Elvis was one of the most popular stars in the world and as a result he got privileged information. He was attached to what we called "the Big Grapevine," - Inside Information - the real truth - about a great number of stories that hit the press - and the rag sheets - spun a whole other way. We'd be sitting around the house talking and laughing and he'd tell something he learned that was particularly scandalous or strange, like the idiosyncrasies of other top stars. He knew things about everybody.
There was a top star - a singer - who was a kleptomaniac but only for neck ties...
Elvis said that President of Columbia Pictures, Harry Cohn (and his wife), had given millions to charity but didn't want anyone to know about it. So he would threaten to kill anyone who told in such a serious and intimidating manner that even when he laughed people took him seriously.
One time an actor visited Harry personally upset about the budget of a film he was working on. The star wanted to quit. Harry and the star got into it, and the star took a leisurely whizz all over Harry's desk, which was covered with scripts for the film...
We used to laugh and joke about all of this.
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