Spotlight On Elvis’ Most Sexy Co-Stars!

By Bob Pakes / Hugh McKenna
 
 

Next to a truckload of mediocre songs, Elvis’ movies in the mid 60’s had something else in common: they featured some of Hollywood’s prettiest ladies. Not all of Elvis’ movies were bad of course. Actually, quite a few top-rated actresses have appeared in his films: Barbara Stanwyck, Angela Lansbury, Dolores Del Rio, Hope Lange, Carolyn Jones, Joan Blondell and Katy Jurado, to name just a few.
 
In this article we present the most sexy co-star of each of Elvis’ films through High Resolution professional Publicity Stills. Please, do your eyes a favour, and click the images for an ENLARGMENT.
We start off with Elvis’ first 10 movies, all of which were very decent productions and well worth your time, not in the last place because the female co-stars in these movies were not just blessed with good looks but also with plenty of acting skills.
Spotlight on the most sexy co-stars!

 
 
 

 
 
 

Debra Paget

LOVE ME TENDER (1956)
 
Debra Paget was a glamour girl if there ever was one. The sexiness she displayed in her movies was out of this world. One of her most memorable performances was her ultra sexy dance in The Indian Tomb (1959) seen HERE. After having starred in everything from B-westerns (like Love Me Tender) to epic productions (like The Ten Commandments), Debra left the business in the mid 60’s.
 
The chemistry between Elvis and Debra worked fairly good, but there’s also this feeling that Paget was out of his league, and Milton Berle probably said it best when he (jokingly) told Elvis to “Stick to Heartbreak Hotel and stay away from The Waldorf”.

 
 

Debra Paget | A class act

 

 

 
 
 

 
 
 

Lizabeth Scott

LOVING YOU (1957)
 
By the time Lizabeth Scott appeared in Elvis’ second film she had already starred opposite some of Hollywood’s biggest guns: Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster, Humphrey Bogart, Dick Powell, Victor Mature, Charlton Heston, Alan Ladd, Robert Mitchum and Robert Ryan. Most of her movies were in the Film Noir style, with Scott garnering the reputation of being a femme fatale due to her sultry looks and smoky voice.
 
Scott appeared in only one movie after Loving You, although she did act intermittently on television during the 60’s, her role alongside Michael Caine in Pulp (1972) would be her last.

 
 

Lizabeth Scott | A dame to kill for

 

 

 
 
 

 
 
 

Judy Tyler

JAILHOUSE ROCK (1957)
 
Sadly, Judy Tyler died at the age of 24 (before the premiere of Jailhouse Rock), and pubicity photos of her are very hard to find. Apart from the ones she did for Jailhouse Rock, only one earlier photoshoot (for Bop Girl Goes Calypso) captured her beauty, but these photos are very hard to locate in a decent quality.
 
What we have below are a very sexy photo of Judy hooking herself up (left) in a classic Pin-Up manner, plus a cropped publicity shot for Bop Girl Goes Calypso (to the right). But the most eyecatching photo is the one in the middle with a very natural looking Judy in 1955 (when she appeared on stage in the musical Pipe Dream).

 
 

Judy Tyler | Forever young, forever beautiful

 

 
 
 

 
 
 

Dolores Hart

KING CREOLE (1958)
 
After already having starred opposite Elvis in Loving You, Dolores Hart was probably the envy of every female Elvis-fan after she once again played Elvis’ love interest in King Creole.
 
Dolores (a niece of Mario Lanza) had a short but successfull career in movies (having also starred opposite Montgomery Clift, Stephen Boyd and Robert Wagner) when she decided to become a nun at the age of 24. When once asked what is was like to kiss Elvis, Mother Hart replied: “The limit for a screen kiss back then was 15 seconds. But that one has lasted 40 years”. Dolores is without a doubt the prettiest and most natural of all of Elvis’ co-stars.

 
 

Dolores Hart | Mother, what a beauty!

 

 
 
 

 
 
 

Juliet Prowse

G.I. BLUES (1960)
 
A dancer since the age of four, Juliet Prowse danced and acted on stage, television, and in cinema from the 50’s to the 90’s. She gained notoriety when Nikita Khrushchev declared her dance “immoral” when visiting the set of Can-Can in 1960. Whilst a brief engagement to Sinatra followed, after G.I. Blues (and a fling with Elvis) Prowse seemed out of time in Hollywood, with big screen musicals in uncertain territory and roles fitting of her talent not forthcoming. She won acclaim in the West End for Sweet Charity (1967), and was still performing on stage in ’95 with Mickey Rooney in Sugar Babies. Juliet, holding the distinction of having acted with Sinatra and Elvis, died in 1996, just 59 years old.

 
 

Juliet Prowse | She’s got legs and she knows how to use them

 

 

 
 
 

 
 
 

Barbara Eden

FLAMING STAR (1960)
 
Best known for her role as Jeannie in the television series I Dream Of Jeannie, Barbara Eden was a contract player at 20th Century Fox when she acted alongside Elvis in Flaming Star. She was first noticed on the stage by Mark Robson, who brought her to Hollywood for a screen test that led to several small roles in television and on film during the mid/late 50’s. More substantial roles came in the early 60’s with Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea and The Wonderful World Of The Brothers Grimm, with her breakout role as Jeannie in 1965, which earned her two Golden Globe nominations. Barbara’s memoir, Jeannie Out Of A Bottle, was published in 2011.

 
 

Barbara Eden | The dream we all dream of

 

 

 
 
 

 
 
 

Tuesday Weld

WILD IN THE COUNTRY (1961)
 
Tuesday Weld broke into acting after a troubled childhood and a career in modelling. Her first major role came at the age of 13 in Rock, Rock, Rock (1956), although it was 4 years later when she won a Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer. Weld starred alongside Bing Crosby in High Time (1960) and in Return to Peyton Place (1961). She won good notice for her performances with Steve McQueen in Soldier in the Rain (1963) and The Cincinnati Kid (1965). More success came with a Golden Globe nomination for Play It As It Lays, an Oscar nomination for Looking For Mr. Goodbar, an Emmy nomination for The Winter Of Our Discontent, and a BAFTA nomination for Once Upon A Time In America.

 
 

Tuesday Weld | A real, wild child

 

 

 
 
 

 
 
 

Joan Blackman

BLUE HAWAII (1961)
 
The San Francisco-born Joan Blackman began her acting career on tv with roles in several late fifties series such as Hawkeye And The Mohicans (1957) and On Camera (1957), leading to her first big screen role in the 1959 western Good Day For A Hanging. A contract with producer Hal Wallis followed along with roles next to Dean Martin in Career (1959), Jerry Lewis in Visit To A Small Planet (1960) and Elvis in Blue Hawaii (1961). A second role alongside Elvis in Kid Galahad (1962) preceded a move back to television where Blackman found a regular role in Peyton Place (1965/1966). Later movies include Moonrunners (1975) and Shivers (1975). The photo to the right is from Kid Galahad (1962).

 
 

Joan Blackman | Can’t help falling in love with Joan

 

 
 
 

 
 
 

Anne Helm

FOLLOW THAT DREAM (1962)
 
Anne Helm, born in Canada, had a very successful career acting on television from the 1950’s to the 1980’s, although she occasionally appeared on the big screen, with her most famous role being next to Elvis in Follow That Dream. Over the years Anne has appeared in a long list of TV shows that include Rawhide (1961), The Untouchables (1961) Wagon Train (1962/1963), Burke’s Law (1964), Hawaii Five-O (1968/1969) and The Streets of San Francisco (1974).
 
Anne, known for adding personal messages to her autographs, often encouraging people to “keep following your dream”, is one of the nicest and easiest approachable people in the Elvis world.

 
 

Anne Helm | Still following that dream

 

 

 
 
 

 
 
 

Lola Albright

KID GALAHAD (1962)
 
Lola Albright started her career in Hollywood with a number of bit-parts before making an impression as the girlfriend of Kirk Douglas in the 1948 boxing drama Champion. A variety of roles in film and on tv followed before finding further acclaim for her performance in A Cold Wind in August (1961). The following year she appeared alongside Elvis in Kid Galahad and worked with continued success on television, finding a regular role in Peyton Place (1965/1966). Lola won the Silver Bear Award for Best Actress for her performance as the suicidal mother of Tuesday Weld‘s character in Lord Love A Duck (1966). Her last role on the big screen was with David Niven in The Impossible Years (1968).

 
 

Lola Albright | A knockout!

 

 

 
 
 

 
 
 

Many thanks to Josep Rulló for his help and enthousiasm in building this article!

 
 

Keep an eye on Echoes for more
Sexy Co-Stars

SOON !!