Where’s Elvis? : Fans--But Not ‘The King’--Celebrate His 55th Birthday

As Elvis Presley might have put it, Alviss Preston was “All Shook Up.”

Preston is a 41-year-old Elvis impersonator from Long Beach. And he didn’t care for what he was seeing and hearing Monday at a Beverly Hills party--one of several gatherings held Monday to mark the 55th anniversary of the birth of the rock ‘n’ roll legend.

Brent Lee, known as the Chinese Elvis, was wrapping up a medley of the Memphis Elvis’ greatest hits for the party crowd. The Long Beach Alviss wasn’t impressed.

“He’s a little off-key,” said Preston. “He doesn’t have much power behind his voice. And he doesn’t look like Elvis.”

Most of the others in the lunchtime crowd at Ed Debevic’s restaurant in Beverly Hills didn’t mind, however. They were pleased just to see a living reminder of the star who died Aug. 16, 1977, at Graceland, his mansion in Memphis.

Despite well-publicized “sightings” of Elvis in recent years, his fans Monday were convinced that “The King” is really dead.

“It’s a shame he died so young, a tragedy,” said Joan Gansky, 46, of Culver City. “But he’s dead. I get very upset when someone says they saw him at K mart.”

Fan Cheri Hadley, 41, also of Culver City, agreed: “I don’t like people capitalizing on whether he’s alive.”

Sue Wiegert, 44, president of the 400-member Los Angeles-based Blue Hawaiians for Elvis Fan Club, said she was angered when she heard the first claims that Elvis was alive and in hiding.

“Some people are doing it to make money,” said Wiegert, who has heard “spliced-together” phony tapes that purport to prove that Elvis lives. “But some people just miss him so much they keep the rumors alive.”

Elvis impersonator Lee, who showed up unannounced at the party staged by oldies music radio station KRLA-AM and performed in a studded black jumpsuit, seemed to be hedging his bets.

“Every week he’s in the media,” Lee said. “But apparently he’s gone.”

Lee, 35, of Sherman Oaks, said he sometimes jokes about Elvis sightings during his performances. “I play along with the thought that he’s alive. I say I’ve been living in Hong Kong and just released my newest single, ‘Blue Suede Thongs.’ People love it.”

Despite the best efforts by impressionists, Elvis didn’t make any Los Angeles appearances on his birthday.

At the Elvis Market in South-Central Los Angeles, Elvis wasn’t spotted all day. In fact, there wasn’t an Elvis photograph or record anywhere to be found in the Avalon Boulevard grocery store.

“The store was named after the son of a former owner,” said the store manager, who asked not to be identified.

In Monrovia, restaurant operator Chris Bullock plastered Elvis photos around his Acapulco Mexican restaurant in preparation for an Elvis party Monday night. He said 150 Elvis fans had called in reservations to watch the “best Elvis look-alike” and “best moves and gyrations” contests.

Bullock, an Elvis fan, replaced the restaurant’s regular Mexican background music with Elvis tunes. “I’d rather listen to Englebert Humperdinck myself,” admitted weary restaurant manager Cesar Gomez.

Back in Beverly Hills, Alviss Preston--who produced a driver’s license to prove that is his real name--had his own theory about Elvis’ end.

“You know he was killed--murdered,” Preston asserted. “If you read between the lines, you can see how they did it.”

As Elvis Presley might have put it, there are “Suspicious Minds.”