4th July 1957, Thursday

[Graeme]

Day number 8214Site Date Map

Yesterday << 4th July 1957, Thursday >> Tomorrow

[silverwings]

Memphis: Elvis went for a drive with George Klein after hearing of the death of Judy Tyler

[Private Presley]

Elvis reading a telegram announcing the death of Judy Tyler

[Private Presley]

For more info:

https://brian56.dk/50s/1957/5707/570704 ... 3Skq7DesuA

[Alan]

For more info:

https://brian56.dk/50s/1957/5707/570704 ... 3Skq7DesuA

As above, from the late, great, Brian Petersen's website...

---

LARAMIE, WYO. (UP)       Promising Hollywood actress Judy Tyler and her husband, Gregory Lafayette, also a rising star, were killed Wednesday night in a two-car collision on U S Highway 30 north of here, it was disclosed Thursday.       A third person, a passenger in the second car, was also killed. The crash occured just 10 min-utes before the national Fourth of July holiday accident count began at 5:50 p.m.       Miss Tyler and her husband of four months were en route to their home in New York on a vacation marking her comple-tion of the picture "Jailhouse Rock" with Elvis Presley for Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios in Hollywood.       Her body will be returned to her parents in Ridgefield, Conn. Saturday for burial.       The dark-haired beauty was killed outright in the bloody crash--her body cut in two by the impact. Her husband died early Thursday in a Laramie, Wyo., hospital from a crushed chest.

Don Jones, a passenger in the other car driven by Paul Reed, 33, Hanna, was nearly decapi-tated and died at the scene. Reed was reported in "fair" condition at the Laramie Hospital.       A dog and cat in the Lafayette car also were killed in the col-lision, which welded the two cars together and ground the window glass into powder.       Lafayette´s eastbound car crashed into the other vehicle when the young actor swerved in attempts to avoid another car pulling a trailer in front of the "Billy the Kid" tourist stand three miles north of Rock River.       The Wyoming Patrol said papers on the body indicated that the Lafayette couple was en route to Hopewell Junction, N. Y.       In Hollywood, MGM studios said Miss Tyler was about 24 and that her husband was about the same age. The couple was married last March 17 in Bal-moral, Fla.

Miss Tyler had just finished the picture with Elvis Presley last week. Prior to that time, she starred in "Bob Girl Goes Calypso" for Bel-Air produc-tions. Both studios said the young actress had a "promising career."       A New York Conover model, Miss Tyler also was prominent in television work in New York.

CRASH VICTIMS. Actress Judy Tyler, 24, and her bridegroom of less than four months, TV actor Gregory Lafayette, also 24, were killed in two-car collision near Laramie, Wyo. They are shown in New York prior to their wedding.

---

How Judy Tyler Felt About Elvis Presley Guest Column She Wrote for Aline Mosby Tells of Qualities That Others Lack              One of the last things Judy Tyler did before leaving Hollywood on a trip which ended in death for the actress and her husband was write a guest column about being Elvis Presley´s leading lady in "Jailhouse Rock" for vacationing Aline Mosby. Here it is:        By Judy Tyler, Written for United Press HOLLYWOOD - Elvis Presley made me cry - and I loved every moment of it.       He was full of surprises. He also made me laugh, he made work seem like fun, difficult scenes seem easy. To say the least, he left me deeply impressed.       And, I´d like to add, I met Elvis, and began working with him, with a completely open mind. Not that I hadn´t read about him - I think I´ve read al-most everything ever written on the subject of Elvis Presley.       From the time I was a little girl, I´ve always read whatever I could find about the famous names in show business. Dad used to play trumpet with Paul Whiteman and mother is a former Ziegfeld girl, so I was interested right from the start.        I had an open mind about Elvis, except for one thing. I was sure he was touched with magic. Without it - and don´t let anybody tell you different - no, one can attain such phenomenal success. "Sensitive, Emotional"       Well, he´s a very sensitive, very emotional young man. His simple, basic American family background and training have made him a very nice boy. He´s still very close to his family, and he has deep religious feel-ings.       These qualities put even the most hard-bitten members of our crew on his side - men who´ve seen stars come and go, who are quick to recognize the real ones from the phonies and equal-ly quick to say so.       But, there´s something else that puts him head and shoulders above other performers of the moment. This is hard to define, it`s an intangible something- the something that also has made Sinatra what he is today, sing-ing better than ever and recog-nized too as one of the screen´s great actors.       Elvis isn´t that far along yet, to be sure. "Jailhouse Rock" is only his third picture, but I be-lieve it will be a turning point in his career.        Maturement       Now, that sounds funny, I know, considering the present peak of his popularity. But, I do believe it will do much to establish him as an actor. Those who may have scoffed at him before will recognize some of these qualities I have been de-scribing. I think it will show a maturement, both in his acting and his singing, that may have been overlooked previously.       His songs, for example, range from rock´n´ roll numbers like "Jailhouse Rock" and "Treat Me Nice" to one with a spiritual quality, and another, a ballad, which I think represents the finest singing he has done. It´s called "Young And Beautiful" - and that´s when he made me cry, I wept buckets every time he sang it.       So, that´s what I think Elvis is really like, and what he´s got. As for his future, he´s got that, too. With that intangible some-thing, there can be no stopping him.       Put me down as an Elvis Pres-ley fan - and I´m right proud, suh.

ELVIS GRIEVED - Elvis Presley wept as he read a wire service report yesterday on the death of Judy Tyler who co-starred with him in "Jailhouse Rock," a movie completed only last week.