The ostensible focus of all this was a 1965 Cadillac El Dorado.
A few die-hards of the Elvis Presley Fan Club rubbed elbows with the Hollywood paparazzi last week at a celebrity bash marking the late rock ‘n’ roll singer’s 52nd birthday and, not coincidentally, the kickoff of a new line of hair-care products bearing his name.
The event at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center projected a fantastic quality, like a complex parlor game with no written rules. The object was to expose oneself to fame.
The ostensible focus of all this was a 1965 Cadillac El Dorado. E. P. Enterprises Inc., owner of the new line of shampoos and conditioners, was christening the car as the one that Elvis always dreamed of but never got around to building.
It had finally been done by Elvis’ close friend, George Barris, the North Hollywood custom car builder.
As the party began Thursday afternoon, a life-sized cardboard cutout of Elvis stood beside the car, which was kept under wraps for an hour.
At four o’clock, Elvis’ cousin, Buck Presley, and Lou Ferrigno (The Incredible Hulk) peeled back the cover. Flashbulbs fired in pulses from a circle around the car.
The flashing went on nonstop for several minutes while Presley and Ferrigno sat in the car like grand marshals, waving to the cameras.
Then Barris, with gold-tipped cowboy boots and a gold chain around his neck, knelt at the grill of the car posing with his wife, Shirley.
Photographers squeezed together to get the shot.
The Cadillac was a gaudy piece of work, trimmed with gold-plated rims and sundry gold gewgaws. Gold velour covered much of the interior, including a television built into the back seat. Guitar-shaped eyeshades and large velour dice adorned the windshield.
Whether it was really the car of Elvis’ dream is open to debate.
“Elvis probably had close to 100 cars,†said Kathy Velvet of the Elvis Presley Museum in Nashville. “For the most part, hon, he just bought his cars right off the floor.â€
Elvis fans saw no reason to contest the claim, however.
Carole Drexler, a Van Nuys paralegal who came in a gray business suit over the glittered face of Elvis on a black T-shirt, conceded that there was no proof. But she was glad to see the car anyway and be with other fans on Elvis’ birthday.
“Elvis fans want all they can get,†Drexler said. “Elvis is such an integral part of my life, I can’t imagine my life without him. Going somewhere with someone who’s a fan is like being with family.â€
Members of the fan club, many wearing red Elvis T-shirts, moved among the Hollywood set, examining everything carefully, groping for any communion with the departed King, but mostly staying apart.
They were thrust briefly into the spotlight when master of ceremonies Johnny Grant declared it time to cut the birthday cake.
Like a swarm of gnats, the photographers rushed around the oversized cake, their flashbulbs snapping.
Still, some people never had a camera aimed at them. One was Tom Greene, a quiet man in a drab business suit.
Greene is on the board of directors of E. P. Enterprises.
He volunteered that the company’s approach to marketing is to find a salable identity and then match it to a product. Elvis’ name had not yet been sold to a cosmetic line, so the company struck a deal, he said.
Out of the spotlight himself, Greene watched the magic of Elvis work as the photographers flashed their lights into the evening.
They were an eclectic bunch. Some worked for automotive magazines, others for publicity agencies that market celebrity shots around the world. They took pictures of anybody who looked like a celebrity.
“Here you go,†one said, taking aim at a familiar face. “You have this guy, Bo somebody.â€
It was Bo Hopkins, the geologist on Dynasty for a couple of seasons.
Later, Herve Villechaize from Fantasy Island arrived and kept them busy.
A striking woman in an olive leather mini-dress and long, golden curls commanded much attention. She said she was Mindi Miller, Elvis’ last girlfriend and an actress.
The photographers paid little attention, though, to another woman who cut a striking image.
She was a 40ish brunette wearing a tight red skirt with a black-and-white leather jacket, black stockings with white polka dots and one black and one red patent-leather shoe.
She said the outfit represented her as a teen-ager.
“Hey, in the ‘50s this was my thing,†said Nancie Beth, who just moved from Whitwell, Tenn., to Sylmar. “I had a baby-blue sweater and a pink and a red and a black one, and a black and a red shoe and a pink one, and I’d wear one of each. That was my way of rebelling.â€
She said she played stand-in parts in three of Elvis’ movies.
“I was the girl in the red dress when he sang, ‘See the Girl With the Red Dress On,’ †she said.
She pulled a tape recorder out of a plastic bag and turned it on. It was a recording of a celebrity roast of Elvis. She said her ex-husband wrote the words and impersonated all the voices.
She said he could use a little ink.
“His Elvis is exact,†she said. “All he needs is a break.â€
So here it is, Hollywood. He’s Dex Dodson, now teaching elementary in Whitwell, Tenn.
