''Elvis and the Beauty Queen'' is a 1981 American

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made fo ...

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

musical film starring

Don Johnson Donnie Wayne Johnson (born December 15, 1949) is an American actor, producer and singer. He played the role of James "Sonny" Crockett in the 1980s television series ''Miami Vice'', for which he won a Golden Globe, and received a Primetime Emm ...

and Stephanie Zimbalist. It aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

on March 1, 1981 at 9pm.

Plot

stars as

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

in this made-for-TV true story about Elvis's love affair with Linda Thompson ( Stephanie Zimbalist), a young beauty pageant contestant who was his live-in girlfriend and traveling companion for four of the last five years of his life. The story begins with their first meeting and traces their years together when Thompson tried to keep Presley off drugs in the last years of his career.

Cast

* Stephanie Zimbalist as Linda Thompson *

as Elvis Presley *

Ann Dusenberry Ann Dusenberry is an American film, stage and television actress. Biography Acting career The Tucson, Arizona-born daughter of Bruce and Katie Dusenberry, Ann Dusenberry played Amory (alias Angel Collins) in '' Stonestreet: Who Killed the Center ...

as Jeannie * Rick Lenz as David Briggs *

Ann Wedgeworth Elizabeth Ann Wedgeworth (January 21, 1934 – November 16, 2017) was an American character actress, known for her roles as Lana Shields in '' Three's Company'', Hilda Hensley in '' Sweet Dreams'', and Merleen Elldridge in ''Evening Shade''. She ...

as Aunt Betty * Jay W. MacIntosh as Mrs. Thompson *

Ruta Lee Ruta Lee (born Ruta Mary Kilmonis; May 30, 1935) is an American actress and dancer who appeared as one of the brides in the musical '' Seven Brides for Seven Brothers''. She had roles in films including Billy Wilder's crime drama '' Witness for ...

as Su-Su * Edward Edwards as Sam Thompson * John Crawford as Vernon Presley * Darrell Fetty as Pete Moore * Richard Winterstein as Bobby Farr *

Gary Lee Davis Gary Lee Davis (August 13, 1944 – October 13, 1997) was an American convicted murderer and rapist who was executed by the U.S. state of Colorado in 1997. He was the only person to be executed by the state of Colorado between 1968 and 2020; whe ...

as Ray * John Ashton as Jake * Bobbi Jordan as Pregnant Woman * Hanala Sagal as Woman Kissed by Elvis during his concert

Production

Seven songs were recorded for the soundtrack in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

, with country singer

Ronnie McDowell Ronald Dean McDowell Sr. (born March 25, 1950) is an American country music artist, songwriter, and actor. He is best known for his 1977 song "The King Is Gone", a tribute to Elvis Presley, who had recently died. From that single onward, McDowell ...

providing the vocals. The band that backed

was The Glass Hammer, a Nashville-based band. The Glass Hammer consisted of Joe Meador: Guitar, Don Lee: Lead Guitar, Bill Conn: Keyboards and Horns, Larry Leath: Bass, and Rick Judkins: Drums.

Reception

People Magazine ''People'' is an American weekly magazine that specializes in celebrity news and human-interest stories. It is published by Dotdash Meredith, a subsidiary of IAC. With a readership of 46.6 million adults in 2009, ''People'' had the lar ...

'' said, "Don Johnson is praiseworthy as the King, but did Elvis really lounge around in tight leather pants and metal-studded capes?" The ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

'', reviewing the movie after Johnson became famous for ''

Miami Vice ''Miami Vice'' is an American crime drama television series created by Anthony Yerkovich and produced by Michael Mann for NBC. The series stars Don Johnson as James "Sonny" Crockett and Philip Michael Thomas as Ricardo "Rico" Tubbs, two M ...

'', said, "Every time Don Johnson delivers a line you find yourself rolling onto the floor as you howl with laughter."

References

External links

* 1981 television films 1981 films 1981 drama films Films about Elvis Presley 1980s English-language films NBC network original films Films directed by Gus Trikonis American drama television films 1980s American films English-language drama films {{US-tv-drama-film-stub