Elvis Presley Was Almost A Beloved Character In ‘Grease’

The stylings of Elvis Presley became a cultural phenomenon, reshaping the fashion, music, and overall bearing of countless Americans as they strived to emulate – or reject – the hip-thrusting King of Rock and Roll. In fact, there would be no Grease without Elvis Presley and he was actually almost in this classic film, but tragedy struck at a most chilling time.

Released on June 16, 1978, Grease is a romantic musical comedy film adapted from the musical of the same name. A critical and commercial success with an award-winning soundtrack, the film has touches of Presley’s influence everywhere, from Travolta’s way of carrying himself to song lyrics. Presley might have influenced the film, which itself became a culturally influential classic and would have fulfilled the singer’s dream of appearing in such a movie. What role would he have filled, though? A fittingly memorable one.

Elvis Presley was almost an iconic part of ‘Grease’

Once Grease became destined for the big screen, its production became a tribute to Elvis Presley. In fact, when producer Allan Carr secured the rights from the original stage version, he imagined the two leads as “Elvis Presley and Ann Margret” type characters. Wouldn’t it be fantastic, imagined Carr, to have Presley actually in the film?

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Not as Danny Zuko, though. Henry Winkler, fresh off his Fonzie fame, was the first choice but he turned it down for fear of being typecast. John Travolta got the role as part of a three-picture deal with producer Robert Stigwood.

But there was another part that, to this day, remains as remembered and treasured as the most prominent roles: that of Teen Angel, who famously sang “Beauty School Drop-Out” to Frenchie. Ultimately, the role went to Frankie Avalon for multiple reasons, each more grim than the next.

An eerie coincidence happened on the set of ‘Grease’ related to the King

It’s hard to imagine building a career like Presley’s and feeling unfulfilled but that is reportedly exactly how the “Hound Dog” crooner felt near the end of his life. He is reported to have spent a lot of time in his final year with a backing singer named Kathy. When he couldn’t sleep, they spoke together. “He said, ‘how are people going to remember me? No one is going to remember me. I have never done anything lasting, never done a classic film,'” she shared.

Grease played around with the age of its cast as compared to the characters quite a bit, but having a 42-year-old Presley join the cast was a bit of a stretch, and ultimately the 37-year-old Avalon made it his own in a successful way. Sadly, it would also become impossible for Presley to interact with the film, as Presley died on August 16 the year before its premiere.

Yet his spirit was very much present at their filming location that day. The song “Look at Me, I’m Sandra Dee” features the line, “Elvis, Elvis, let me be. Keep that pelvis far from me.” They sang this number out while filming the scene as, around the world, news broke of the King’s death.

Randall Kleiser reflected, “It was very eerie. It was all over the news, so everyone knew. We did this number, and everybody kind of looked at each other like: ‘Yeah, this is creepy.'”

Would you have liked to have seen Elvis in Grease? For more secrets behind this influential film, check out the video below!