Because of Elvis' hectic touring and promotional schedule, as well as his fondness for living excessively, he'd often sleep all day having partied throughout the night.
During his later years, when he struggled with obesity and associated health problems, his doctor recommended he use extra sleep as a means of weight loss. This unknown doctor of ill-repute was even rumoured to have gone as far as using a medically induced coma to help Presley shed some pounds, per The Independent.
Elvis' insomnia was described as “incurable” and “persistent.” He's frequently characterized as “nocturnal” as he did not go to sleep until the mid morning hours – including on the day he died. In the last two years of his life, Elvis was in declining physical and mental health.
Presley took sleeping pills because he had insomnia and a fear of going to sleep, a phobia Priscilla says went back to his childhood. She went on to explain that Presley started taking pills during his two-year stint in the U.S. Army while stationed in Germany.
Presley had hypertension and arteriosclerosis independent of his autoimmune disease, but his autoimmune disorder undoubtedly accelerated the inflammatory process. It is noteworthy that Elvis could not do his usual gyrations on stage in the last couple years of his life as a result of rigidity and spasticity.
Presley even shared his mother's bed "up until Elvis was a young teen," simply because the family was so extremely poor that they couldn't afford the luxury of two beds.
The Upstairs Remains Off Limits
Presley's primary suite on the second floor of Graceland was his most private refuge, where only his closest confidants were allowed. It was there, in his bathroom, that Presley's body was found on Aug. 16, 1977.
“Note for his future wife: Elvis loves enormous breakfasts complete with sausage, bacon, eggs, fried potatoes, home-baked rolls and coffee. He has a tremendous appetite at breakfast. His wife should never develop elegant or expensive tastes,” author James Gregory wrote in The Elvis Presley Story.
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The couple lived together for six years before they married. During those years, Elvis and Priscilla slept together every night, but they never had intercourse, she said. He refused to have sex with her until they wed, she said, because "somewhere, he, along in his past, said that he wanted a virgin."
The upstairs rooms could be accessed by Elvis' personal invitation only. Linda Thompson, another ex, lived with Elvis from 1972 to 1976 and remembers that his bedroom was “black, red and gold. … And no — the windows were ever opened,” she shares.
It's no secret that Elvis, like all the best people in life, loved eating. He had a particular penchant for meat, peanut butter and fried foods, meaning his diet was incredibly rich.
Unlike many of today's clean-eating celebrities, Elvis was as known for his bizarre diet as his music and signature style. His official cause of death was a heart attack, and at the time of his death, the King reportedly weighed 159 kilograms and ate a mammoth 10-12,000 calories per day.
On top of his eating habits, Presley was a long-time user of opiates, said PBS. He had been known to use "antihistamines, tranquilizers such as Valium, barbiturates, Quaaludes, sleeping pills, hormones — and laxatives, for the constipation."
Presley. “Elvis lived in many places, but Graceland was always his home, and Lisa felt the same way,” he said. “At times of difficulty, she slept in his bedroom. Twenty-five million people have visited Graceland, but it was always only home to one person, and that was Lisa.”
On Elvis Presley's first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, then one of the most popular shows on television, he was shown only from the waist up. His “gyrations” were considered too sexual for a family television audience.
Elvis Presley Army. Elvis kissing his mom Gladys goodbye before deployment to Germany.
Elvis's last meal was not one of his famed fried peanut butter, banana and bacon sandwiches, but he took care of business with a none-too-surprising four scoops of ice cream and six chocolate chip cookies on August 16th, 1977.
Elvis Presley's weight varied throughout his life, but it is believed that he weighed around 260 pounds at his heaviest. He was roughly 6 feet tall and had a medium+ frame. There's no way (even with a girdle) that he could have weighed over 300+ pounds and still appear relatively normal sized.
Elvis didn't like regular pizza; he demanded specialty pies from Coletta's Italian Restaurant in Memphis. Barbecue pizza. Say what? Yep, Coletta's invented barbecue pizza pie in the 1950s and it was the King's favorite.
The peanut butter and banana sandwich has been referred to as a favorite of Elvis Presley, who was renowned for his food cravings such as the Fool's Gold Loaf, a loaf of French white bread filled with a pound each of bacon, peanut butter, and grape jelly.
Danny Smith admitted: “Elvis wasn't real fond of onions and strong-smelling seasonings.” His father, the star's first cousin, Billy Smith remembered that the singer particularly detested the taste and smell.
On Elvis' other favourites, Danny said: “He ordered McDonald's, Pancho's Mexican [Buffet] and so many others. “The answer to that is yes he did order from fast foods. Not all the time, but y'know a good portion of the time.” Pancho's was first founded in West Memphis in 1956 and is Tex-Mex all-you-can-eat joint.
“[I] get goosebumps,” he told Fallon about seeing Elvis' bedroom for the first time. “That was after we screened the film and the bedroom, you know, his bedroom is a place that most people never get to see. And she said, 'I want to show you something. ' And she took me up there we just sat in his bedroom.