Cultural depictions of Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley has inspired artistic and cultural works since he entered the national consciousness. From that point, interest in his personal and public life has never stopped. Some scholars have studied many aspects of his profound cultural influence. Billboard historian Joel Whitburn declared Presley the "#1 act of the Rock era".
The following lists cover various media which include items of historic interest, enduring works of high art, and recent representations in popular culture. Only people and works with Wikipedia articles are included.
For purposes of classification, popular culture music is a separate section from operas and oratorios. Television covers live action series, TV movies, miniseries, and North American animation but not Japanese anime, which appears with manga and graphic novels.
Actors' last names in alphabetical order
Elvis & Kresse, a company owned by Kresse Wesling and James (nicknamed Elvis at university) Henrit whose upcycling of industrial waste, mostly turning old fire hoses into new luxury products including bags and other carry-on accessories yield profits half of which are donated to various charities.
In 2018, the discount store Poundland changed the voice of its self-service checkouts to that of Elvis in all of its stores throughout the United Kingdom.
Other examples include Audi's 2001 Wackel-Elvis campaign, and State Farm's 2015 "Magic Jingle Elvis" commercial, directed by Roman Coppola
in 2023, a plan was announced by developers to construct a "Follow That Dream Park", a 228-lot RV resort on 30 acres off County Road 40. The land is north of the Withlacoochee River and west of U.S. 41 in the city of Dunnellon and will recall the movie that was filmed near the resort land as well as spots in Ocala and Citrus and Levy counties. In fact, West from the RV resort site the road is already known as Follow That Dream Parkway
Elvis-related artwork, or those based on known earlier works focusing on Elvis.
Andy Warhol's "Portrait of Jean-Michel as David" (1986) is a silver-screen of artist Jean-Michel Basquiat which revisits Warhol's seminal 1963 painting "Double Elvis." It was sold at Sotheby's in New York City on 14 May 2014 for US$3,189,000.
Known silkscreens by American artist Andy Warhol featuring the image(s) of Elvis Presley and their current location, including art museums worldwide, as well as prices met and identified buyers and/or sellers. Prices paid (at either auctions houses or privately) for ten of the silkscreens below, as of end of April 2020 total US$344,000,000.
Elvis Digital Art Collection at the Bitcoin Network by OrdinalsBot and IP project Royalty.
Cartoon illustrations of Elvis include:
The Memphis Summer Storm of 2003 was nicknamed "Hurricane Elvis"
According to John Beyfuss, who reviews films for Memphis' Commercial Appeal since 1998, there has been since then an average of eighteen movies per year which carry some allusion to Elvis. There were an additional one hundred before 1998, which puts the number of such Elvis referencing in motion pictures, from numerous countries, at a minimum of four hundred since 1957, when the first such mention was made as part of the BBC-TV movie documentary A Night in the City. The list below is only a partial account and will be updated accordingly.
In the shared alternate history of Ill Bethisad (1997 and after), an analogue of Presley called "Elvis Pressler" appears. Just like the real-life Presley, his alternate universe counterpart Pressler was a famous Rock singer who was also an actor though there are also several notable differences between the two. First, Presley's identical twin brother, Jesse was stillborn, but Pressler's twin brother (also called Jesse) was born alive. Next, Pressler withdrew from public life in 1973 after he divorced his wife, Drusilla. While the real Elvis Presley was addicted to prescription drugs and had poor health during the mid-1970s, those were only rumors in the case of Pressler who spent most of 1973 to 1976 in his mansion helping doctors treat his twin Jesse for depression and alcoholism. Unlike Presley whose comeback happened in 1968 with a TV special, Pressler's comeback occurred in 1976 with the release of a new album Hope. Finally, both die on the same day (August 16, 1977) but Pressler dies in a more dignified manner (resembling how John Denver died in reality, though Denver, called both "Jean de Cournouaille" and "John Cornwall" and isn't an analogue, doesn't die that way in Ill Bethisad but is still alive and performing as of the mid-2000s) compared to the real-life Presley. Pressler, a few hours before a planned concert in Thunder Bay decides to fly on his personal autogyro (a much more common aircraft in Ill Bethisad then in reality) which he often did to relax, but while flying, the autogyro crashes and Pressler is killed. Neither his body or the craft were found until 1981. In the meantime, rumors and conspiracy theories circulated purporting to explain what really happened to Pressler.
Stage Show, 6 episodes in 1956 filmed at CBS Studio 50 in New York City on January 28, February 4, 11, 18, March 17 and 24, for the so-called " Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey's show", a program produced by Jackie Gleason as a lead-in for his show. Each episode was watched by an estimated audience of 6 million viewers, averaging an 18.4% share. Jazz and pop musician Quincy Jones, then 23 years old and on a somewhat extended three-month visit to his family in New York, played second trumpet on all Presley's performances.
Texaco Star Theater, 2 episodes in 1956:
Teenage Dance Party, June 16, 1956; hosted by Wink Martindale, WHBQ-TV Memphis, TN
Hy Gardner Calling, July 1, 1956 television interview, WRCA-TV, New York City, NY
The Steve Allen Show, July 1, 1956 from the NBC studio at The Hudson Theatre, in New York City. This show was watched by 40 million viewers representing a 20.2 rating and a 55.3% share, the highest in the history of the Steve Allen Show. Also, according to interviewers from Sidlinger & Company, it was the most talked about show in the preceding 52 weeks, with 38 million adults, or 31% of the US population acknowledging having discussed the show in the period from 1 to 7 July, the highest ever since the interviews were first launched.
The Ed Sullivan Show. 3 episodes. All three episodes were released in their entirety on DVD format on November 21, 2006, by Image Entertainment, selling 100,000 copies during its first year alone.
The Frank Sinatra Timex Show: Welcome Home Elvis : Taped March 26, 1960 at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach, FL; it aired on ABC May 12, 1960. Nielsen reported a 41.5 rating and 67.7% share, with an audience at 50 million, the top-rated show of 1960 and of Frank Sinatra's 21-year television special career (1960–1981). It was released on DVD by Quantum Leap on February 10, 2004
Elvis (also known as the Elvis Comeback Special or the 68 Comeback Special). Taping in June 1968 was at NBC Studios in Burbank, CA; the air date being December 3. 1968. With a 47.8 share, the telecast garnered the highest ratings of any program in 1968, viewed by an estimated audience of 50 million. Released on VHS in 1986, RIAA Platinum; on DVD format in 2004, RIAA 4× Platinum; as DVD Special Edition in 2006, RIAA 2× Platinum. Presented by Ann-Margret.
Aloha from Hawaii Via Satellite was a Kui Lee Cancer Fund benefit concert at Honolulu's Neal S. Blaisdell Center, presented by Ann-Margret. It was broadcast by NBC worldwide, live on January 14, 1973, and in the US as a deferred telecast on April 4, 1973. Ratings for the US telecast were the highest of the week, reaching a 33.8 rating, a 57% share, as well as a viewership estimated at 50 million. Global viewership reached about a billion when shown live by Intelsat on January 14, 1973. It attracted 91.8 percent of viewers in the Philippines, 70-80 percent in both Hong Kong and South Korea, as well as almost 40 percent in Japan. It was first released on VHS in 1986, earning an RIAA Platinum award; on DVD in 2004, RIAA 4× Platinum; and as Special Edition DVD 2006, RIAA Platinum.
Elvis in Concert was his last concert tour, filmed two months before his death, then broadcast by CBS as a one-hour special after his death and airing on October 3, 1977. This posthumous presentation was the top-rated program of the week, with a 34.1 rating, reaching a little over 24.1 million households and an estimated audience of 50 million viewers.
Memories of Elvis was a three-hour special which aired on NBC on November 20, 1977, with Ann Margret as the hostess. It dovetailed both a 90-minute version of the 1968 TV special and the Aloha from Hawaii specials.
The Elvis Cover-Up was a special airing in 1979. According to Nielsen, it obtained a 43% share, equivalent to an estimated audience of over 50 million viewers, the second highest audience ever garnered for the 20/20 series, a popular news-magazine program on the ABC network.
One Night with You was an HBO Special airing on August 15, 1985. It was released by Light Year Video Entertainment on VHS on November 24, 1992, and on DVD on August 1, 2000.
Elvis and Me was an ABC TV two-part miniseries which aired on the nights of February 7 and 8, 1988. According to Nielsen it was the highest rated TV film of the 1987–88 season, seen by 32.4 and 31.4 million viewers, respectively.
Elvis: The Tribute was an ABC TV special, originally on pay-per-view and airing on October 8 of 1994 live from the Pyramid Arena in Memphis. It then aired on ABC in 1995, hosted by John Stamos and with the then Mr. and Mrs. Michael Jackson in the audience.
He Touched Me: The Gospel Music of Elvis Presley. Three-hour documentary airing on various channels in 1998 and 1999 and released in DVD by Coming Home Studios in 2000. RIAA Platinum and RIAA 2× Platinum, respectively.
Elvis Lives. NBC special made in conjunction with the release of ELV1S: 30 No. 1 Hits and airing on 28 November 2002.
Elvis by the Presleys. CBS special airing May 13, 2005, receiving an 8.1 rating and a 15% share and winning its time slot with an audience of 12 million viewers. Released on DVD in 2005, RIAA 2× Platinum.
Idol Gives Back. The Elvis and Celine Dion segment dueting on "If I Can Dream" was broadcast by Fox through rotoscoping on April 25, 2007. It drew a 24% share and an audience of 26.4 million viewers while raising US$79 million in donations by year's end. It was also the top show of the week and the top rated "Idol Gives Back" in its three-year history (2007–2010).
Elvis Presley: The Searcher. An HBO special airing on 14 April 2018, whose parts 1 and 2 reached close to 900,000 viewers. Released on DVD format by Sony Legacy on April 6, 2018.
1968 Special's 50th anniversary (All Star Tribute). Elvis and 19 other performers (Blake Shelton, Shawn Mendes, Keith Urban, Post Malone, John Fogerty, Ed Sheeran, Kelsea Ballerini, Jennifer Lopez, Darius Rucker, Alessia Cara, Mac Davis, John Legend, Little Big Town, Adam Lambert, Pistol Annies, Carrie Underwood, Yolanda Adams, Dierks Bentley, and Josh Groban). Aired February 17.2019. Filmed October 2018 at NBC Studios in Los Angeles, CA. The telecast earned one of the top five highest ratings for any program in its time slot (Sunday, 8–10 pm ET, a 3% share with an audience estimated by Nielsen at 6.3 million viewers)
Christmas at Graceland. An NBC one-hour live remembrance from Graceland featuring the singing of Lainey Wilson, Lana Del Rey, Kane Brown, Alanis Morissette, Post Malone, The War and Treaty, John Legend + the Memphis Choir and Kacey Musgraves, as well as appearances by Dolly Parton, Jennifer Hudson, Jon Bon Jovi and Cher, as presented by Elvis' oldest granddaughter, actress Riley Keough. It won its slot for the night of November 23, 2023, scoring the second highest rating of the week for network and cable, and drawing nearly 5 million viewers via the following: 3.03/9 (#1) Viewers: 4.92 million (#1), Adults 18-49: 0.52/6 (#1), Adults 18-34: 0.24/5 (#1), Adults 25-54: 0.77/6 (#1).
CBS Presents an Oprah Special: Elvis,Lisa Marie and Riley, one-hour interview of Riley Keough by Oprah Winfrey, filmed at Graceland and later broadcast on CBS on October 8, 2024. It reached an audience of 3.78m.
Return of the King: The Fall and Rise of Elvis Presley. 2024 Netflix documentary film focusing on his triumphant '68 comeback special.