Elvis, Robert Goulet and a Shot-Out 25-Inch RCA Television
Travel Blog • Michael Yessis • 03.23.06 | 12:36 PM ET
I always thought the stories about Elvis Presley using his guns to shoot holes in televisions were apocryphal. I guess I was wrong. An exhibit featuring “the only surviving television or appliance that Elvis shot out” went on display at Graceland this week. “As the story goes,” the AP’s Woody Baird writes, “entertainer Robert Goulet was performing on TV when Presley blasted the 25-inch RCA that’s part of the exhibit called ‘Elvis After Dark.’”
“There was nothing Elvis had against Robert Goulet. They were friends,” Kern said. “But Elvis just shot out things on a random basis.”
There were no reports Presley hurt anybody with his gun slinging, but he was known to have a fascination with firearms. He converted part of a rear building at the estate into a firing range.
The display seems to be the brainchild of Robert F.X. Sillerman, the mogul who last year bought 85 percent of the company that runs Elvis Presley’s estate. According to a Forbes report, Sillerman and his company plan to spruce up Graceland, Elvis’s former Tennessee home, and double the amount of annual visitors. It currently attracts 1.2 million travelers a year.
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Michael Yessis is the cofounder and coeditor-in-chief of World Hum.
Maurice Colgan 03.23.06 | 4:19 PM ET
They kept that gun shot TV for decades after Elvis died just to display now. Yes we are all so gullible when it comes to Elvis stories.
I’m aiming for an, Elvis Presley International Airport Memphis.
We will have a George Best Airport soon, here in Irelandtoo.
Sharon 03.23.06 | 8:10 PM ET
Yeah Maurice I am with you - I would love to land at Elvis Presley International Airport in Memphis - 2007 when all his fans from round the world will arrive for his 30th Anniversary sounds like an ideal time.
mike 03.24.06 | 3:10 AM ET
You’re right, Maurice. I guess I want to believe.
Maurice Colgan 03.24.06 | 7:24 AM ET
Thanks Sharon, I hope you land at Elvis Presley International Airport, Memphis, in 2007 for the 30th Anniversary. Many thousands are expected:-)
Mike, Strange the hold Elvis still has over us, isn’t it? We all want to believe the million stories.
Even here in Irelandtoo where the “Emerald Elvis” lives:-)
Tom 08.23.06 | 8:34 PM ET
Ap writer Woody Baird is an idiot and Kern doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Its a FACT that Elvis hated robert goulet’s guts because goulet tried to steal Elvis’ girlfriend once. Here’s a snippet from an interview with Marty Lacker, a friend of Elvis’ since they were in high school and a member of the “Memphis mafia”. read the whole article here - http://www.elvisinfonet.com/interview_martylacker_2005.html
“IN: Robert Goulet: there is a real myth about the Robert Goulet on TV incident. Can you set the record straight.
ML: Elvis harbored some bad feelings about Goulet from back in the late 50’s when he was in the army. Elvis’ girlfriend Anita Wood was a singer and she did shows with Goulet and Buddy Hackett. Anita would often write Elvis in Germany and one time Goulet added a post script to one of them telling Elvis in a sly way that he was personally taking care of Anita. Elvis didn’t like that and he never forgot so when he saw Goulet on TV, he shot the TV out. ”