#ed braslaff

[detroitlib]

Portrait of actress Ruby Dandridge. Autographed on front: "Ruby Dandridge." Stamped on back: "CBS photo by Ed Braslaff."

E. Azalia Hackley Collection of African Americans in the Performing Arts, Detroit Public Library

[hooked-on-elvis]

Saturday, August 18, 1956: Elvis at the Knickerbocker Hotel in Hollywood, by photographer Ed Braslaff

The "Rooftop Glamour" photo shoot 🥹

MARTY LACKER "On those first two movies, Elvis stayed at the Hollywood Knickerbocker, on Ivar Avenue. His parents went, too. Elvis rented the whole eleventh floor. He'd sit up there and write his name in lighter fluid on the glass-top coffee table, and then set it on fire, watch it blaze. Girls remember stuff like that. Then, for "Loving You", he moved to the Beverly Wilshire. That was his home in Hollywood until he started renting houses in the sixties." — As told on "Elvis Aaron Presley: Revelations from the Memphis Mafia" by Alanna Nash

Principal filming on "The Reno Brothers" (original title for "Love Me Tender" movie) began August 22, in Hollywood, and finished up on September 21, 1956. This photo shoot happened on the weekend right before the first week of filming Elvis' first movie could begin. Imagine how he was feeling! Yet, he looked so natural in all pictures. Not a sign on anxiety can be seen through his pictures.

Once the filming of "Love Me Tender" had begun, Reporter Patricia Vernon (from The New York Herald Tribune) was sent to interview Elvis on the set.

Patricia asked Elvis if he thought he was a Sex Symbol to kids, as some psychiatrist said at the time.

Elvis: "Someone should put those psychos on a long couch and tell them a thing or two," he said. "They all think Ah'm a sex maniac. they're just frustrated old types, anyway. Ah'm just natural."

On the interview moment, Patricia shared:

He gave me the heavy-lidded look again. "You don't love me," he said accusingly. I told him I didn't love anyone on such short notice. "Ah bet you'd like me if Ah tried," he said. "Ah'm just teasin' now, but Ah'd be sweet and you'd like me because Ah was sweet, wouldn't you?" (If I was her: 🫠) He was teasing, but underneath I sensed the desire of a small boy seeking approval. Then he went out to meet two young fans who wanted their picture taken with him. He told me to stay where I was, that he'd be right back. "I RAN FOR MY LIFE." Excerpt from the 1956 All Elvis Magazine "HERO or HEEL"

That photo shoot is beyond amazing. Elvis was so natural in front of a camera right from the very start of his career, it's incredible. He totally was born to be an public figure. There's a few more wonderful pictures on this day, but only 30 is allowed here (what a shame). Side note: The last photo is merely for historical purposes. 🫠

[presleypictures]

Wearing his self titled belt at the Knickerbocker hotel in Hollywood – August 18, 1956.

[voguefashion]

Elvis Presley photographed by Ed Braslaff at the Hollywood Knickerbocker Hotel in Los Angeles on August 18, 1956.

[presleypictures]

Elvis photographed by Ed Braslaff at the Knickerbocker hotel in Hollywood, August 18, 1956.

[presleypictures]

Elvis photographed by Ed Braslaff on the roof of the Knickerbocker hotel in Hollywood, August 18, 1956.

[detroitlib]

Ruby Dandridge (March 3, 1900 – October 17, 1987) 

American actress from the early 1900s through to the late 1950s. Dandridge is best known for her role on the radio show Amos ‘n Andy, in which she played Sadie Blake and Harriet Crawford, and on radio’s Judy Canova Show, in which she played “Geranium”. She is recognized for her role in the 1959 movie A Hole in the Head as “Sally”. (Wikipedia)

Portrait of actress Ruby Dandridge. Autographed on front: “Ruby Dandridge.” Stamped on back: “CBS photo by Ed Braslaff.”

Courtesy of the E. Azalia Hackley Collection of African Americans in the Performing Arts, Detroit Public Library

[thewonderofelvis]

Elvis at the Knickerbocker Hotel in Hollywood, August 18, 1956. Photo by Ed Braslaff.