When Elvis died August 16, 1977, his fans weren’t ready to live without him. The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll soon inspired a legion of impersonators. Today, the Elvis population has exploded to over 35,000. In fact, according to a leading expert, by the year 2020, one out of every three people on the planet will be an Elvis impersonator.
“When Elvis died, there were an estimated 35 impersonators paying tribute to him. A decade later the number mushroomed to over 1,000. By 1997, over 10,000 people were impersonating Elvis. If you compare this to world growth rates, by the year 2020, Elvis impersonators will comprise one third of the global population,” surmises filmmaker John Paget.
Paget should know. He spent an entire year traveling the country following would-be Kings of every race, color, and creed to produce the award-winning documentary film “Almost Elvis”.
“We found that Elvis impersonation has expanded beyond the traditionally middle-aged male demographic and even women, senior citizens, and toddlers are donning jumpsuits and sideburns,” quips Paget.
“Almost Elvis” premiered at the Hollywood Film Festival August 4, 2001 where it was honored as one of the top documentaries of the year. It was one of only twelve documentaries to be selected as finalist and screened at the annual festival.
Get more info about this phenomenon at the official Elvis Impersonators web site.
Check out FILMTHREAT.com’s NEWS ARCHIVES and get the movie news you missed!
