled me the most she said if you let me come up there i'll make your teeth sweat you know well i don't know if i need any sweaty teeth right now because we can't come up here elvis was accompanied in monroe by his girlfriend sheila ryan over the course of the next few days officer clary had several opportunities to chat with elvis he walked with a with a confidence you could tell he had some kind of expertise in taking care of himself because he had that swagger that just sort of told you you know uh you may jump but you make limp back you know what was amazing to me was his his personality and he was so personable and and down to earth you know we we talked about different things and him saying that one of the movies he just watched was serpaco i think which came out i believe not too long before he came to monroe a few months i think and he'd watched it and he told me one time he'd like to be a cop the evening of march 7th elvis left the ramada for his 8 30 performance at the civic center when we would go to the shows at the civic center the ramada was held probably a couple of miles from the civic center venue so when we would go we would you know get in the limousine i'd get in the limousine follow him ride down with him get off inside the civic center and then he would go to the stage and i would wait and he'd come back if we'd get in the limousine come back but it was that was you know pretty much of the security thing but but anyway it was a really it was unbelievable experience the last show on monroe was the following day on march 8th in the early evening the bowler family headed to the civic center without a clue that young rhonda was about to have a surreal up close and personal experience with the king that would leave an indelible impression on her tiny soul that would stick with her for the rest of her life well i happen to get to take a receipt rhonda and my other daughter tony and my sister went with me for that seat but my my grandmother and my mother i got them tickets but they got to tip far but way back and back but we were sitting on the second row more later about glenda's grandmother and her unique binocular experience and now three lovely and talented young ladies our singing stars a giant welcome please for the sensational sweet inspirations the opening acts were on stage performing to the capacity crowd of fans at the monroe civic center back in his hotel suite elvis dressed for a show in one of his stunning white jumpsuits adorned in ornate blue colored stones and a starburst design he put the jewel cross pendant around his neck for what would end up being the very last time ever draped his jacket over his shoulders and left the ramada in and route for the evening's performance as usual a large group of fans that were not fortunate enough to have tickets for the performance were gathered outside as he left the civic center was filled to capacity with 8 000 and passion fans who were on the edge of their seats with tense anticipation of elvis stepping out onto the stage besides his personal bodyguards the only thing keeping the throng of frenzied fans from elvis was the local law enforcement monroe's finest who were strategically placed throughout the auditorium and more importantly along the perimeter of the stage where elvis was about to make his grand entrance my name is morgan dearman i retired from the monroe police department in monroe louisiana in the year 2001 as a major in 1974 i had been on the department about three years and uh i was just a patrolman and i was 26 years old and uh we were assigned to provide security at the monroe civic center for some elvis presley concerts uh we were very excited about doing this because after all 26 years old elvis presley we loved his music and here we are we're were gonna get the scene free of charge the civic center it held about 8 000 people i believe i mean and it was sold out within minutes for every show and for him to just go and do this for the citizens of monroe i thought was really cool my assignment was to be at the foot of the stage and to maintain some kind of the quorum among the people and to keep them off the stage it was quite an experience and was thrilled to be assigned a stage next to him [Applause] the audience were on their feet cheering as the opening music filled the auditorium on the second row little ronda had been hoisted up by her aunt jackie above the crowd for a bird's eye view as elvis walked out into the stage and immediately spotted her when i was five years old my mom and my aunt had taken me and my sister that was three to the elvis concert in monroe in 74 and we had second row seats that night and my aunt had me on her shoulders when elvis came on stage and elvis seen me and motioned for his guards to come and get me hello little girl and as soon as elvis came out he saw wanda and at that time he called her up to his cars uh that was sitting at the front of the stage to the policeman up there and that policeman hellwandered during the home performance elvis would come down to the foot of the stage and sing to her and everything and of course her mama was about to have a feel but anyway elvis strapped on his guitar and let it rip and the audience went wild the last of three shows in monroe on this tour in 1974 would be one that the audience would not soon forget and would become legendary in the annals of elvis history i mean can you just imagine sitting right at the king's feet for an entire performance at his personal invitation and i sit at the edge of the stage with his guards for the entire concert until the last song um he's saying i can't fall in love with you and um had me on his knee and tied a scarf loosely around my neck and kissed me on my cheek and gave me back to the guards well as he was giving me back to the guards two teenage girls ran up and got the scarf um actually it was like tug of war around my neck for a few minutes my mom said [Applause] the stage was just rushed you know there were so many people i couldn't even i couldn't begin to tell you how many and uh the ladies grabbed was trying to grab a cigar five around his neck and when she did she was tightening it into a knot and so she she just kept pulling them for us so the policeman finally i think on unknotted so that he could just pull it off because he was going to she was strangling mine that's what was happening because the policeman had one in and she had the other or somebody had the other end was another lady reached and grabbed the scarf away from uh the young lady and her child and my instinct i just reached out grabbed the lady said you know you need to give a scarf back she didn't so i grabbed the scarf from her and handed it back to the young lady and the child at this time they were carrying elvis off the stage and he heard the commotion honey don't don't don't get don't don't get physical and so doing this elvis stopped singing walked over to the foot of the stage leaned down grabbed my arm and said hand me the little girl the stage came just about to my shoulder so as i was putting the little girl up on the stage elvis grabbed my arm and held my arm while we lifted the little girl up on the stage and he came back over to me and took his cross necklace off and put it around my neck and told me that nobody would ever take this away and he kissed me and he gave me back to the guards and he told them to make sure that i got home safely to stay with me as the band continued to play elvis gave a final wave to the audience before leaving the stage a few short moments later he had literally left the building and a car bounced straight for the airport before his band even stopped playing his plane quickly took off leaving the city lights of monroe behind as he was flown to charlotte north carolina for the next stop on his tour [Music] twelve days later the tour would end in his hometown of memphis tennessee with the performance that would be recorded by rca for release on an upcoming album elvis recorded live on stage in memphis as elvis rested on his flight to charlotte the fans inside the monroe civic center were still in a daze from elvis performance and final act of generosity before leaving them now this knew what would happen after he left a little girl wearing a priceless jewel pendant on the crowd of enthusiastic fans so he widely requested that the police closely guard little ronda and her family and they did they protected us the whole way out into the car i mean the mob of people just rushed us like they do elvis i guess and um but the guards stayed with us the whole time and protected us and we got in the car safe and they followed us all the way to my house and um when we got there my mom's friends that were there that night came over and we all made pictures wearing it everybody had to take their turn with it on quite an experience for a five-year-old little girl who just happened to be at the right place at the right time and quite a long journey for the jewel cross pendant but whatever happened to that little girl than her treasured gift from elvis at such a precious young age [Music] just under three and a half years after receiving the cross pendant from elvis on march 8 1974 [Music] the entire planet stopped spinning for a brief moment on august 16 1977 as the collective population of the world simultaneously let out a mournful sigh of despair over the shocking news of the death of elvis presley good evening elvis presley died today he was 42 apparently it was a heart attack he was found at his home in memphis not breathing his road manager tried to revive him he failed a hospital tried to revive him it failed his doctor pronounced him dead at three o'clock this afternoon the end at an early age of one of the two most spectacular careers in the history of american entertainment the other being frank sinatra's former georgia governor jimmy carter who had met elvis immediately after he received the cross pendant from the atlanta girls was now the sitting president of the united states he quickly issued a statement saying in part that elvis presley's death deprives our country of a part of itself he was unique and irreplaceable [Music] the following year rhonda's mother glenda made a trip to memphis now she's actually the one responsible in part for the true life account of the cross pendant being included in the 1979 film elvis starring kurt russell while in memphis glenda just happened to meet elvis friend and stage manager charlie hodge as she told charlie of rhonda's experience in monroe back in 1974 charlie had been right there when it all happened and verily clearly remembered the incident and thanked her for reminding him because he said he was working with dick clark on an upcoming movie starring kurt russell charlie relayed the story to mr clark and as a result the story of the incident was in the major television production that aired in 1979 it was later nominated for a golden globe for best motion picture made for television it also made a theatrical release in europe and australia i remember my mom calling dick clark production company and telling them that they had it right wrong so they apologized albeit a skewed version told with creative liberties when making the film in 1979 the legend of the cross pendant became instantly known to fans around the world it further grew from there as the story was written about in books and discussed among fans for nearly half a century since [Music] [Music] then in the late 1980s hardship struck the boulder family mr bowler had been laid off from his job for several years and the bills were quickly mounting although ronda was herself moved out and married at the time her parents still had three other kids at home to feed rhonda gallantly stepped up to the plate and offered to sell her most valuable possession the treasured cross pendant from elvis [Music] of course i lost my job our house burned to the ground we had twins that was born they stayed in the hospital about two months uh just it's domino and uh it's something that will take us out of a financial bind and uh hopefully selling it is something we have to do you know her family needs help our family needs help and we feel like that you know it's just something that we got to do uh bad we hate to do it but we we got to do i feel this was a gift from elvis to help my me and my family get through these hard times the local newspaper reported the story and the ap wire quickly picked it up and once again the story of the cross pendant made national news now that's the 1980s version of going viral now this led to rond and her mother appearing on the television news magazine show a current affair hello everyone welcome to a current affair i'm mourinho boyle maury is off tonight elvis presley died in 1977. there are some people who believe he's still alive somewhere in monroe louisiana there is no doubt that the king's spirit lives on in the form of a beautiful necklace bestowed to a little girl by elvis himself many years ago the little girl has grown up and now sadly her legacy of love has to be sold [Music] several years later i attempted to track ronda down although i was fairly certain the cross pendant was surely gone at that point i still wanted to find her to get her first hand account of this amazing true life elvis story i literally searched for years and at a time that the internet was in its infancy and there was no such thing as social media platforms such as facebook tracking people down for my research was something i've been doing for many years as an elvis historian but this was a seemingly impossible task after literally several years of attempting to locate her i finally found the little girl from monroe and to my amazement she still had the cross pendant from elvis in 2008 i met with rhonda documented her story and was beyond thrilled to personally obtain the famous jewel cross pendant from elvis for my personal collection of artifacts the cross pendant would soon be available for the world to see on display for the first time ever and ronda was equally thrilled that this unique piece of elvis history would be in a major exhibition for all to share in her incredible story for soon after the pendant went on display at our king's ransom museum that was on the first of three lengthy engagements in three different venues in las vegas that started at the imperial palace casino and ended with a full year-long exhibition at the former las vegas hilton where elvis had warned the pendant on stage there many times in the 1970s many of elvis's friends and close acquaintances were our special guest at the grand opening and ronda was also a very special guest and shared her incredible story with fans in the local media in attendance that were captivated by her true first-hand account since then hundreds of thousands of people from all across the globe have seen elvis cross pendant in our museum in person and millions have seen the exhibit at the former las vegas hilton on national television shows including the history channel and geraldo special on fox for elvis's 80th birthday in january of 2015. but the full story and its incredible journey have never been told in its entirety until now the full journey for me personally has taken many more years in research and tracking compiling interviewing writing and producing then you can possibly fathom but with the dots now fully connected for you the bigger picture of the underlying moral lesson here starts to come into focus if you pay close attention the incredible impact that elvis had on his fans led to a series of intertwined events that in turn resulted in a true butterfly effect of repeated kindness being paid forward elvis generosity kept coming back to him and then being recycled again and again resulting in the legendary act of kindness to the little girl in monroe elvis generously randomly gives his cross necklace to a friend don rickles in las vegas a few months later and several thousand miles east elvis cross is unknowingly replaced by a group of enamored young girls who wanted to repay his kindness to them in his hotel suite a week prior for the next nine months elvis proudly wears the cross both on and off stage as he zigzags across america on tour even rubbing elbows with a future us president he nearly lost it forever while performing on stage during a performance in vegas and then he just happened to be wearing the same exact cross pendant in monroe louisiana when he attempted to right or wrong done by some overzealous fans by giving his favorite cross-pendant away to a crying little girl in the audience who touched his heart from the moment he first laid eyes on her and at the time i was only five years old and it was kind of overwhelming for me at the time but as i've gotten older i realized you know how much elvis was a giving person and how he gave me something so personal and to give me something like that it just helps me to define you know the elvis phenomenon and i've always heard stories about how he gave so much and i just um i'm just in odd that he chose me that night i mean i was just at the right place at the right time i guess 34 years later in 2008 elvis literally reached out from the grave and helped her financially when i acquired the cross because such a transaction could never have been possible without elvis generous gift to her back in 1974. the fact that it went on public display in a major exhibition for the world to share and the joy of her story was the icing on the cake for her and actually played a major role in her decision to part with this treasure that she felt belonged in a museum and not in a safety deposit box in september of 2020 i met with a few of the original atlanta girls and they were thrilled to hold the cross pendant in their hands for the first time since they gifted it to elvis in atlanta over 47 years earlier as thrilling as it is for me to personally be in possession of this lavish jewel pendant it's equally thrilling for me to share with his fans this piece of elvis history that is so rich with an even deeper intrinsic value this pendant is a sparkling real-life representation of the legendary giving nature of the true man behind the image warning the following segment contains material of a mature subject matter viewer discretion is advised although i think personally if elvis could see this he'd laugh his butt off i had promised to tell you more about rhonda's great grandmother in her unique binocular experience watch out for the zinger it's interesting to note that at the monroe concert in 1974 including rhonda there were four generations of females from her family in the audience including her mother glenda her grandmother and even her great-grandmother well i happen to get to take a receipt rhonda and my other daughter tony and my sister went with me for that seat but my grandmother and my mother i got them tickets but they got the tip far but way back and back little ronda's mother glinda made sure that her mother and grandmother had a pair of binoculars to ensure that they can see everything those binoculars look like a bunch of frogs up there and from what i gather rhonda's great grandmother definitely got her money's worth and then some well my grandmother she she was you know crazy she uh never i never thought she'd want to go to see elvis in the first place but when she did i got her a pair of binoculars and when he got out i said well grandmother how did you like could you see very well and she said i could even see his balls his food was so tight and that was so funny because i never thought my grandmother would say something like that but she was excited about it you know about seeing him what are you looking at right now [Music] do [Music] [Music] elvis has left the building thank you and good [Music] a night [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh there's more rare elvis behind the image only so much can be squeezed into a single episode but it's all yours absolutely free to receive your all access backstage pass to extra bonus material from the cutting room floor of select episodes simply join the free members only section of elvis behind the image you'll instantly be granted full access to the secret section of the website that's not available to the general public here you can enjoy all the relevant corresponding material to the current episode as well as all others past and future you'll also be notified of rare elvis material as it comes available in the future and have the opportunity to share your own personal stories and elvis encounters for possible inclusion in future episodes that are currently in the pre-production stage join me there there's a man

Channel: Bud Glass

Views: 842,804

Keywords: elvis, elvis presley, Bud Glass, Behind The Image, The King, Elvis Behind The Image, episode

Id: xofwIrBm4vg

Length: 74min 24sec (4464 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 25 2020