Elvis Presley’s secret crush on Mary Tyler Moore and possible romance with Jane Elliot
There is no denying that Elvis Presley was loved by women and very few could resist his charms. However, there is one famous woman who did not succumb to The King’s magnetism.
Elvis’ co-star on what turned out to be his last feature film was none other than Mary Tyler Moore, former star of The Dick Van Dyke Show. They were paired up for the 1969 film, Change of Habit, where Elvis played a hip doctor and Mary played a nun.
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Another actress who played one of the three nuns in the film described how Mary was not very sociable with the rest of the cast:
“I didn’t talk to her much because she really was kind of standoffish,” said Barbara McNair. “She wasn’t easy to get to know. At lunchtime, the lunch wagon would come and everybody would eat together. She never ate with us. She ate in her own dressing room … She didn’t really socialize so I never got to know her.”
“The truth is, working with Mary was the more difficult for him [Elvis] because they worked so differently and they didn’t really have a mutual ground to meet on. Elvis and Barbara, Barbara and me, me and Elvis—he felt more accepted and comfortable. I don’t think he felt that either Mary liked him or understood him. Elvis was not comfortable with her because of her inaccessibility.”
However, the director of the film, William A. Graham, believed that something was going on as he revealed in a 2005 interview:
“Jane Elliot was having a little romance with Elvis, and sometimes she’d go off in the trailer with Elvis between setups and come out with her wimple askew and her habit looking a little messed up.”
Meanwhile, on a professional level, Elvis and Mary Tyler Moore got along fine. In a December 1969 article in Coronet Magazine, Mary praised Presley’s acting ability: “It’s not just that he always knew his lines; that’s true of any real pro. It’s the way he probes the character. And he is a lot more fun that I’d have guessed. I think he’d be a fine comedian… I’ve never worked with a more gentlemanly, kinder man.”
And in her 1995 autobiography, Moore wrote, “I was his last leading lady. The King would slyly say later on, ‘I slept with every one of my leading ladies but one.’ I don’t want to bust anyone’s cover, but I know who the ‘one’ is.”
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For more fascinating facts about Elvis, check out the author’s 4 Elvis books, including ELVIS Behind The Legend. Read a free excerpt at ElvisBiography.net.
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Love hearing all the parts of his fascinating life.
Love Elvis Presley and have for 60 yrs/
In her book, “MEOW! My Groovy Life with Tiger Beat’s Teen Idols”, then editor, Ann Moses, writes that on the set of “Change of Habit” she witnessed long make-out sessions between Elvis and Mary Tyler Moore. She writes that they would “lie on a big blanket out in the sunshine of the park…making out like teenagers.” She said no one else paid any attention to this often time event, but because the costars were both married to others at the time, Ms. Moses said it made her very uncomfortable. (book excerpt, page 229).
Wow, that’s surprising to hear! Thanks for sharing the info.
Them goodie to shoes thinks because the don’t admit it no one sees them don’t they know what you do always comes out
So funny! I’m female and straight but in a way, I had a crush on Mary-Tyler Moore! She was the quintessential female: adorable and funny, she sang and danced her way into our hearts. I don’t remember a foul word ever crossing her lips during the hay-day of the Dick VanDyke Show, nor later on the long running Mary Tyler-Moore Show. The only thing that dear Mary lacked was sex appeal. In those days you couldn’t say sex let alone exude it, and she took that squeaky clean image with her to her grave. For that, she will always have my respect. Now, whoever thought that it would be a good idea to pair her with the ultimate sex symbol of all time must have realized too late that it was a science experiment gone wrong. Like the characters that they each played, he was willing while she clung to her virtue. Poor poor Mary!