Elvis did well as an actor when he was playing Elvis. His movies were not great, but the movie business was waiting to change so an Elvis movie was sadly not that far from the mainstream at the time. I do recall mention of Elvis for one of the Duke’s movies, but I couldn’t see the Colonel accepting second billing.
All in all, Elvis didn’t fail in the movie business, he just didn’t strike gold.
But which of the many Elvis films are remembered today? Maybe some people remember the titles from those that were named after songs (Love Me Tender, Viva Las Vegas), but who remembers the stories? Yeah, those films made money at the time, but Elvis squandered his talents by focusing on them.
Again, not an Elvis problem but a Col. Tom problem.
Remembering the plots is easy. Hell, there were only 3 or 4 plots to start with. (Not unlike John Wayne making the same movie 3 times!)
Yes, that’s also my point. The colonel pushed him into the film business, while Elvis could have made some of the greatest music of the 60s instead (his comeback in 1968 proved that he still got it in him).
31 movies is not a failure. I’m sure they all made money because they cost so little to make. But it is not realistic to say Elvis failed as an actor.
And just to be clear, I’m no Elvis fan. I consider him largely a joke, and he was lucky that Col. Parker made his career what it was.
My brother loves his movies, and bought them all on VHS, then DVD, then Blu-Ray. Then he started sending us Elvis movies as Christmas presents.
Considering how he played tennis, yeah, I’d call John McEnroe an entertainer.
For some reason he thought he could pull off a talk show, and on MSNBC in the mid-2000’s he lasted for not even a year, I think, at it. Almost too-white looking, to the point of looking like a cadaver, stiff as a board, looking like a skeleton awkwardly trying to attempt confidence and bonhomie, and failing (flailing!), horrifically. First time I ever saw David Cross was on there, looking downright glum (Mr. Show, at that point, had still eluded my radar), and a patient Henry Rollins.
Funny how hideous and gross a sight JM was, though.
Yeah, but his wife (Patty Smyth, of the band Scandal [who was apparently trying to become the next Doc Severinsen]) was fun to watch.
Just remembered that WKRP in Cincinnati did an entire episode about former Reds manager Sparky Anderson trying (and failing) to host a sports talk show.
It didn’t help that he was in an ensemble cast with heavyweight Shakespeareans like Emma Thompson, Kenneth Branagh, and Brian Blessed.
A lot of famous people have flopped when they tried to host talk shows. In addition to John McEnroe (already mentioned in this thread), there’s Chevy Chase, Magic Johnson, Katie Couric, Martin Short, and Wanda Sykes. Evidently, hosting a talk show is harder than it looks.
He was still better than Keaton.
You’re thinking of Love Me Tender, which was a Western, but not a John Wayne film.
Elvis was third billed. He played the protagonist’s younger brother. Not a bad film, and Elvis did a pretty decent job.
The film was loosely based on the story of the Reno Brothers. There had been another film about the Reno brothers a year earlier. That starred Randolph Scott. Possibly you are conflating the two.
Richard Pryor sings! And, admittedly, doesn’t fail at all.
Here’s Muhammed Ali (back when he was still “Cassius Clay”) doing a pretty decent job with “Stand by Me”:
The Dixie Chicks as political commentators…pretty much killed their music careers as well.
Got to know your audience.
The two sisters were talented musicians but were never successful until they hired that spitfire blonde as the third chick. That’s when they took off. She was always a loose cannon, though, and her offhand remark about Bush was a flat-out stupid thing to do, even a bit arrogant, considering the makeup of the Country audience. In the ensuing flap, the other two could have thrown her under the bus, hired someone to replace her, and it may possibly have blown over. To their credit, they defended her, and pretty much ended their careers.
Yeah but IMO that’s not “getting out of their lane and failing”, that’s just taking the consequences of not playing along with the “shut up and play” attitude towards entertainers and athletes.
Can’t talk about The Wrestling Album without bringing this up.
Thanks for showing me that. I am in your debt.