"Elvis and girl friend before departure" - Killeen, 1958

Anything about Elvis
More than 100 Million visitors can't be wrong

Moderators: Moderator5, Moderator3, FECC-Moderator, Site Mechanic

Post Reply


Topic author
Mister Moon

"Elvis and girl friend before departure" - Killeen, 1958

#1281402

Post by Mister Moon »

KILLEEN, Texas, September 21

ELVIS AND GIRL FRIEND BEFORE DEPARTURE

Pvt. Elvis Presley, accompanied by girl friend Anita Wood, prepares to drive from his home to join his Army outfit at Ft. Hood late Friday night. The rock'n'roll singer is being transfered to Germany. Anita, who had been crying, refused to face the camera because she said she was red-eyed. Presley and his father rented the home here after the singer's mother died. His father plans to go to Germany to be near the son.
580919 AW.jpg
580919 AW b.jpg




Topic author
Mountain Misst

Re: "Elvis and girl friend before departure" - Killeen, 1958

#1281461

Post by Mountain Misst »

Thank you, Mister Moon.



User avatar

drjohncarpenter
Posts: 107017
Joined: 20 years 11 months
Location: United States of America
Has thanked: 11700 times
Been thanked: 33631 times
Age: 89

Re: "Elvis and girl friend before departure" - Killeen, 1958

#1281464

Post by drjohncarpenter »

It was a hard time for all of them, lots of tears, to go along with the ones that had been shed for his mom.


.
Dr. John Carpenter, M.D.
Stop, look and listen, baby <<--->> that's my philosophy!

User avatar

norrie
Posts: 5388
Joined: 19 years 11 months
Location: The province of Scotland
Has thanked: 414 times
Been thanked: 1153 times

Re: "Elvis and girl friend before departure" - Killeen, 1958

#1281470

Post by norrie »

The grief is written all over Elvis' face.


norrie




stevelecher
Posts: 7378
Joined: 20 years 10 months
Has thanked: 756 times
Been thanked: 1403 times

Re: "Elvis and girl friend before departure" - Killeen, 1958

#1281473

Post by stevelecher »

norrie wrote:The grief is written all over Elvis' face.


norrie
I honestly couldn't say that if I saw the picture with no context.



User avatar

norrie
Posts: 5388
Joined: 19 years 11 months
Location: The province of Scotland
Has thanked: 414 times
Been thanked: 1153 times

Re: "Elvis and girl friend before departure" - Killeen, 1958

#1281477

Post by norrie »

stevelecher wrote:
norrie wrote:The grief is written all over Elvis' face.


norrie
I honestly couldn't say that if I saw the picture with no context.
Perhaps.Knowing the circumstances certainly makes it easier to identify the reason for his demeanour.


norrie



User avatar

drjohncarpenter
Posts: 107017
Joined: 20 years 11 months
Location: United States of America
Has thanked: 11700 times
Been thanked: 33631 times
Age: 89

Re: "Elvis and girl friend before departure" - Killeen, 1958

#1281527

Post by drjohncarpenter »

norrie wrote:The grief is written all over Elvis' face.
What I see is a lot of apprehension. He would be leaving everything: his family, his home, his girlfriend/s and his career.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, here's a more telling shot taken shortly after the car photo:


Image
Then I got drafted, and shafted, and everything else, man. So overnight it was all gone, it was like it never happened, it was like a dream, you know. I'd, I'd made four movies and so forth, but it was all gone.

- Elvis Presley, Tuesday, August 26, 1969 MS, International Hotel, Las Vegas, NV
These train photos are from Elvis leaving Fort Hood on Friday, September 19, 1958. So the car photo must be en route to that.

One more:

Image

Elvis leaving Fort Hood - Friday, September 19, 1958
Note friends watching girl being kissed: George Klein, Alan Fortas (squished in the fold of the magazine) and Louis Harris.


.
Dr. John Carpenter, M.D.
Stop, look and listen, baby <<--->> that's my philosophy!


mysterytrainrideson
Banned
Banned
Posts: 4738
Joined: 11 years 8 months
Has thanked: 244 times
Been thanked: 1055 times

Re: "Elvis and girl friend before departure" - Killeen, 1958

#1384034

Post by mysterytrainrideson »

For a sincere guy like Elvis the day he was told he was going to Germany was the day he thought it was all over, that his dream had ended. Probably the saddest day of his life.


This user is no longer a member. They have either been banned or requested their account to be closed.

User avatar

MysteryTrain
Posts: 2628
Joined: 20 years 11 months
Location: Kansas
Has thanked: 496 times
Been thanked: 707 times

Re: "Elvis and girl friend before departure" - Killeen, 1958

#1384037

Post by MysteryTrain »

I'm sure Elvis was apprehensive about leaving familiar surroundings, but his beloved mother had died only a few weeks earlier, so seeing grief in his face was to be expected.

IMO, the saddest day in Elvis' life was the day his mother died.

MT



User avatar

MikeFromHolland
Posts: 7583
Joined: 11 years 11 months
Has thanked: 2479 times
Been thanked: 6842 times

Re: "Elvis and girl friend before departure" - Killeen, 1958

#1600295

Post by MikeFromHolland »

drjohncarpenter wrote:
norrie wrote:The grief is written all over Elvis' face.
What I see is a lot of apprehension. He would be leaving everything: his family, his home, his girlfriend/s and his career.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, here's a more telling shot taken shortly after the car photo:


Image
Then I got drafted, and shafted, and everything else, man. So overnight it was all gone, it was like it never happened, it was like a dream, you know. I'd, I'd made four movies and so forth, but it was all gone.

- Elvis Presley, Tuesday, August 26, 1969 MS, International Hotel, Las Vegas, NV
These train photos are from Elvis leaving Fort Hood on Friday, September 19, 1958. So the car photo must be en route to that.

One more:

Image

Elvis leaving Fort Hood - Friday, September 19, 1958
Note friends watching girl being kissed: George Klein, Alan Fortas (squished in the fold of the magazine) and Louis Harris.
The girl he is kissing is Lillian Portnoy. A fan.

https://books.google.nl/books?id=cz8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA80&lpg=PA80&dq=lillian+portnoy+elvis&source=bl&ots=gPGAFiY0Ke&sig=Rf5EMjWnUsJfIxho1L8EKXToMIQ&hl=nl&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwibp8SInKPVAhUJtBoKHeH4D5sQ6AEITTAN#v=onepage&q=lillian%20portnoy%20elvis&f=false
image.png

In this LATimes article from 2016 she is called Elvis' beau: http://www.latimes.com/business/realestate/hot-property/la-fi-hp-hotprop-20160528-snap-story.html
image.jpeg
image.png
image.jpeg
image.jpeg
image.jpeg
image.jpeg
.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.


Mike

------
lay back,
take it easy
And try a smile...

.


Topic author
Juan Luis

Re: "Elvis and girl friend before departure" - Killeen, 1958

#1600312

Post by Juan Luis »

Thanks Mister Moon.



User avatar

MikeFromHolland
Posts: 7583
Joined: 11 years 11 months
Has thanked: 2479 times
Been thanked: 6842 times

Re: "Elvis and girl friend before departure" - Killeen, 1958

#1600322

Post by MikeFromHolland »

.

Isn't it remarkable that it was Lillian Portnoy who was there with him, kissing him passionately goodbye on the train, and not Anita Wood? If the car photo was taken en route to this station?

.


Mike

------
lay back,
take it easy
And try a smile...

.

User avatar

mike edwards66
Posts: 5729
Joined: 11 years 11 months
Been thanked: 1600 times

Re: "Elvis and girl friend before departure" - Killeen, 1958

#1602146

Post by mike edwards66 »

MikeFromHolland wrote:.

Isn't it remarkable that it was Lillian Portnoy who was there with him, kissing him passionately goodbye on the train, and not Anita Wood? If the car photo was taken en route to this station?

.
Hi Mike. I'm pretty sure the girl at the train station, September 20 in Memphis, is actually Janie, Janie, Janie, Janie Wilbanks. The lovely Ms Portnoy was two days later, September 22, in Brooklyn, as Elvis was boarding the USS Randall. He walked up the gangplank eight times!


>>>


some people say i done all right for a girl . . . oh yeah yeah


GERRY
BANNED FOR LIFE!
BANNED FOR LIFE!
Posts: 3130
Joined: 20 years 1 month
Has thanked: 870 times
Been thanked: 514 times

Re: "Elvis and girl friend before departure" - Killeen, 1958

#1602232

Post by GERRY »

Anita seems like she would have kept Elvis steady. She is a strong and loyal woman. Made a great wife Gladys wanted for her son.

Elvis let a good woman go.



User avatar

jurasic1968
Posts: 12401
Joined: 11 years 7 months
Has thanked: 13257 times
Been thanked: 2586 times

Re: "Elvis and girl friend before departure" - Killeen, 1958

#1602235

Post by jurasic1968 »

He made a big mistake.He should married her after the Army.



User avatar

MikeFromHolland
Posts: 7583
Joined: 11 years 11 months
Has thanked: 2479 times
Been thanked: 6842 times

Re: "Elvis and girl friend before departure" - Killeen, 1958

#1602236

Post by MikeFromHolland »

mike edwards66 wrote:
MikeFromHolland wrote:.

Isn't it remarkable that it was Lillian Portnoy who was there with him, kissing him passionately goodbye on the train, and not Anita Wood? If the car photo was taken en route to this station?

.
Hi Mike. I'm pretty sure the girl at the train station, September 20 in Memphis, is actually Janie, Janie, Janie, Janie Wilbanks. The lovely Ms Portnoy was two days later, September 22, in Brooklyn, as Elvis was boarding the USS Randall. He walked up the gangplank eight times!
Thanks! Lot of info about her and this situation here: https://groups.google.com/forum/m/#!topic/alt.elvis.king/Z2jBWJhZ7do

Still remarkable he kissed her at that train station i.o. Anita...

.


Mike

------
lay back,
take it easy
And try a smile...

.

User avatar

mike edwards66
Posts: 5729
Joined: 11 years 11 months
Been thanked: 1600 times

Re: "Elvis and girl friend before departure" - Killeen, 1958

#1602555

Post by mike edwards66 »

MikeFromHolland wrote:
mike edwards66 wrote:
MikeFromHolland wrote:.

Isn't it remarkable that it was Lillian Portnoy who was there with him, kissing him passionately goodbye on the train, and not Anita Wood? If the car photo was taken en route to this station?

.
Hi Mike. I'm pretty sure the girl at the train station, September 20 in Memphis, is actually Janie, Janie, Janie, Janie Wilbanks. The lovely Ms Portnoy was two days later, September 22, in Brooklyn, as Elvis was boarding the USS Randall. He walked up the gangplank eight times!
Thanks! Lot of info about her and this situation here: https://groups.google.com/forum/m/#!topic/alt.elvis.king/Z2jBWJhZ7do

Still remarkable he kissed her at that train station i.o. Anita...

.
Nice addition, thanks, Mike.
I just ran across this article about some woman claiming to have had an affair
with Elvis from '58-'59 and even going over to Germany to be with him.
Isn't this the same time Elvis and Anita Wood were quite serious? Knowing that
Anita left Elvis when she learned of his fondness for Priscilla I can't imagine
her staying around while this supposed affair took place.

Dawn

Here's the article from desototimes.com

Hernando woman caught Elvis' eye as he became the King

HERNANDO - She's the girl that caught the eye of Elvis Presley just before he
was shipped off to Germany.

The famous picture of Elvis kissing Jane Wilbanks Gowen as he leaned out of a
train leaving Memphis was published worldwide.

During the 25th anniversary of his death last week, one of his most famous
biographers came to Hernando to meet the girl in the photo. The photo also is
scheduled for publication - again - in a new book about Elvis.

For the past 40 years, Gowen has been living quietly in Hernando.

Unlike movie starlets and former girlfriends of "The King" who have cashed in
on their remembrances, Gowen has resisted.

"If I had to do it over again, I would," Gowen said. "It was an adventure. I
did something that millions of girls would have liked to have done, although
some wouldn't have admitted it."

During "Elvis Week" famed Elvis biographer Peter Guralnick, author of "Last
Train to Memphis" and "Careless Love," drove down from his home in Boston to
visit her and listen to her story. The story of her courtship with Elvis in
1958-59 was chronicled in Gurlanick's acclaimed biography.

"I had been wanting to meet Jane ever since she and I first got in touch,"
Guralnick said as he sat in Gowen's living room. "George Klein (one of Elvis'
friends) told me the story," said Guralnick,describing the encounter in which
Elvis spotted her while on board the train and motioned for Klein and Alan
Fortas to put her on the steps of the train so that he could kiss her.

Guralnick said Gowen's name kept coming up in other interviews.

"I wanted to hear the real story - from her," said the soft-spoken Guralnick.

Guralnick said he's intrigued by Gowen's remembrances. "This is Jane's story,"
he said deferring further questions about himself.

In September, Gowen's story and the famous photo will be published in Sergeant
Presley: Our Untold Story of Elvis' Missing Years by Rex Mansfield, Elisabeth
Mansfield and Zoe Terrill as told to Marshall Terrill. Mansfield and his wife
knew Elvis in his U.S. Army days.

What makes her story even more compelling is that Gowen, more so than other
Presley girlfriends, dated Elvis during one of the darkest chapters in his
life.

His mother Gladys had just died at age 42. "Janie" Wilbanks, as Elvis
endearingly called her
, had flown to Germany to see Elvis at his request. She
lived at the time with her uncle who was a U.S. Army chaplain stationed there.

Gowen spent Christmas with Elvis and drove around the snow-covered streets with
the legendary singer looking at all the twinkling lights around the German
countryside. What made the evening so poignant was that his mother had recently
passed away and Elvis was sad. The King even began to cry.

Stunned, Gowen hardly knew what to say. She was young and both of her parents
were still living.

Yet, Elvis could be himself with Gowen and reveal his vulnerability. She was
from the small town of New Albany and he was, at heart, still a lonely kid from
Tupelo. The press learned of their romance. Gowen was featured in numerous fan
magazines. He bought her a pink sweater to show his affection.

Gowen still has the sweater and keeps it locked up in a safe along with
personally autographed photos of Elvis and the couple together in candid
snapshots. Along with Elvis, Jane is shown with Vernon Presley, Elvis's father,
and his grandmother Minnie Mae Presley, who struck up a close friendship with
Jane.

Jane visited Graceland several times after Elvis came home from Germany. Jane
went to college at Ole Miss.

"He was busy with his career and I was ready to go back to college," she said.
"There wasn't really an ending to our relationship. He went on with his life
and I went on with mine."

Still, some say Elvis never forgot her. He called her years later and asked her
to a party at Graceland. She was dating someone else and politely declined.
About four years before his death, Elvis asked an acquaintance how she was
doing.

However, Gowen has been happily married to husband Jerry for the past two
decades. She can still wear the size-2 pink sweater Elvis gave her.

"I couldn't change my life if I wanted to," she said. "That's the way it is.
That's what Elvis would have said."

ROBERT LEE LONG/Community Editor


>>>


some people say i done all right for a girl . . . oh yeah yeah


Topic author
Mister Moon

Re: "Elvis and girl friend before departure" - Killeen, 1958

#1604352

Post by Mister Moon »

Here's the photo with Anita in pretty good quality :

Elvis Anita Killeen.jpg



User avatar

jurasic1968
Posts: 12401
Joined: 11 years 7 months
Has thanked: 13257 times
Been thanked: 2586 times

Re: "Elvis and girl friend before departure" - Killeen, 1958

#1604463

Post by jurasic1968 »

Thanks a lot, Mister Moon.


Post Reply