Elvis' most critically acclaimed performance as an actor was in what is
considered (rivaled only by "Jailhouse Rock") the best of all the films
he starred in - "King Creole" (1958). The story was based upon the Harold
Robbins novel "A Stone For Danny Fisher". Elvis played the role of Danny. The
film was directed by Michael Curtiz.
Harold Robbins was a successful author whose novels sold over 750,000,000 copies
worldwide and most of them were made into movies. Robbins grew up in an
orphanage as well as in several foster homes. He took his name from one of those
foster families. His early jobs included a numbers runner and a futures buyer.
He had made and lost a million dollars by age twenty. He became a writer after
working his way up with Universal Pictures, starting as a shipping clerk. He
specialized in novels about celebrity and Hollywood.
Michael Curtiz was born Mano´Kertesz Kaminer in Budapest, Hungary. He began his
acting and directing career in Hungary in 1912. He moved to the United States in
1926, going to work for Warner Brothers and making such movies as "The
Adventures of Robin Hood", "Angels With Dirty Faces", "Yankee Doodle Dandy",
"Casablanca", "Mildred Pierce", "Life With Father", "Jim Thorpe - All-American",
"The Jazz Singer", " White Christmas", and the original 1937 version of "Kid
Galahad". Curtiz was nominated for four Academy Awards as Best Director, winning
in 1944 for the film "Casablanca".
Elvis' movie "King Creole" co-starred Carolyn Jones,
who is best known for her work in the TV show "The Addams Family". However, long
before the TV series, she appeared in a number of stage productions and in
movies such as "East of Eden", "The Seven Year Itch", "The Tender Trap" and "The
Man Who Knew Too Much", as well as "The Bachelor Party", for which she her 1957
Oscar nomination or Best Supporting Actress. She also won a Golden Globe award
in 1958 as Most Promising Female Newcomer. Ms. Jones was born in Amarillo, Texas
in 1929. For a time she was married to producer Aaron Spelling.
Also co-starring in "King Creole" was Walter Matthau, born Walter
Matuschanskayasky in New York City. Matthau's parents were Russian Jewish
immigrants. He served in the Army Air Corps during World War II as a radio
cryptographer. After the war he began his movie career. His many film credits
include: "The Kentuckian", "Lonely Are The Brave", "Charade", "The Fortune
Cookie", "The Odd Couple", "Cactus Flower", "Kotch", "The Sunshine Boys", "The
Bad News Bears", "Dennis The Menace", "Grumpy Old Men", and "Grumpier Old Men"
to name a few. Matthau was nominated for eight Golden Globe Awards, winning one
in 1976 for Best Actor in "The Sunshine Boys". He was nominated for three
Academy Awards, winning one in 1967 as Best Supporting Actor in "The
FortuneCookie".
Co-starring with Elvis for a second time was Dolores Hart, daughter of actor
Bert Hicks and niece of singer Mario Lanza. Dolores also starred with Elvis in
his 1957 movie "Loving You". She would go on the appear in several other films
including "Where The Boys Are" and "Come Fly With Me". Ms. Hart left her
successful film career to become a nun in the cloistered Benedictine Monastery
in Bethlehem, Connecticut, where, today, she a Mother Superior and still a
voting member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (The Oscars).
Dean Jagger played Elvis' father in "King Creole". He began in vaudeville in the
1920s and went on to appear in films such as "Brigham Young - Frontiersman",
"The Robe", "Elmer Gantry" and "White Christmas", to name a few. He won the
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in "Twelve O'Clock High".
Actor Vic Morrow played Shark in the movie with Elvis. Born in New York, he had
dropped out of school to join the Navy. After serving in the Navy, he went to
school to study pre-law. After a taste of acting in a school play, Morrow
decided to change majors and went into acting. After graduation, he signed with
MGM. His movie debut was in "Blackboard Jungle" as a street punk. He then became
typecast as a heavy, which is what he also played in "King Creole". In the
1960's he became well known for his role in the TV series "Combat!", for which
he received an Emmy nomination. He also took up directing. In 1983 he was killed
in an accident on the set of the film "Twilight Zone: The Movie". Today, his
daughter, Jennifer Jason Leigh, is a successful actress.
Jan Shepard played Elvis' sister Mimi Fisher in "King Creole". She also appeared
in the 1966 Elvis movie "Paradise, Hawaiian Style" as Betty Kohana.
John Indrisano played an uncredited role as a collector in "King Creole". He
also appeared in an uncredited role as a card player in the 1963 Elvis movie "It
Happened At The World's Fair".
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