Editing Elvis impersonator (section)

==Origins==
Contrary to popular belief, Elvis impersonators have existed since the mid-1950s, just after Elvis Presley himself began his career. The first known Elvis impersonator was a young man named Carl 'Cheesie' Nelson from [[Texarkana, Arkansas]], who in 1954 built up a local following on WLAC radio with his renditions of "[[That's All Right|That's All Right, Mama]]" and "[[Blue Moon of Kentucky]]." Nelson even performed alongside Presley when they first met, also in 1954. The friendship between Nelson and Presley is documented in the book "Elvis in Texas".<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j9UfRzhfQrQC&pg=PA17|pages=17|title=Elvis In Texas: The Undiscovered King 1954-1958|first1=Stanley|last1=Oberst|first2=Lori|last2=Torrance|date=2001-11-19|access-date=2017-07-13|publisher=Taylor Trade Publishing|isbn=1461732824}}</ref>

The second known impersonator was a 16-year-old boy named Jim Smith. In 1956, shortly after Elvis began to rise in popularity, Smith began jumping on stage and imitating Elvis. Smith's physical resemblance to Elvis and his mannerisms happened to catch the attention of Canadian DJ Norm Pringle of [[Victoria, British Columbia]], who had been playing "That's All Right, Mama" and "Heartbreak Hotel" on the radio. Smith was featured several times on Pringle's regular TV show, though Smith only [[lip sync]]ed to the music, since he could not actually sing or play the guitar at that time.<ref>Victoria Daily Times, December 9, 1957</ref>

Many other Elvis impersonators appeared while Elvis was still alive, evolving mainly out of small town talent [[competition]]s which took their influences from major music artists of that time. Dave Ehlert from [[Waukegan, Illinois]] began performing as Elvis in 1967 a full 10 years before Elvis died. Some of his contemporaries included [[Rick Saucedo]] of Chicago and Johnny Harra, a Kansas City native who started in 1958 moved his show to Texas in 1977. Ehlert performed throughout the Chicago Metro Area until Elvis died, then traveled the country with his act. He was on hand for the first anniversary of Elvis' death at the Prince William County Fair in [[Manassas, Virginia]] on August 16, 1978. He has continuously performed his Elvis tribute act for almost 50 years, including performances in Las Vegas and headlining an Elvis tribute show in [[Branson, Missouri]] for almost 20 years beginning in 1993. Only after Elvis' death on August 16, 1977, did impersonating Elvis start to become [[Popular culture|popular]] in the mainstream. The large growth in Elvis impersonators seems tightly linked with his ever-growing [[cultural icon|iconic]] status.

American protest singer [[Phil Ochs]] appeared in concert in March 1970 at Carnegie Hall wearing a 1950s Elvis-style gold lamé suit, made for him by Presley's costumer [[Nudie Cohn]]. His performance may be considered the first significant Elvis impersonation.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/WolfFiles/story?id=92624&page=1|title=The Sad End of the First Elvis Impersonator|date=2001-08-16|first=Buck|last=Wolf|work=ABC News|access-date=2017-07-13}}</ref> [[Jeremy Spencer]] of British blues-rock band [[Fleetwood Mac]] became known for his high-energy Elvis tribute performances during his tenure with the band. Spencer would perform as Elvis (often in a gold lamé suit) as the main part of a mini-set in which he also did other impersonations of figures such as [[Buddy Holly]] and slide guitarist [[Elmore James]].

In the mid-1970s, [[Andy Kaufman]] made an Elvis impersonation part of his act. He is considered to be one of the first notable Elvis impersonators and even Presley himself supposedly said that Kaufman was his favorite impersonator.<ref>[https://www.villagevoice.com/1999/11/09/waking-andy-kaufman Waking Andy Kaufman, The Village Voice]</ref> In his act, Kaufman would precede with several failed impersonations before unexpectedly launching into a skilled impersonation of Elvis Presley.<ref>Steven Connor, ''The Cambridge Companion to Postmodernism'' (Cambridge University Press, 2004), p.108.</ref> As Kaufman gained fame, the impersonation was used less and less.

According to a popular myth, Presley himself entered an Elvis lookalike contest at a local restaurant shortly before his death, and came in third place. This fabricated myth was featured as a news item in the ''[[Weekly World News]]'', and has been misunderstood to be factual by people who do not realize that the ''Weekly World News'' is well known to publish outlandish and often unbelievable articles.<ref>Weekly World News, July 11, 2005</ref>{{better source needed|date=June 2020}} This joke may have its origins in [[Charlie Chaplin]], who once did enter a lookalike contest and is often reported to have also placed third, although Chaplin's actual ranking in the contest is not known.<ref>"The Pedant's Return: Why the Things You Think Are Wrong Are Right" By Andrea Barham</ref>