Beyond the Fame

It's easy to forget that the celebrities we know lived private lives before they hit the public eye and, even now, continue to live everyday lives -- lives that are, with the obvious differences, pretty much like ours -- when they're not in public.

That's why seeing a library card signed by a 12-year-old Elvis Presley is so charming. And why seeing an X-ray of Elvis' lungs is so, well, bizarre.

Behind the Elvis of legend, fame and cliche lived an actual human being. And it's that Elvis, the one behind the image, that Bud Glass hopes to introduce to fans via "The King's Ransom Museum: Personal Treasures of Elvis Presley."

The exhibit opened in October at the Imperial Palace and is scheduled to run there through April. Items in the show -- which is not affiliated with the Presley estate -- come from the personal collections of Glass and longtime friend and fellow Elvis memorabilia collector Russ Howe.

For years, Glass, a commercial truck driver, and Howe, who runs an alarm company, have been collecting Elvis memorabilia as a hobby. Over that time, Glass says, "we've been lucky enough to become friends with (Elvis') bodyguards and girlfriends and co-stars and backup musicians and vocalists and so forth."

It's from such friends and associates of Elvis that many of the items in the exhibit -- which Glass estimates is now valued at about $2 million -- come.

Elvis "was so generous in his giving," Glass says. "People would come to his house for a recording session and, at break, he'd pull a shirt out of his closet and say, 'This looks like it'll fit you' and give it to you."

Elvis' motivation? Simply because he enjoyed it, Glass says.

Once, Glass notes, a woman who had been dating Elvis and who received a car from him told the entertainer that she wanted to put a plaque in it to acknowledge the gift.

"He said: 'No, don't do that. All things come from God,' " Glass says. "He felt like if he took credit for it, it took the joy of giving away."

One of Elvis' bodyguards told Glass about the time Elvis read a newspaper story about a Memphis woman, an amputee, who couldn't afford a wheelchair.

Elvis bought a wheelchair, delivered it to the woman himself and picked her up to put her in it, the bodyguard recalled.

"She said, 'Why would you do something like this?' " Glass says. "He said, 'Because you need it and I can.' So there you have it."

About five years ago, Glass and Howe -- whose paths have crossed on the collecting trail for years -- decided to create an exhibit to share their collections with other fans.

"Half the fun of collecting," Glass explains, "is sharing it with people who appreciate it as much as you do."

"The King's Ransom" does include jewelry, costumes and clothing, household items, a car, items from Elvis' police memorabilia collection and other items you'd probably expect to see. But it also includes intensely personal items, such as the Bible -- complete with underlined passages -- that lay on Elvis' nightstand on the day he died.

All of the items are authenticated, Glass says, and usually purchased "directly from people who got (the item) directly from Elvis." In fact, each item's chain of ownership is investigated directly back to Elvis, according to Glass, who also produces a series of Elvis-related "Behind the Image" DVDs and books.

That research also benefits viewers, because it enables Glass and Howe to place each item in the exhibit within the context of Elvis' life and career.

Glass says he hopes the exhibit conveys to fans "the man behind the image," adding that, for many, seeing the items -- consider them, perhaps, secular relics -- is a new way to connect to Elvis.

"The thing is, when you see Elvis, he's on television or he's on a video. When you hear Elvis, he's on the radio. If you were lucky enough to see him in concert, wow, how long ago was that?"

But, Glass continues, it's a more intimate sort of connection "when somebody has the opportunity to actually come in and be a plate of glass away from a ring he wore while recording 'Always on My Mind' ... or see the Bible on his nightstand or the bedspread that was on his bed."

For those who remember Elvis, viewing the exhibit can be a vehicle for reminiscing to an Elvis soundtrack.

"We were in Berlin, Germany, not long ago with the exhibit," Glass says. "And people would come up to us and say: 'I've never been able to leave Germany. I've never been able to leave Europe. I'll never make it to Graceland to be able to see what they have on display there. This is as close as I'll ever come, and it's wonderful to see items I would never see otherwise.'

"Another gentleman came in every day for three weeks and just sat there listening to the music after he looked at the exhibit. And he said, 'My wife and I were both Elvis fans, and she passed away a few years ago,' and he was kind of reliving his courtship with his wife."

At the same time, Glass adds, "you'd be surprised how many young fans he has. He'd be celebrating his 75th birthday Jan. 8 and we're still celebrating his life."

Glass would like for visitors to take away from "The King's Ransom" an appreciation of Elvis' generosity and uniqueness.

"He's the biggest entertainer the world has ever known," Glass says, but he never lost touch with "where he came from and his humble beginnings."

Contact reporter John Przybys at jprzybys@review journal.com or 702-383-0280.