Schilling, Jerry 1942-

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Schilling, Jerry 1942-

PERSONAL:

Born 1942; married; wife's name Cindy.

ADDRESSES:

CAREER:

Actor, film editor, producer, and manager. Worked for musical acts, including the Beach Boys, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Billy Joel; Elvis: The Great Performances, Volumes 1-3, producer, 1990, 1997; Elvis: The Lost Performances, associate producer, 1992; Elvis in Hollywood, producer, 1993. Worked as crew member for a number of television and film productions, and as producer on recordings linked to his television productions.

WRITINGS:

(With Chuck Crisafulli) Me and a Guy Named Elvis: My Lifelong Friendship with Elvis Presley, Gotham Books (New York, NY), 2006.

SIDELIGHTS:

Jerry Schilling grew up in Memphis, Tennessee, where, at the age of twelve he had his first encounter with Elvis Presley. Presley was older than Schilling and had already cut his first record by that time, though he had yet to become a phenomenon. The two became friends despite the age difference, however, and Schilling became the youngest member of Presley's entourage—commonly called the Memphis Mafia—which included a group of people he considered his support system and protection. Schilling and his wife eventually settled in Los Angeles, in a house that Presley purchased for them. Schilling went on to work as a music manager for acts such as the Beach Boys, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Billy Joel, and as a film editor and television producer in Hollywood. With Chuck Crisafulli, Schilling has written Me and a Guy Named Elvis: My Lifelong Friendship with Elvis Presley, an account of the ups and downs of his relationship with Presley, and of his own varied career in the entertainment business. In an interview for the Elvis Australia Web site, Schilling explained his decision to write the book: "My feeling was there's this huge iconic image out there and that's a good thing in a lot of ways. But the human, personal, sensitive, friendship side of Elvis has been lost in this big, huge picture. I decided to write my story with my friend from my point of view." A reviewer for Publishers Weekly remarked: "Schilling's heartfelt narrative makes this more than just another piece of Elvis product." David P. Szatmary, in a review for the Library Journal, wrote that "Schilling has captured the aura and grim realities of life with one of the most important American icons of the 20th century."