On this day in 1960, the biggest stars of their respective eras smiled, palled around and ‘danced’ together on television. But behind the scenes was a history of veiled insults, plus a surprising current love triangle and a tangled future.
Just two years before, Frank Sinatra had publicly blasted rock and roll: “It is the most brutal, ugly, degenerate, vicious form of expression it has been my displeasure to hear… It smells phony and false. It is sung, played and written for the most part by cretinous goons and by means of its almost imbecilic reiterations and sly, lewd—in plain fact, dirty—lyrics.”
But the tide was turning as the Rat Pack gave way to the new generation, especially their biggest star who had just returned from two years of military service in Germany. Sinatra actually sent his daughter Nancy to greet Elvis Presley at the airport on March 2, and then invited him on his show two months later. Watch them together below.
Behind the scenes of the May 12 broadcast, Elvis was having a passionate sexual affair with Juliet Prowse, even though he had just left future wife Priscilla Beaulieu behind in Germany and was still officially dating starlet Anita Wood in the US.
Actress and dancer Prowse had been with Frank Sinatra since they met the previous year on the set of the musical Can-Can. The crooner was so instantly smitten that he had her guest on his national TV show as a backing singer. He would even sing some numbers directly to her.
However, in April 1960, Prowse started filming GI Blues with Elvis, playing nightclub dancer Lili. As so often happened, The King soon started an affair with his beautiful co-star.
Prowse said: “Elvis and I had an affair… We had a sexual attraction like two healthy young people, but he was already a victim of his fans. We always met in his room and never went out.”
Extraordinarily, she also openly declared at the time that Frank Sinatra knew about it. Prowse, who was 24 at the time, added: “Frank and I are mature people. We don’t go for this teenage bit about going steady and all that jazz.”
In fact, their relationship only intensified after her fling with Elvis. She would also join Sinatra when he had engagements in Las Vegas. He proposed to her in 1962 but the relationship fizzled out.
Awkwardly, six years later Sinatra’s daughter also had an “electric”encounter with The King…
Nancy Sinatra starred with Elvis in the 1968 movie Speedway and later confessed: “When I first met Elvis, I was so young and nervous that I didn’t handle it well… and then later on, when we did the movie, I fell absolutely in love.”
Nancy also said: “Oh, my God! It was electric, and I think he probably had that effect on every woman. Maybe even some men, I don’t know! Elvis Presley was everything you could imagine that he was — just the warmth of the man was enough to melt your heart… Speedway was Elvis at his peak, in his prime. He was beautiful.”
The actress admitted there was “flirting” and implied both wanted more but, We couldn’t do anything about it because he was married.”
In 2022, Nancy revealed how deeply they had connected: “He shared some intimate thoughts with me but I’d never betray his trust.”
