Elvis Presley wanted to marry actress Natalie Wood - whom he dated for a few months in 1956 (she was 18), their relationship started off quite sweetly but Gladys, the King’s mother, was adamantly opposed. She detested the personality, aggressiveness and sexuality of the actress.
Intrigued by 21-year-old Elvis’ music and image, Natalie, then 18, had asked her Rebel Without a Cause co-star Dennis Hopper to introduce them. The pair later met in New York in November 1956 where Elvis took Natalie riding on his new Harley-Davidson motorbike. She was charmed by their first dates. “To go to the movies, he bought out the theater,” it “dazzled” her, and it was “not what she was used to”.
When Love Me Tender was filmed in the summer of 1956, a besotted Natalie had two hand-made shirts sent to Elvis on set. A matching pair — one red velvet, the other dark blue — Elvis can be seen wearing the latter in now-iconic images from his concert at the Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show on September 26, 1956.
These vintage photos captured beautiful moments of Elvis Presley and Natalie Wood during their dating days in 1956.
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