Happy Hallowe'en!

Last year at the Flaming Star Festival, held in Mississauga, Ontario, ETAs and attendees had a wonderful time at the festival’s Saturday night Hallowe’en party. With thanks to photographers Lori-Anne Crewe, Louis Young, and Clarence ‘Buck’ O’Dell, I have put together this slide show for you all to enjoy. While most photos are of guests in costumes, I have included some other photos that I took on that fabulous weekend. Wishing you all a safe and happy 2020 Hallowe’en. Cheers, everyone! Carolyn MacArthur.

Happy Birthday to ETA Shon Carroll

The Early Years: “The Flash”

It wasn’t his true dream to become an ETA but as fate would have it, it happened. Shon's profession is an Animal Control Officer and has been for 8 years. His love for animals and caring go hand in hand, but his love for Elvis and the music he sings is stronger. From reliving the early 50's, 60's and 70's, his shows are filled with excitement and enjoys fan, family and peer support. His energetic ability, hip shaking moves can knock a crowd to the floor in amazement and so he was dubbed “The Canadian Flash” Shon continued to entertain and enter and win contests, all with a burning passion - always keeping a love and respect for the man to whom he pays tribute! He is well received wherever he performs, not only as a fine entertainer, but as a very kind and loving individual.

Collingwood 2018: A Tribute to an Artist

One long-time Elvis Presley Tribute Artist was honoured among his peers at this year’s Collingwood Elvis Festival opening ceremonies.

Shon Carroll was presented with the Paco Danesi award, which is reserved for a tribute artist who shows generosity and embodies the giving spirit many say flowed through Presley.

Carroll was shocked as he went on stage for what he thought was an interview to find Mayor Sandra Cooper holding the award and congratulating him. The crowd gathered on Hurontario Street cheered.

“It’s unbelievable,” said Carroll. “I can’t describe what I feel. I’m very overwhelmed with joy and I’m truly honoured.”

Paul “Paco” Danesi was a musician (bass player) who formed a trio called the Casino Brothers Band in 1999. The band often played backup for Elvis Tribute Artists including at the Collingwood Elvis Festival.

Danesi died in 2010. He is remembered for his passion for music and commitment to excellence. According to Collingwood festival organizers, Danesi,  who was the founder of the Casino Brothers Band, which started in 1999 as a backup band for ETAs, liked and respected the tribute artists and always gave 100 per cent for their performance. The Collingwood Elvis Festival established the award in his name and each year, the festival organizers present it to a tribute artist who embodies not only his passion for music, but his generosity.

Carroll first started competing as a tribute artist in 1996 and won the pro early years division in Collingwood in 2004. Since then he’s been performing strictly in showcases and returns to Collingwood each year for the festival. He’s from Kitchener/Waterloo.

He and Danesi were friends, and both shared a stage together in Collingwood more than once.

“As time goes on, people won’t know him,” said Carroll. “I was fortunate to know him. He was a friend.”

Carroll said he’s always loved Elvis Presley’s music, and in particular his singing voice.

“I thought, if there’s something going on – a festival about Elvis – I have to be a part of it,” said Carroll.

His favourite Elvis song is “Return to Sender”.

“The way he performed it in “Girls, Girls, Girls”, was so smooth, so suave and sophisticated. He was really cool,” said Carroll.

Photos

Happy birthday, Shon! May life always give you reasons to dance. Best wishes from everyone at SIDEBURNS Magazine. Carolyn MacArthur, Editor.

“A Tribute to an Artist” is credited to Erkia Engels, with edits by Carolyn MacArthur. “The Flash” is credited to Lady Luck Music. Photos, except where noted, are credited to SIDEBURNS Magazine.

Lizabeth Scott and Elvis Presley in "Loving You"

Actress Lizabeth Scott

Actress Lizabeth Scott, the raspy voiced actress who was most often typecast as a dark lady, playing a home-wrecker, a murderer, and a self-absorbed wife, was born Emma Matzo on September 29, 1922. Raised in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Ms. Scott began her acting career at age 18 when she was cast in the national tour of the original Broadway play Hellzapoppin. Although she worked steadily in films in the late forties and early fifties, she never seemed to land the signature role that would have made her a top star.

Lizabeth Scott in a scene from “The Strange Loves of Martha Ivers”, 1946.

In April 1954, Ms. Scott attended the Cannes Film Festival. Though she left for London immediately after the festival, her visit to France had unforeseen consequences. Later that month, it was announced that she would be the host of “High Adventure”, a travelogue television series for CBS, but she never appeared in it. As Ms. Scott put it, "Out of the clear blue sky one morning, I woke and decided that I never wanted to make another film again. It was just a spark, I can't explain it." Regardless, she made three more films: The Weapon (1957), Loving You (1957) and Pulp (1972),

Lizabeth Scott, Elvis’s Second Leading Lady in “Loving You”

When Elvis Presley and Lizabeth Scott were paired in Paramount’s “Loving You” in 1957, two Hollywood careers that were headed in different directions briefly merged. Elvis Presley, in only his second picture, was just 22 with a promising film career ahead of him. Lizabeth Scott, then 34, was making what would be her next to last appearance in a film career that began in 1945.

Actress Lizabeth Scott with Elvis Presley.

The person who brought the unlikely couple together on the screen was Hal Wallis. The Paramount producer brought both Scott and Presley to Hollywood, and as twilight enveloped the career of his starlet, Wallis turned his attention to his new rock ’n’ roll star. In 1956, Wallis was searching for an appropriate debut vehicle for his newest discovery—Elvis Presley. Unable to find what he was looking for, he loaned Presley out to 20th Century Fox for “Love Me Tender”.  Wallis wanted a script that would effectively feature Presley’s dual appeals—his sensuality as an actor and his raucous singing style.

In 1957, Wallis found the script he was looking for. In “Loving You” he paired Elvis Presley romantically with Dolores Hart, another newcomer for whom he had high hopes. To solidify the cast, Wallis brought in Lizabeth Scott and Wendell Corey, two veterans to help support the novices but with not enough star power to overshadow Presley.

Dolores Hart, Elvis Presley, and Lizabeth Scott.

In his 2004 book, Hal Wallis: Producer to the Stars, Bernard F. Dick evaluated Lizabeth Scott’s work in “Loving You” as follows:

“Lizabeth Scott’s performance as Glenda, the press agent capable of being both manipulative and compassionate, was as much a revelation as Elvis’s. Although she had second billing, she was clearly the female lead and had a role as important as Elvis’s. Looking trim and elegant, Lizabeth took a character that could easily have been unsympathetic and made her the kind of publicist any newcomer would welcome.

“But what was even more impressive about Lizabeth’s performance was her rapport with Elvis, which revealed deep respect for him and his talent. Deke’s falling in love with Glenda might have seemed strained in the script, yet Lizabeth and Elvis interacted so well with each other that theirs became the natural attraction of a protégé toward a patron.

“The most powerful scene in the movie is the one in which Glenda and her discovery drive to a cemetery where she learns that the singer who calls himself ‘Deke Rivers’, took that name from a gravestone to assume a new identity after losing his parents. The naturalness with which Lizabeth and Elvis played the scene—he with the wrenching sincerity of an overdue confession, she with the humility of someone to whom another has bared his soul—suggests that, under different circumstances, each might have taken a different career route.”

With her strong performance in “Loving You”, Lizabeth Scott demonstrated that she was up to many more film roles, had she wanted them. But there would be just one more movie for her.  “Pulp” in 1972 has since become a cult favorite. Elvis’s Hollywood career lasted 12 more years, but he only had a few more opportunities to show his dramatic talent.

Lizabeth Scott died of congestive heart failure at the age of 92 on January 31, 2015. Her star can be found in the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1624 Vine Street in Hollywood.

.