Elvis Presley’s Jewelry on Auction with Priscilla Presley’s Support

Priscilla Presley poses for a photo in front of a collection of personal jewelry of Elvis Presley & Colonel Tom Parker, that was lost for decades and will be sold at auction in August, at the Sunset Marquis Hotel, in Hollywood, California, US, July 28, 2022. (Reuters)
Priscilla Presley poses for a photo in front of a collection of personal jewelry of Elvis Presley & Colonel Tom Parker, that was lost for decades and will be sold at auction in August, at the Sunset Marquis Hotel, in Hollywood, California, US, July 28, 2022. (Reuters)
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Elvis Presley’s Jewelry on Auction with Priscilla Presley’s Support

Priscilla Presley poses for a photo in front of a collection of personal jewelry of Elvis Presley & Colonel Tom Parker, that was lost for decades and will be sold at auction in August, at the Sunset Marquis Hotel, in Hollywood, California, US, July 28, 2022. (Reuters)
Priscilla Presley poses for a photo in front of a collection of personal jewelry of Elvis Presley & Colonel Tom Parker, that was lost for decades and will be sold at auction in August, at the Sunset Marquis Hotel, in Hollywood, California, US, July 28, 2022. (Reuters)

A collection of jewelry that Elvis Presley gave to his manager Colonel Tom Parker is going up for auction on Aug. 27.

Two hundred items, including gold rings encrusted with jewels, cufflinks, watches and chains, have been brought together by GWS Auctions. Also included is the guitar played by Presley during his famous "comeback" TV special of 1968.

Presley’s former wife, Priscilla Presley, helped design some of the pieces.

"Well, it brings back memories for sure," Priscilla Presley told Reuters.

She added that it was a running joke with her former husband that he constantly bought or commissioned jewelry for Parker because the manager already had everything he needed and the Presleys did not know what else to buy him.

Priscilla Presley said she felt protective of the items because she designed some of them, including artifacts with the logo for TCB Band, the musicians who formed the core rhythm section of Presley's backing band in his later years. "TCB" stood for "taking care of business," a favorite expression of Presley's.

Priscilla Presley supported the auction in part because she was weary of seeing so many fake Elvis artifacts for sale.

"There is so much product out there that is not authentic at all and that worries me," she said.

"I want to know for sure that that is going to go to someone who is going to care for it, love it."



Actor Gene Hackman and Wife Found Dead at Home 

Actor Gene Hackman with wife Betsy Arakawa in June 1993. (AP)
Actor Gene Hackman with wife Betsy Arakawa in June 1993. (AP)
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Actor Gene Hackman and Wife Found Dead at Home 

Actor Gene Hackman with wife Betsy Arakawa in June 1993. (AP)
Actor Gene Hackman with wife Betsy Arakawa in June 1993. (AP)

Gene Hackman, the intense character actor who won two Oscars in a more than 60-year career, has died alongside his wife, pianist Betsy Arakawa, and their dog at home, the sheriff's office in Santa Fe, New Mexico, said on Thursday.

The county sheriff's office said deputies had found the 95-year-old actor and Arakawa, 64, deceased on Wednesday afternoon at around 1:45 p.m.

"Foul play is not suspected as a factor in those deaths at this time, however exact cause of death has not been determined. This is an active and ongoing investigation by the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office," it said.

Hackman, a former Marine known for his raspy voice, appeared in more than 80 films, as well as on television and the stage during a lengthy career that started in the early 1960s.

He earned his first Oscar nomination for his breakout role as the brother of bank robber Clyde Barrow in 1967's "Bonnie and Clyde." He was also nominated for best supporting actor in 1971 for "I Never Sang for My Father."

It was his turn as Popeye Doyle, the rumpled New York detective chasing international drug dealers in director William Friedkin's thriller "The French Connection," that assured his stardom and a best actor Academy Award.

He also won a best supporting actor Oscar in 1993 as a mean sheriff in the Clint Eastwood western "Unforgiven," and was nominated for an Academy Award for his turn as an FBI agent in the 1988 historical drama "Mississippi Burning."

Hackman could come across on the screen as menacing or friendly, working with a face that he described to the New York Times in 1989 as that of "your everyday mine worker."

A method actor, he drew from his personal experience to flesh out a role. His characters were sometimes raw and violent and ranged from a small-town basketball coach in the 1986 sports film "Hoosiers" to Superman's archrival Lex Luthor.

He retired in his 70s, saying the parts he was offered were too grandfatherly. His last substantial role was in the 2004 comedy "Welcome to Mooseport."

Living outside Santa Fe, New Mexico, Hackman was married twice and had three children - Christopher, Elizabeth Jean and Leslie Anne, with his late ex-wife, Faye Maltese, who died in 2017. He married Arakawa in 1991.