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.

Portrayals

Actors' last names in alphabetical order
ActorCredited characterTitle
Lloyd AhlquistElvis Presley"Michael Jackson vs. Elvis Presley," Epic Rap Battles of History
Austin ButlerElvis PresleyUntitled Elvis Presley Project
Bruce CampbellElvis Presley Bubba Ho-Tep
Rob DelaneyElvis PresleyRocketman young Elvis Presley
ii) The King		i) Forrest Gump
ii) Protecting the King
Johnny HarraElvis Presley, age 42This Is Elvis
Tyler Hiltonyoung Elvis PresleyWalk the Line
Paul HippElvis Presley
Don JohnsonElvis PresleyElvis and the Beauty Queen
Harvey KeitelElvis Presley Finding Graceland
David KeithElvis Presley Heartbreak Hotel
Gil McKinneyElvis Presley Elvis Has Left the Building
Dale MidkiffElvis PresleyElvis and Me
Drake MilliganElvis PresleySun Records
Chunkey PandeyElvis Presley Hello, Darling
Robert PatrickMr. Aaron Lonely Street
Rick PetersElvis PresleyElvis Meets Nixon
Jonathan Rhys-MeyersElvis PresleyElvis: The Early Years
Kurt RussellElvis PresleyElvis
Michael ShannonElvis Presley, age 35Elvis & Nixon
Martin ShawElvis PresleyAre You Lonesome Tonight?
Frank StalloneElvis Presley Angels with Angles young Elvis Presley
iii) young Elvis Presley Elvis
ii) Great Balls of Fire!
iii) Heart of Dixie
George ThomasElvis Presley, as John BurrowsMemphis Rising, Elvis Returns-
Jeff YagherElvis Presley "The Once And Future King," The Twilight Zone
Rob YoungbloodElvis PresleyElvis and the Colonel: The Untold Story
Jack WhiteElvis Presley Walk Hard

Advertising and branding

Elvis & Kresse, a company owned by Kresse Wesling and James 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

Art

Elvis-related artwork, or those based on known earlier works focusing on Elvis.
ArtistWorkLocation / exhibitionDescriptionAuction / worth
Jef Aerosol"Elvis"Passage des Postes, Rue Blainville, Latin Quarter, Paris
Craig Alan"Elvis"Whitewall Galleries
Robert Arneson"Elvis"National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.8-foot sculpture
Tammam Azzam "Elvis Warhol"
Noah Becker"Elvis" Maltwood Art Museum and Gallery, Saanich, British ColumbiaOil-on-canvas
Bill BelewuntitledSketch of an Elvis jumpsuit23 November 2013: Sold at Sotheby's for $35,000
Knowledge Bennett"Elvis" Shown at SCOPE Art Show, NYC. Currently hung at the home of Nile Niami.Estimated worth of $17,500
Knowledge Bennett"Obama Cowboy, Six-Shooter" Repeat of several Elvis multiple imaginaries, by Warhol
Ashley Bickerton"The Bar"Art Basel in Hong KongIts foreground, on jute, copies the seams in the pants worn by Elvis in the original color photo used by Andy Warhol in his Elvis series.Sold for $290,000
Peter Blake"Girls with their hero" Currently at the Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, England
Jorge M. Garcia "BMW 507 Elvis- Munchen y Graceland"
G. Boersma"Double Elvis- Painting Of Woman Enjoying Portrait Of Elvis Presley By Andy Warhol" Originally located at Saatchi ArtAcrylic on masonite
Mr. BrainwashDon't be cruel series
Ryan Callahan"Hans Solo Double"Robert Fontaine Gallery, Miami, FL
Enrique Chagoya"Elvis meets the Virgin of Guadalupe"Metropolitan Museum of ArtProperty of philanthropist Arlene Schnitzer
City of Tupelo"You may have a pink Cadillac, but don't you be nobody's fool"Official Artwork for the 2019 anniversary Elvis Birthday Celebration
George Condo"Double Elvis"First shown the Arsenale, Venice Biennale
Ralph Wolfe Cowen"Elvis"National Portrait Gallery, Washington DC.
Bonnie Daly"Pablo Presley" Museum of Bad Art, Dedham, MAAcrylic-on-paper
Adam Devir"Woman as Elvis"National Botanic Gardens, DublinAcrylic-silkscreen-on-canvas
Leah Devorah"Elvis Presley"ArcLight Hollywood
Simon Dixon"Elvis 56"Art RepublicPrints
William Egglestonuntitled Smithsonian American Art Museum Depiction of Elvis and Priscilla
Elisabetta Fantone"Elvis"Pangee Gallery, Montreal
Howard Finster"Elvis"Enamel painting on board, depicting Elvis and his manager at the set of Love me Tender 7 May 2018: Sold at a Material Culture auction in Philadelphia, PA, for $12,500.
Stefano Fioresi"My interior: Double Elvis"Istituto Italiano di Cultura, Stoccarda
Autumn de Forest"Elvis Warhol at age 9"Park West Gallery
Michael Friedel "Elvis"
Adrian Ghenie"Elvis"17 May 2018: Sold for $519,000 at Phillips.
Douglas Gordon"Self Portrait of You + Me "
Red Grooms"Elvis"National Portrait Gallery, Washington DC
Arthur Halucha"Elvis"DekoArt-Gallery
Peter Halley"Elvis"12 November 2015: Sold at Sotheby's for $262,000
Keith Haring"Elvis"7 October 2017: Sold at Christie's for $121,000
Betty Harper"Rock is born" Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum, Nashville, Tennessee
Corinna Heumann"Warhol Meets Lichtenstein "
Gottfried Helnwein"Boulevard of Broken dreams" Philadelphia Art Museum
Roberto Jimenez"Eight Red Elvises"
Deborah Kass"Double Silver Yentl " Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York,
Deborah Kass"My Elvis" Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York,
Steve Kaufman"Elvis"Gallery Hotel Art, Florence, Italy 2017: Sold for $4,000 after it was shown at the Gallery Hotel Art
Jeff Koons"Triple Elvis"13 May 2015: Sold at Christie's for $8,565,000
Milorad KrsticRadmila and ElvisLágymányosi Bridge, Budapest
Marc Lacroix"The White Hand of Salvador Dali wearing the shirt Elvis gave him" Property of Damien Leclere, Marseille, France
Hal Mayforth"Elvis has left the building"Original acrylic on wood panel Price met $1,300
Shannon Oksanen"Blue Elvis" Vancouver Art GalleryOil-on-linen Est. $5,500
Dren Maliqui"Face to Face"The Gallery of Fine Arts – Gift Collection of Rajko Mamuzić, Novi Sad, Serbia
Peter Mars"Elvis"William J. Clinton Presidential Library Exhibit
Etta McFarland"Heartbreak Hotel"Barns of Rose Hill, Berrybill, VA Quilt
Ronnie McDowell"Reflections of the King"Published in connection with his TV series Ronnie McDowell Painting America.
Ivan MessacuntitledSilkscreen of Elvis
Meddlesome Moth"The Trinity"Dallas, TexasDrawings of Elvis, Chuck Berry and Jerry Lee Lewis in stained glass, affixed as windows to the sky to one of the restaurant's diagonal ceilings
David Nicholson"Rushmore Elvis" Photo of Elvis at Mount Rushmore, together with U.S. Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt
Natalie Nelson"Elvis Presley's birthplace"Drawn in connection with Time magazine's "Special Edition on the South of The United States" Illustration
Steve Payne"Elvis"Dovetailing of George Dawe's "Russian general" portraits with Payne's "Replace a Face technique".
George Dawe Guy Peellaert"Elvis Presley's Last Supper"Rock Dreams
Richard Pettibone"Andy Warhol, Elvis, 1964"13.3 x 13.3 cm2006: Sold at Sotheby's London Office for $226,818.
Pietro Psaier"Wounded" Depiction of Elvis and Warhol
Daniel Richter"Elvis"16 November 2006: Sold at Phillips for $419,200.
George Rodrigue"You Ain’t Nothin’ But a Blue Dog" Neal Auction Company24 x 36
Ben Roe Jr."Elvis and the Birds"South Broadway Cultural Center
Mimmo Rotella"Elvis Presley", sold at Christie¿'s on May 26, 2008 for US$157,000.
David Scheinmann“Elvis/Marilyn”21c Museum Hotel, Louisville, KYSilkscreen
David Scheinmann"Elvis Playboy"2018: Sold for $5,400.
Honoré Desmond Sharrer"Leda & the Folks"Currently alternating its location between: Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, MA; and Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia, PA.Painting focusing on Elvis' parents
Robert SilversuntitledPhotomosaic of Elvis
Mark StutzmanElvis US$0.29 stamp Airbrush and acrylic, requested by United States Postal Service.
Roger G. TaylorElvis in Art Elm Tree publicationsBook of illustrations
Lucrecia Torva"Elvis"Tempe Marketplace, Tempe, AZMural
Gavin Turk"Elvis, Beige and Green"4 December 2012: Sold at Sotheby's Paris for $56,000.
David Uhl"Elvis in tune" Currently at Graceland.
Donald Urquhart"Elvis"Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow
Gary Varvel"Aretha joins music royalty"Indianapolis Star Cartoon
Geraldo Vitorio untitledFrench Consulate, São Paulo, BrazilPainting of Elvis and five other deceased music giants
Albert Wertheimer"The Kiss"Photograph 9 October 2009: Sold at Sotheby's to actress Diane Keaton for $4.063.
David Willardson"Elvis I & II"Rebecca Molayem Gallery, West Hollywood, CA
Ronnie Wood"Elvis I 1988"Serigraph-on-paper, handsigned at lower right
Russel Young"Elvis"28 July 2016: Sold at Sotheby's for $11,875

Andy Warhol

's "Portrait of Jean-Michel as David" 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 of Elvis Presley and their current location, including art museums worldwide, as well as prices met and identified buyers and/or sellers. Prices paid for ten of the silkscreens below, as of end of April 2020 total US$344,000,000.
WorkLocation of original or copiesPaid price Note / Provenance
"Single Elvis" The Broad Museum, Los Angeles, CA
Similar original silkscreens, all from 1963, are located:
2004: $3,367,500.2009: undetermined11 May 2004: A "Single Elvis" was sold at Christie's in NYC.
2009: Acquired for a price still undetermined by billionaire Eli Broad, founder and owner of The Broad Museum.
"Elvis X2"
  1. Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto; and
  2. Pergamon Museum of Art, Berlin.
"Double Elvis" Another 21 original silkscreens similar to, or closely resembling the work are said to exist, including those located:
  • Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA ;
  • Kunsthalle Hamburg, Hamburg, DE;
  • Fukuoka Art Museum, JA;
  • "Ghost Elvis," the final and most opaque image in the series, as exhibited at the Halcyon Gallery, London ; and
  • The Future Perfect Gallery Los Angeles, since 2018 located inside a section of the home at 1174 N. Hillcrest Rd.
    		• 1989 : $750,000.2019: $25.46 million1989: Sold by the Estate of Albert Grossman to the New York Museum of Modern Art.
    March 2019: It was disclosed that the home had just been purchased by Harry Morton, son of one of its previous owners who was the co-founder of the Hard Rock Cafe chain.
    "Double Elvis" Another original, entitled "Elvis 2 times", can be found at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.2012: $37,100,000
    2018: $37,000,000    		9 May 2012: Sold at New York's Sotheby's to billionaires Jose Mugrabi and then Steve Wynn, respectively.
    17 May 2018: Sold by Wynn at Christie's in New York to British art dealer Brett Gorvy, co-owner of the Levy-Gorby Gallery in NY, London, and Geneva. He in turn confirmed his purchasing of the "Double Elvis" being actually done on behalf of one of his clients.
    "Double Elvis" Galerie Bruno Bischofberger, Zürich;
    Galleria Gian Enzo Sperone, Rome;
    Private collection in Turin; and then
    Dominique Lévy Gallery, Geneva.    		2019: $53,000,00015 May 2019: Sold at New York's Christie's for the highest price ever paid for a "Double Elvis". It was offered to Christie's, for its sale at auction by Mexican billionaire David Martínez.
    "Elvis I and II" Currently: Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto2017: $15,700,00013 November 2007: Bought at Christie's.and currently located at the -
    "Triple Elvis" 1998: $1,872,500First in the "Triple Elvis" series whose price is known. The work heralds a trio of images so close together that they appear to be one.
    19 November 1998: Sold at Christie's.
    "Triple Elvis" Four other very similar silkscreens, all from 1963, can be found at:
    1. Richmond Art Museum, Richmond, VA ;
    2. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
    3. Milan's Italian Gallery
    4. Saatchi Gallery, London.
    		2014: $81,900,00013 November 2014: Purchased at Christie's by billionaires Doris and Donald Fisher, who lent it to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
    "Elvis Five"The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA.
    "Eight Elvises" 2008: $100,000,000 Currently: The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PAThe largest Elvis by Warhol in existence, as well as being a unique piece.
    "Campbell's Elvis" 2010: $1.450,0002019: $2.850,000Warhol's first painting in which he superimposed two images onto a single canvas. The painting was originally owned by Salvador Dali and eventually sold after his death to Steve Wynn.
    10 November 2010: First auctioned at Christie's.
    20 March 2019: Sold at the 2019 Art Basel in Hong Kong.
    "Gold Boot Elvis Presley" Currently: private collection of Tom Lacy
    "Red Elvis" 2000: $2.900,000February 2000: Bought privately. It was later adjudicated, after a Connecticut Superior Court ruling, to its original owner, multi-millionaire art collector Peter Brant.
    "Elvis 21 times" Currently: Joseph K. Levene Fine Art, Ltd. Nueva York 1993: undisclosed3 May 1993: Sold by the Andy Warhol Foundation at Sotheby's to Warhol collector and actress Jane Holzer.
    "Elvis 49 times" Hangs in the home of multi-millionaire Robert Mnuchin.1980s: $75,000Late 1975: Sold by Warhol to his friends Messrs Todd Brasser and Stuart Pivar, both of whom being art dealers.
    1980s: Sold to art dealer Leo Castelli. The painting then was sold to millionaire art dealer Charles Saatchi, who more recently sold it to multi-millionaire Robert Mnuchin.
    "Elvis Presley Rock Close Up" Art NY Gallery.

    Cartoons

    Cartoon illustrations of Elvis include:
    The Memphis Summer Storm of 2003 was nicknamed "Hurricane Elvis"

    Festivals

    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.

    Notable references

    , 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:
    1. April 3 aboard the 24 Essex-class aircraft carrier USS Hancock in San Diego, CA.
    2. June 5 from NBC studios Los Angeles, CA. Audience estimated to have been 18 and 22 million viewers respectively. Segments of the latter were shown in the 1994 blockbuster Forrest Gump.
    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.
    1. September 9, 1956, live feed from CBS Television City in Fairfax District, CA, garnering some 60.7 million viewers and a 57.1 rating, both records up to that time. The % share, an 82.6% and also a record, remains the largest ever garnered, by any network or group of networks, for any single program in the history of US television.
    2. October 28, 1956 from CBS Studio 50, New York City, drawing a 34.6 rating with a 57% share and an estimated audience of 56.5 million and....
    3. January 6, 1957, also from Studio 50, New York City, drawing a 47.4 share and reaching some 54.6 million viewers.
    ' : 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. It was released on DVD by Quantum Leap on February 10, 2004
    Elvis. 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 4X Platinum; as DVD Special Edition in 2006, RIAA 2X 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 4X Platinum; as Special Edition DVD 2006, RIAA Platinum
    Elvis in Concert. His last concert tour, filmed 2 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.
    The Elvis Cover-Up. Special airing in 1979. According to Nielsen, it obtained a 43% share, equivalent to an estimated audience of over 50 million viewers, the 2nd highest audience ever garnered for the "20/20" series, a popular news-magazine program on the ABC network.
    One Night with You. HBO Special airing on August 15, 1985. Released by Light Year Video Entertainment on VHS on November 24, 1992 and on DVD on August 1, 2000
    Elvis and Me. 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 1987–88 season as seen by 32.4 and 31.4 million viewers, respectively.
    Elvis: The Tribute. This 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, as 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 2X Platinum, respectively.
    Elvis Lives. NBC special made in conjunction with the release of     ' 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 2X 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 3-year history.
    . An HBO Special airing on 14 April 2018, whose parts 1 and 2 reaching close to 900,000 viewers. Released on DVD format by Sony Legacy on April 6, 2018
    1968 Special's 50th anniversary. Elvis and 19 other performers. Aired February 17.2019. Filmed October 2018 at NBC Studios in Los Angeles, CA. The telecast earned one of the top 5 highest ratings for any program in its time slot

    Sports