Culture and Lifestyle Activities and Entertainment TV and Movies 13 Actors Who've Stepped into Elvis Presley's Blue Suede Shoes By Rebecca Angel Baer Rebecca Angel Baer Rebecca Angel Baer is the Senior Digital Editor, with a strong focus on News. So, if Southerners are talking about it, Rebecca is covering it. Rebecca has been with Southern Living since 2017 and enjoys the wide range of topics from shining a light on local heroes to providing ways to help our neighbors after disasters like tornadoes and hurricanes strike the South. Southern Living's editorial guidelines Published on June 23, 2022 Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos Photo: Michael Ochs Archives / Stringer/Getty Elvis Presley, the "King of Rock and Roll," was larger than life. A music icon, a movie star, and a champion of the city he called home, Memphis. Presley ushered in a brand new era for American music by blending sounds of his musical influences from the region where he was raised. He blended the country music he grew up with and the sounds of Black gospel choirs and rhythm and blues music that is so deeply rooted in that Delta region. He starred in 33 films, sold over a billion records, earned 14 Grammy nominations and won three. He also served his country in the U.S. Army. Presley was one of a kind and remains, even after death, a tremendous figure in pop culture. Many have followed in his blue suede footprints and he's one of the most often imitated figures in history. We're taking a look back at several of the men who've donned a sequin-clad jumpsuit to portray the man, the myth, the legend on film. 01 of 13 Kurt Russell © Dick Clark Productions/courtesy Everett Collection Just two years after Elvis died, Kurt Russell took on the task of becoming The King in 1979's made for TV movie Elvis, directed by John Carpenter. 02 of 13 Don Johnson Everett Collection In another made for TV movie, Don Johnson stepped into the role of an older Elvis in NBC's Elvis and the Beauty Queen in 1981. This story focused on the last relationship Elvis had, with former Miss Tennessee Linda Thompson. 03 of 13 Dale Midkiff Elvis and Me is another TV movie and this one focused on Priscilla and the origins of her love story with Elvis with Susan Walters as Priscilla and Dale Midkiff as Elvis. 04 of 13 David Keith Courtesy The Everett Collection Heartbreak Hotel, a Christopher Columbus film, is not your typical take on the Elvis story. The 1988 quirky comedy starring David Keith as Presley, is a tale about a teenager in a band who kidnaps Elvis and tries to make a romantic match between the music icon and his single mother. 05 of 13 Michael St. Gerard © ABC / Courtesy: Everett Collection Michael St. Gerard became The King in ABC's 1990 single season TV series, Elvis. The show chronicled the early days of the music icon's career in the 1950s. 06 of 13 Rob Youngblood © Dick Clark Productions/courtesy Everett Collection Elvis and the Colonel: The Untold Story was a 1993 TV movie that explored the relationship between Elvis and his manager, Colonel Tom Parker. Actor Rob Youngblood plays Elvis opposite Beau Bridges as The Colonel. 07 of 13 Rick Peters © Showtime Network / Courtesy: Everett Collection This 1997 "mockumentary" told the actually true story of Elvis's trip to the White House to become a federal marshal under the DEA. Instead he meets President Nixon. Rick Peters wore the signature side burns and 70s shades for this flick. 08 of 13 Bruce Campbell Courtesy The Everett Collection Bruce Campbell, who horror movie fans will know from the Evil Dead franchise, became Elvis in 2002's Bubba Ho-Tep. This comedy-horror flick finds an older Elvis in an east Texas nursing home. 09 of 13 Tyler Hilton ©20th Century Fox/courtesy Everett Collection In the 2006 smash hit biopic of Johnny Cash, Walk the Line, Tyler Hilton plays Elvis Presley. 10 of 13 Jack White ©Columbia Pictures/courtesy Everett Collectio 2007's Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story is a fictional parody of a musical biopic starring John C. Reilly as the made up music icon, Dewey Cox. But Dewey befriends some fictional versions of real folks, including Elvis Presley, played here by musician Jack White of the White Stripes. 11 of 13 Michael Shannon Steve Dietl/ © Bleecker Street Media /courtesy Everett Collection 2016's Elvis & Nixon gives us a narrative version of the meeting between Elvis, played here by Michael Shannon, and President Nixon, portrayed by Kevin Spacey. 12 of 13 Drake Milligan John C. Monson/©CMT/courtesy Everett Collection Sun Records only got one season on CMT in 2017 and quite frankly we're still not over it. The show put a spotlight the origins of the careers of Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis and how they were all guided by Sam Phillips. Drake Milligan portrayed a young Elvis in this show that was filmed right where it all began, in Memphis, Tennessee. 13 of 13 Austin Butler © Warner Bros. / courtesy Everett Collection Baz Lurhmann's epic biopic Elvis stars Austin Butler in the title role opposite Tom Hanks as the controversial Colonel Tom Parker. The film had Lisa Marie Presley saying, "let me just tell you something. At this point, I tell you this with all my heart, that's the reason I'm here. It's been done right." Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit