Anita Wood

Anita Wood with Elvis Presley (1960)

Anita Marie Wood Brewer (* 27. May 1938 in Bells , Tennessee ) is an American former radio - presenter , actress and singer . She is best known as Elvis Presley's first long-time friend .

Life

The 1.57 meter tall Anita Wood is the oldest of four siblings. As a child, she received acting and singing lessons. At the age of 12, she was discovered at a concert by band leader and composer Sanny Kaye in Memphis , when he was looking in the audience for participants for his So You Want To Lead A Band competition . She was selected and won the national competition in February 1951. She also played in theater groups. At the age of 16, she won the Memphis Midsouth Youth Talent Contest with the song What A Dream . She received her own teen radio show called Antics with Anita on WTJS radio station in Jackson , Tennessee .

In 1956 she won a beauty pageant, and in 1957 she came to Memphis for work, where she appeared on the television show Top 10 Dance Party with Wink Martindale . Elvis Presley, who had seen the TV show, was so impressed with her that he contacted her and arranged to meet her. The two fell in love and Anita Wood soon moved into Graceland . Even after Presley returned from his army days in Germany , where he met his future wife Priscilla Beaulieu , the two lived together at Graceland. When Wood found out about Presley's infatuation with Priscilla, she left him after five years of relationship on August 6, 1962. She justified the separation with the words: "It is clear that Elvis is not yet ready to commit seriously."

Soon after, Wood met NFL pro Johnny Brewer , who was at the time under contract with Presley's favorite club, the Cleveland Browns . Wood and Brewer were married on June 13, 1964. After the wedding, she gave up her professional career and devoted herself entirely to her family with the 3 children. After the death of her husband in 2011, she and her daughter Jonnita Brewer Barrett wrote down their memories of the time with Elvis Presley. The book was published in 2012 under the title Once Upon A Time - Elvis And Anita. Memories of My Mother under the authorship of her daughter.

Although Wood had received a film offer back in 1957, she decided not to go to Hollywood for Presley's sake . In the 2000s she finally got into film acting . She first appeared in the comedy Dream , which premiered in 2001 , then in one episode each of the television series Heartbeat (2002) and The Courtroom (2004) and in two short films from 2009, To a Lesser Degree and Five Minutes .

Discography

The following singles have been released by Anita Wood:

• 1958: Crying In The Chapel / I`m Liking This
• 1960: Mama (He Treats Your Daughter Mean) / It Hurts To My Heart
• 1961: I'll Wait Forever / I Can't Show How I Feel
• 1963: Still / Memories Of You
• 1963: Two Young Fools In Love / Memories Of You
• 1964: Dream Baby / This Has Happened Before

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Interview with Anita Wood (article from February 25, 2008)
2. ↑ Johnny Brewer in the database of pro-football-reference.com (English)
3. ↑ Anita Wood in the Internet Movie Database (English)
4. ↑ Anita Wood - Discography at 45cat.com

Web links

• Elvis Presley and Anita Wood: Once Upon A Time ... (December 30, 2012 article)