Elvis Presley’s devastation at Jailhouse Rock co-star’s sudden death

One of Elvis Presley’s most famous movies has to be 1957’s Jailhouse Rock. The film saw The King play Vince Everett, who was sentenced to prison for manslaughter before rising to fame as a musician. His co-star was Judy Tyler, who played Peggy Van Alden, a music promoter who eventually becomes his lover.

Tragically, Judy Tyler died on July 3, 1957, several months before the movie premiered. Shortly after wrapping on Jailhouse Rock, the 24-year-old and her second husband Gregory Lafayette drove home to New York from Hollywood.

However, while driving through Wyoming, the young couple was involved in a fatal car crash on US Route 287 near Rock River. Judy was killed instantly, while her husband, who was the same age as her, died the next day.

Fike claimed that within a day and a half Elvis was “over it” and then did watch Jailhouse Rock.

The King was invited to Judy’s funeral but wrote a letter of condolence to her family instead, as he didn’t want his presence at the service to “create a disturbance.” Jailhouse Rock premiered in Memphis on October 17, 1957, but Elvis did not attend.