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Jailhouse Rock, 2 - 3
On Monday, May 6, 1957, Elvis met with Alex Romero, the
choreographer for his third film "Jailhouse Rock".
The principal photography for the movie began the following week on
May 13th. with the famous "Jailhouse Rock" production number.
While Mr. Romero and Elvis were rehearsing, Elvis' friend, actor
Nick Adams, introduced him to fellow actor and dancer Russ Tamblyn.
Russ Tamblyn grew up in the movies and his credits include such
films as "Seven Brides For Seven Brothers" and "West Side Story".
Today, he is also known as father to the actress Amber Tamblyn, star
of the current hit TV series "Joan of Arcadia". While visiting at
the Tamblyn beach house that weekend before filming began,
Elvis and Russ practiced dance movements and ways for Elvis to
improve his performance.
With all the dance movements fresh in his head, Elvis was excited to
do the production number, but an unusual mishap caused a delay.
While sliding down the pole in the scene, Elvis lost the cap off of
a tooth. It was discovered that he had aspirated the cap and that it
had lodged in his lung. It was successfully removed by a surgeon,
who parted his famous vocal cords and retrieved the errant dental
appliance. Although Elvis's voice was hoarse for a few days, to the
relief of everyone there was no permanent vocal damage and he was
released from the hospital on the 16th. (This also happened to be
the day his family moved into their new home, Graceland, in
Memphis.) Ironically, Vice Everett, Elvis's character in the film,
had an injury to his vocal cords and had friends and associates
holding their breath to see if there would be lasting damage to his
singing voice.
Trivia: Early in the film, Vince Everett is sent to prison for
manslaughter. The number on his prison uniform is 6239. After
prison,
when Vince becomes a star and does the "Jailhouse Rock" production
number for a TV show, the number on his prison costume is 6240.
Elvis's leading lady in the movie was a young actress named Judy
Tyler. Her father was a big band trumpeter and her mother had been a
Ziegfeld Follies dancer. Judy Tyler had studied acting and dance.
She had danced with the chorus line of the famous Copacabana Club
and had played the role of Princess Summerfall Winterspring on the
popular children's television program, "The Howdy Doody Show". She
was a newlywed at the time she began work on "Jailhouse Rock" with
Elvis in May of 1957. Sadly, on July 3rd, soon after finishing the
film, she and her husband were killed in an automobile accident
during a cross-country trip. Elvis badly shaken by the news.
Mickey Shaughnessy played Hunk Houghton, Vince's cell mate. His
career included the films "North To Alaska", "Pocketful of Miracles"
and "How The West Was Won". He received a Golden Laurel Award
nomination in 1958 for the film "Don't Go Near The Water". He also
had guest roles on a number of TV shows in the 50's and 60's.
Vaughn Taylor played Mr. Shores and was the film's narrator. He had
a very long career in TV playing roles in nearly two hundred shows
and receiving Emmy nominations for Best Actor in 1952 and 1953. His
film credits include "Cat On a Hot Tin Roof", "Psycho", "The
Carpetbaggers", "The Unsinkable Molly Brown", "In Cold Blood" and
"The Gumball Rally".
Dean Jones played disc jockey Teddy Talbot. Mr. Jones had been a
blues singer. Later, he became best known for his leading roles in
Disney movies of the 60's and 70's, among them: "That Darn Cat",
"The Love Bug", "$1,000,000 Duck" and "The Shaggy D.A." He received
a 1972 Golden Globe nomination for "$1,000,000 Duck". A recent
credit is playing Scrooge in the 2001 TV movie "Scrooge and Marley".
His autobiography "Under Running Laughter" was published in 1982.
Anne Neyland played Vince's date Laury Jackson. Elvis dated her in
real life while the film was in production.
Her credits include the films "Hidden Fear" and the original version
of "Ocean's Eleven".
Jennifer Holden played the starlet Sherry Wilson. After only three
films Ms. Holden gave up acting.
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