Elvis Presley – Ramblings of a Lifelong Fan – Part XXI – His Lighter Side

As if there isn’t enough to love about Elvis, he also had a great sense of humor. Those who knew him talk about how he loved to laugh and to make others laugh. I didn’t know him, of course, but I have seen examples of his funny side in documentaries, concerts, alternate takes of his songs, etc.

A few anecdotes about Elvis:

Ronnie Tutt, his drummer in the seventies:

“…he loved to laugh as much as he loved life. He had a great sense of humor – you could see his eyes sparkle when something funny was going on, which was most of the time if he had anything to do with it, and he usually did. It was great to play music together, but it was also great to laugh together.”

Wanda Hill, who worked in the MGM mailroom in the sixties:

“One day while I was staying at the Hilton Hotel (in the 1970’s), I was outside for some fresh air when I noticed a group of people staring up at the top of the hotel. Curious, I walked over and looked up. Sailing through the air were several little paper airplanes, and way up on the 30th floor was a tiny figure of a man, waving to us below. It was Elvis, curing his boredom flying paper airplanes and watching the people running after them – after all Elvis Presley had touched them!

“What I did not know was that he also put messages on the airplanes, written in baby talk, and he laughed as the people found them and read his messages while he was observing through his binoculars. It was just silly Elvis putting people on again!”

Sam Thompson – Elvis’ former girlfriend Linda Thompson’s brother who worked as Elvis’ bodyguard:

“Elvis even found humor when faced with an assassination warning at the Silverdome in 1975, while being outfitted for a bulletproof vest. ‘If there’s a problem’, I told Elvis, ‘we’re gonna kill the lights, and I’m gonna cover you’. Elvis looked at me funny. I was 6-foot-6 and 270 pounds. ‘I’d rather be shot at than have you jump on me’, Elvis joked. We had a big laugh.”

Some of Elvis’ favorite movies were the Pink Panther movies. He loved Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau and would often quote him. I’m ashamed to admit I’ve never seen those movies. I should definitely watch them since Elvis enjoyed them.

Check out this brief excerpt from a 1972:

I love a man with a sense of humor, and even a man who is not all that attractive becomes more so if he can make me laugh. But Elvis, the most gorgeous man to ever live, AND he was funny??? Sigh…