Nancy Sinatra believes that Elvis Presley was the “funniest man” that she’s ever met.
In a new interview with People, she spoke about her former co-star and friend. The two met when she was a young woman and then ended up working together. She starred as his love interest in the 1968 film, Speedway.
“I know he was the funniest man and probably the most serious man I knew,” she said. “Both people in one. He made me laugh so hard. And at the same time, he would call me late at night to discuss things like the ghetto, and his concern for people in the ghetto.”
“I don’t know if that’s surprising,” she continued. “People who follow his life probably are aware of his sensitivity.”
Despite playing love interests on-screen, she confirmed to Express that they were just friends. They were platonic the entire time.
“Elvis was lovely. What a great guy. What a sweet, polite, wonderful man,” she said of Elvis Presley. “He treated me as a good friend.”
“His humor was silly and self-deprecating. He made fun of himself which is a very endearing quality to have. We did have fun, that’s for sure,” she added. Sinatra admitted that there was “friendly flirting”. She compared them to The Katzenjammer Kids.
How Elvis Presley and Nancy Sinatra Met
Did you know that Elvis Presley and Nancy Sinatra met when she was just a teen?
The Guardian reported that Presley returned to America following his two-year draft in the Army and returned on March 3, 1960. He had two things to do, record a hit single and then appear for press.
“Presley’s first professional commitment in his new civilian life was to spend two days in a studio in Nashville, recording material to be rushed out for sale to the 1,275,077 people who had placed advance orders for his new single while he was still in Germany, before the songs had even been selected,” the outlet noted.
He recorded the singles “Stuck On You” and “Fame and Fortune”. Back then, singles were two-sided for vinyl records. Which he would later play for television. The special was Frank Sinatra’s series renamed “Frank Sinatra’s Welcome Home Party for Elvis Presley.” Although the two were once at odds, they buried the hatchet and became friends and worked together for his television show.
Nancy was just nineteen years old and assigned with greeting him at the airport.
“I was like every girl my age – head over heels in love,” she admitted to the outlet. Ironically, her father Frank Sinatra was previously on the outs with Elvis Presley. He even previously called his music “a rancid-smelling aphrodisiac”. But finally, Frank gave up on attempting to deter the rock n’ roll genre. They met up in Miami Beach at the Fontainebleau Hotel.
