Elvis Presley - What Really Killed Him? | Mental Health History Documentary

Elvis Presley – What Really Killed Him?

Warning: This video contains medical images and terminology.

Elvis Presley was the King of Rock and Roll - his music and attitude changed the world
forever, but he was ruthlessly exploited by others to become a troubled, medication
addicted, bloated caricature of his former self and he died on the toilet, alone and without
dignity at the age of 42.

So much has been written about his life and death that it is hard to make sense of it all. In
this history of mental health documentary I will be focussing on his addiction to prescription
drugs, the toll they took on his body, the doctors who fed his dependence and his final illness
and death – critically evaluating the medical evidence to help you make up your own mind
about what really killed Elvis Presley.

There are so many books on Elvis, it is hard to know where to start. Peter Guralnick’s two volume biography provides the most detailed and authoritative account of his life. If you want more detail on his medical history Forrest Tennant’s book certainly provides this, although I do not agree with many of his conclusions. These are available through my Amazon Store. https://www.amazon.com/shop/professorgraemeyorston

Books:
Guralnick, P. (1994). Last train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley. Little, Brown.
Guralnick, P. (1999). Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley. Back Bay Books.
Red West, Sonny West, and Dave Hebler as told to Steve Dunleavy (1977). Elvis: What
Happened? Bantam Books.
Tennant, F. (2021) The Strange Medical Saga of Elvis Presley. Tennant Foundation.
Academic References:
Evans, R. W. (2020). The very important person (VIP) and the headache medicine
physician. Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain, 60(2), 457-462.
Jones, A. W. (2017). Postmortem toxicology findings from medicolegal investigations of
drug-related deaths among the rich and famous. Toxicologie Analytique et Clinique, 29(3),
298-308.

Copyright Disclaimer
The primary purpose of this video is educational. I have tried to use material in the public
domain or with Creative Commons Non-attribution licences wherever possible. Where
attribution is required, I have listed this below. I believe that any copyright material used falls
under the remit of Fair Use, but if any content owners would like to dispute this, I will not
hesitate to immediately remove that content. It is not my intention to infringe on content
ownership in any way. If you happen to find your art or images in the video, please let me
know and I will be glad to credit you.

Images
Wikimedia Commons
Jailhouse Rock (1957) Film Trailer: Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
Public Domain or used on Fair Use basis for education purposes.

Music
That’s All Right, Hurt, It’s Now or Never: Low Resolution audio samples via Wikimedia
Commons
Blue Moon of Kentucky – Public Domain
Amazing Grace – Cooper Cannell
Little Bessie – Alabama Barnstormers (1931) Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
Softly and Tenderly - Million Dollar Quartet during the Sun Session Recording in 1956 –
Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

Video produced by Professor Graeme Yorston and Tom Yorston.