Elvis Presley had quite a few relationships with famous women in his life. Two of them may have had something to do with each other, or else it's just a coincidence that Elvis took a shine to two different women who both played a spooky character in black who hosted horror movies on TV. In 1956, Elvis ran into Maila Nurmi, who had already established herself as the Morticia Addams-like character Vampira. She sought him out behind the building after he was booed offstage in Las Vegas.
“He looked confusedly into the darkness,” she continues, “so I said, ‘I’m over here.’ We walked towards each other, sat down and talked. I told him that I was a performer and that what happened was absolutely awful. He said, ‘Every night before I go on, I talk to God and he always answers me. But tonight he didn’t answer. When them curtains opened and I saw all those white heads and them glasses, I knew why.’ I told him I admired his courage and they only did that because they’re sheep; one person booed and so then they all did. They’ve never, ever seen anything like you and it frightened them. But, Life Magazine are going to discover you and they will kiss your shoes.”
They were words of comfort, certainly, but also very valuable sincere bits of career advice. Elvis felt seen by Maila, and took an instant interest in her. “I know you’re getting old and all,” he told the 33-year-old, “but if you’d like to come back after the show, I’d be proud to take you back to my bungalow.”
While Nurmi denied dating Elvis, there are pictures of them holding hands. Years later, again in Las Vegas, Elvis was in a position to lend encouragement to another young performer named Cassandra Peterson. And they went on one date. Peterson later replaced Nurmi as the hostess of horror movies on KHJ-TV. She adopted the name Elvira, which sound suspiciously like an amalgamation of Elvis and Vampira. Read about Elvis and his mistresses of the dark at Messy Nessy Chic.