Elvis Presley's bodyguard speaks out

Article content

Elvis Presly performed his best-selling hits, including Hound Dog and Jailhouse Rock, with a mixture of country, rhythm and blues and rock ‘n’ roll.

Presley was a pioneer of youth music, but in the months leading up to his sudden drug-related death on Aug. 16, 1977, Presley was reportedly in a lot of pain.

“He was really heavy,” Ted Pryor, author and former bodyguard for Presley, told Fox News Digital.

“Elvis was at a point where he was so heavy he didn’t like to be touched, because he was constantly perspiring and hot,” he said.

Pryor, a super middleweight kickboxing champion, was hired to Presley’s team.

“Elvis, when he was younger in the service, he learned a little bit of martial arts, and he was infatuated with it,” Pryor said.

“Getting to bodyguard for ‘the King’ was pretty exciting for me.”

Pryor has published a book, Three-Time World Champ: The Death-Defying True Story of a Kickboxer Turned Drug Smuggler . . . Turned Business Icon, where he goes into more detail about his time working for Presley.

Pryor and his friend, Joe, were training Florida law enforcement when they got a call from Presley’s team offering work as bodyguards while he toured.

“He had to start touring, because his manager gambled his money away,” he added of Presley’s then manager, Col. Tom Parker.

The kickboxer travelled across the country from Tennessee and Florida to New York to California with The King.

Recommended video

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Try refreshing your browser, or
tap here to see other videos from our team.

Play Video

Elvis battled a prescription drug addiction and experienced weight gain before his death.

Despite Presley’s weight gain, women flocked to the It’s Now or Never singer, making their way through crowds to get to the stage.

“The women used to rush the stage,” Pryor said.

“It was interesting because you’d have a chokehold around their waist. We would take them to the floor slowly, and our junior bodyguards would take them away.”