Elvis and Natalie Wood Affair Ruined by Another Woman | Movies | entertainment

Elvis Presley and Natalie Wood were two of the biggest and most beautiful stars in the world in 1956, and it seemed like a match made in heaven.

Like Priscilla Presley and many of Elvis’ girlfriends before, during, and after her, Wood was exactly the kind of virginal-looking, sweet and usually brunette girl who caught the King’s eye.

She was the biggest star in Hollywood, with her recent Academy Award nomination for Rebel Without A Cause, while Elvis was about to launch his film career in Love Me Tender.

In later years, Elvis established a pattern of pursuing, wooing, often proposing, and then always dumping his fellow co-stars and other girlfriends.

But he was still the shy little boy from Tupelo, Mississippi, at the time, and Wood made all the moves—and he wasn’t happy with what she found.

Natalie Zakharenko was born 85 years ago, on July 20, 1938. By the age of eight, she had already had starring roles in films like Miracle on 34th Street.

When she met Elvis at 18, he may have been three years older but she was already a seasoned star and a sophisticated, glamorous Hollywood light.

Wood asked her Rebel Without A Cause co-star Dennis Hopper to introduce them: “I saw his picture in the newspaper before he was so popular and I liked his eyes. I thought then I had to go out with him. He’s really cool and the most real boy I’ve ever met. He’s a real messer and has the quality of a great little kid.”

She added in a gossip scoop with the San Francisco News: “He’s so sweet, gentle and so sweet! He’s the nicest boy I know. A great dancer – and sings to me all the time. All the girls in the country adore him – so why should I be any different?”

Elvis already had a few tricks up his sleeve and bought an entire cinema for their date, something he continued to do for the rest of his life.

It was all healthy on the surface. On Sept. 1, Wood commissioned two special handmade red and blue velvet T-shirts and sent them to her new beau on the set of Love Me Tender.

Things got serious on November 1, when Elvis returned home to Memphis after filming The Ed Sullivan TV show in New York and Natalie flew in to meet him there and spend time with his family — something none of his future movie star affairs apart from Anita Wood could have done.

The King engaged one of his great loves and took her on his new Harley-Davidson motorcycle and in the evening they were photographed together at a glam party at the Chisca Hotel. One post shared a snap of the smiling pair saying just that “It is almost certain to break the hearts of countless teenage American girls.”

They both thought it could be the start of something serious, but one woman stood in their way.

Natalie’s sister Lana recalled in her book Natalie: Memoirs of a Sister: “They met, and Elvis flew Natalie back to his family in Memphis. They were due to leave after about a week, but after only two days of the great adventure, Gladys ruined everything,” Natalie said, referring to Elvis’ tyranny.

It was agreed that the mother would call Natalie and tell her to come home due to some family emergency. Natalie’s romance with the King of Rock fizzled out.

She later told me, “Oh my God, it was terrible. He could sing, but he couldn’t do anything else.”

A different side of the picture is drawn by Ray Connolly, author of Being Elvis: A Lonely Life: “Natalie was wearing a very flimsy nightgown around the house. Gladys was like, ‘Not in my house!'” “

Lana also recalled Natalie’s description of how Elvis, who had a close relationship with Gladys, would sit on his mother’s lap: “They were very affectionate, and it upset Natalie. I called and told our mother to make up a story about why she had to come home.”

Gladys was also pressuring Elvis to drop Natalie, believing she was a “gold-digger”.

It was all over, and the next time Natalie was asked by the press if things were getting serious with Elvis, she simply said, “Not now.”