Gladys zender11/3/2023 ![]() ![]() (Some Presley biographers have contended that Elvis’ unique singing style was greatly influenced by the records of Yossele Rosenblatt, Moshe Koussevitsky and other cantors and Jewish vocalists played by Rabbi Fruchter on his phonograph.) The late rabbi’s son, Chaim (Harold) Fruchter, who lives in Silver Spring and is the lead singer and guitarist for the Kol Chayim Orchestra, said the teenage Elvis actually served as his family’s “Shabbos goy.” The Presleys once lived in a duplex at 462 Alabama Ave., directly below the family of Rabbi Alfred Fruchter, the first principal of the Memphis Hebrew Academy. The family moved to Memphis when Elvis was 13. Two years later, Gladys gave birth to Elvis in Tupelo, Mississippi. Gladys Smith married Vernon Presley in 1933. According to Halachah, or Jewish law, the matrilineal descent makes Elvis technically a Jew. According to, Burdine Tackett was born in Mississippi in 1826 and died in 1887.īurdine Tackett’s daughter Martha gave birth to Doll Mansell, who was the mother of Elvis’ mom, Gladys Love Smith. Little is known about her, but it’s believed her family immigrated to the United States from what is now Lithuania around the time of the American Revolution. Marchese says Elvis’ maternal great-great-grandmother was a Jewish woman named Nancy Burdine Tackett. “The star is on it, so it answered a lot of questions that were out there.” “There was a lot of mystery surrounding it,” said Angie Marchese, Graceland’s vice president of archives and exhibits, and the one who came up with the idea of unveiling Gladys’ headstone on the 60th anniversary of her death, partly to dispel doubts about Elvis’ Jewish lineage. With the headstone now on public display and an accompanying sign proclaiming “Gladys’ Jewish heritage,” any lingering doubts can finally be erased. There’s even been an oddball 2000 Canadian documentary about the topic, “Schmelvis: Searching for the King’s Jewish Roots.” Scores of articles, even in the Wall Street Journal, have examined the possibility of Elvis being a member of the tribe.īut when it comes to a legend like Presley - whose very own death is not even considered factual in some quarters - it’s not always easy to separate truth from fiction. Stories of Elvis’ Jewish heritage have long been in circulation. It was designed by her iconic son to honor the family’s Jewish heritage. Bentley was openly lesbian early in her career, but during the McCarthy Era she started wearing dresses and married, claiming to have been "cured" by taking female hormones.Gladys Presley’s grave marker is now on display at Graceland. She tried to continue her musical career but did not achieve as much success as she had had in the past. She was frequently harassed for wearing men's clothing. On the decline of the Harlem speakeasies with the repeal of Prohibition, she relocated to southern California, where she was billed as "America's Greatest Sepia Piano Player" and the "Brown Bomber of Sophisticated Songs". She dressed in men's clothes (including a signature tuxedo and top hat), played piano, and sang her own raunchy lyrics to popular tunes of the day in a deep, growling voice while flirting with women in the audience. She headlined in the early 1930s at Harlem's Ubangi Club, where she was backed up by a chorus line of drag queens. Her career skyrocketed when she appeared at Harry Hansberry's Clam House in New York in the 1920s, as a black, lesbian, cross-dressing performer. ![]() Gladys Alberta Bentley (Aug– January 18, 1960) was an American blues singer, pianist, and entertainer during the Harlem Renaissance.
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