Elvis and Marilyn Monroe spent a passionate night together in a hotel, according to the only other person who was there – who described what happened in tantalizing detail.
It’s an extraordinary thought – the two greatest sx icons and symbols of their time (and since, according to many opinions) come together for a passionate night. We know they definitely met on the Paramount Studios set in June 1960, but what exactly happened after that? Only one man claimed to know – publicity and management agent Byron Raphael – who said he struck up the secret affair and saw the two most famous people on the planet walk out of the bedroom naked afterwards.
Elvis had just returned from military service in Germany and was back in Hollywood working on his next film, GI Blues. Abroad, he had met and fallen in love with 14-year-old Priscilla Beaulieu, but loyalty was never the superstar’s forte. He was also officially dating 22-year-old starlet Anita Wood at the same time.
The King was even visited by Princesses Margrethe of Denmark, Astrid of Norway and Margaretha of Sweden on set that summer, but it was an alleged meeting with the reigning queen of the big screen that remains speculated to this day.
According to junior agent Byron Raphael, it all started when Elvis’ reps at the William Morris agency insisted on sending him and Marilyn on high-profile public dates — but she said no.
Byron said he kept the details secret for fifty years, but eventually revealed all the details to Playboy and then the New York Post in 2006.
The agent said: “He was very embarrassed but I think she turned it down because she felt it was too public, but Presley didn’t give up and secretly set up a meeting.
“Two weeks later, Elvis called me and said, ‘I want you to come get Marilyn.’ It was a rainy night and I took her to the Beverly Wilshire Hotel and we went up to her room.
“When he saw her, they got closer and without a word started kissing. I was in shock and didn’t know what to do.”
Byron added: “Then Marilyn, who was ten years older, said, ‘You’re pretty good for a guitarist. After two minutes they went into the bedroom and I didn’t know if I was supposed to leave, or stay and wait for them, so I kind of dozed off.”
“The next thing I knew was I was jolted awake by the door opening and I dove behind the bar. And they both came out completely naked. I didn’t I didn’t say a word, I just stayed quiet.”
The agent claimed that when everything was over, Elvis called a taxi for Marilyn.
He added: “A few days later, when I mentioned Marilyn to Elvis, he said, ‘She’s a nice girl, but a little big for me’.”
Everything is incredibly detailed, but can it be true?
It has been pointed out that it wasn’t just Marilyn’s height that put Elvis off. He sadly preferred younger women and, in fact, teenage girls like Priscilla. He was also attracted to wiser, virginal types. Marilyn was 34 at the time and gave off a sexual allure.
However, it is also true that these preferences were for girls he might have considered dating and then marrying. He was certainly very attracted to the sexually confident and stimulating Ann-Margret, with whom Elvis had a long affair after starring together in Viva Las Vegas.
Marilyn, on the other hand, was attracted to older, powerful men, like Miller (11 years her senior), President John F Kennedy and her second husband, baseball star Joe DiMaggio, who was 40 compared to 28. when they got married.
Everyone in Elvis’ inner circle has also always denied that such an affair took place. The only official description of a meeting between the two icons came from Memphis mob member Joe Esposito, who confirmed they met very briefly in June 1960.
