Elvis Presley made his first of many (and one of his most memorable) appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, the longest-running variety series, on September 9, 1956.
Ed Sullivan, the show’s host, had strict rules for the program’s content and structure, and he didn’t want a rock musician on the show. In early 1956, Sullivan publicly said that Elvis Presley was “not my cup of tea” and that having him wouldn’t be a good choice for a family show. He even turned down an early offer to book Elvis for $5,000.
Soon Elvis started appearing in many shows, and he earned big ratings for “The Steve Allen Show,” the Dorsey Brothers “Stage Show,” and “The Milton Berle Show,” so Sullivan changed his mind and agreed to $50,000 for three appearances.
The first show was in Los Angeles, where Elvis was filming his first movie, Love Me Tender.
On September 9, 1956, the appearance drew 60 million viewers, gave the show its best ratings in two years, and became the most-watched TV broadcast of the ‘50s.
On his first appearance, neither Elvis nor Sullivan was in the New York studio. Elvis, filming his first movie, performed from the CBS studio in Hollywood, and Sullivan was recovering from a car accident, so Charles Laughton, the star of Mutiny on the Bounty, filled in for the host.
Elvis, wearing a plaid jacket, announced that the show was ‘probably the greatest honor I have ever had in my life’, and then performed ‘Don’t Be Cruel’. Elvis also sang “Love Me Tender,” the first song to sell one million preordered copies before being released to the public.
As Elvis was performing, cameras switched to close-up shots whenever he started dancing. “When it was over, parents and critics, as usual, did a lot of futile grumbling at the vulgarity of this strange phenomenon that must somehow be reckoned with,” a reviewer for Time magazine.
Elvis made his second appearance on October 28, 1956. And unlike the first appearance, Sullivan was back.
Sullivan reminded the girls to keep quiet while Elvis was singing. Then, for the last show on 6th, 1957, Sullivan actually complimented Elvis, saying: “I wanted to say to Elvis Presley and the country that this is a real decent, fine boy, and wherever you go, Elvis, we want to say we’ve never had a pleasanter experience on our show with a big name than we’ve had with you. So now let’s have a tremendous hand for a very nice person!”
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