Sheila Ryan has written a book...
ImT...@aol.com
time. I remember when she married James Caan, my mother joked that she
was just determined to catch her a celebrity. Maybe mom was right.
She sounds pretty arrogant (and not exactly like the sharpest tool in
the shed) in her interview...I don't know what Elvis saw in her. But
she also seems to make more of their relationship that there probably
was. Typical.
Garry
____________________________________________________________
Sheila Ryan has Written New Book on Elvis
By: Elvis Australia - Dec 9, 2006
Source: Billboard
Sheila Ryan Caan has written a new book on her relationship with Elvis
and the three years she was the constant companion of the 'King'. The
first national interview with Sheila will air on Entertainment Tonight
on Friday, December 8th. Check your local listings for exact time.
The book promises a whole new take on the public's general perception
of Elvis and his so-called Memphis Mafia and personal details abound.
The story begins when the 20 year-old runaway is plucked out of the Las
Vegas concert audience by one of Elvis' minions and brought backstage.
After a little innocent flirting Ryan went home, only to be summoned
back to Elvis' presence as soon as she answered the phone. She never
went back to her apartment again.
Sheila Ryan Caan was subsequently married to James Caan and is the
mother of actor Scott Caan.
Interview with Sheila Ryan
By: Elvis Australia - April 15, 2006
Source: Elvis World Japan
Sheila Ryan in Playboy October 1973
Interview with Sheila Ryan who was was Elvis' girlfriend after Linda
Thompson. Sheila was the Oct.'73 Playboy cover girl and married James
Caan in '76 (divorced in '77).
Q : When was the first time you met Elvis?
A : The first time I met Elvis I was in Las Vegas and Joe Esposito
brought me backstage after I think it was the second show of the night
and he came out of the dressing room and there was a waiting room
outside of the dressing room. And he came out and he had this towel
wrapped around his neck and there were, I don't know, maybe thirty
people in the room and he walks out and the first thing that he does, I
mean, the first thing that happens is our eyes meet, you know. And
everyone noticed that, particularly the girl that he was seeing at the
time. I mean, it was just sort of but that once in a lifetime magical
thing, you know. He just walks out of the room and boom, you know what
it's like. A magic. And I knew right at that moment, you know, just
like this - knowing that I think most women have, but I certainly did
have at that time in my life and I knew that I was gonna spend a lot of
time with him.
Q : So you clicked instantly?
A : Instantly. I did, doesn't happen any more instant than that
happened. It was fate.
Q : Did Elvis throw a grape at you?
A : Oh, yeah, He did throw a grape at me, yes, and I'm still not sure
actually why he threw that grape at me. Joe Esposito has said that he
threw it at me on purpose so that he could have a reason to come over
and talk with me. I thought that he threw it at Joe for bringing, you
know, an attractive woman and it was a jealousy kind of a thing. I
thought, but I'm still not sure to this day and I don't know that I
ever will be, really.
Q : What were Elvis' first words to you?
A : Elvis's first words to me were, "I'm sorry." I mean, really, it was
an amazing shot, actually, you know. He's probably fifteen feet away
and I was playing cool because, after that first look, you know, I
didn't really need to know anything else that night. His girlfriend was
there. I wasn't gonna make a scene, you know, but how he flung that
grape and hit me right between the eyes, in the forehead, it is amazing
to me.
Q : You're probably the only woman in the world who's been in that
situation.
A : It hit by a grape, yes.
Q : Did you start talking that night?
A : No, I didn't get to talk with Elvis that night. Other than when he
came over and he kneeled down and was apologizing and apologizing and
apologizing and I was feeling uncomfortable because I knew that his
girlfriend was watching and there was no mistake in what was going on
between the two of us. It was, you know, one of those things. So he
then got up and had to leave and, you know, be with the rest of the
people in the room and so I took my cue and left. You know, almost
immediately. Asked Joe Esposito to walk me out and so I didn't get to
talk to him that night.
Q : When was the next time that you saw Elvis?
A : I had been in an apartment and I was changing apartments and, as I
said before, at that time in my life, I just had a knowing, I knew
things. You know, so my phone was disconnected for two days because I
was transferring from one apartment to another and I knew that Joe was
desperately trying to reach me. I just knew it and as soon as the phone
was connected, I mean, the phone man was there and he put the thing in
the thing and the phone rang and it was Joe. And, you know, I just
said, "Hi, Joe." And he said, "God how did you know it was me? Where in
the heck have you been and boss is just like," you know, he was just
like not angry but frustrated that he hadn't been able to reach me for
two days and I just kinda laughed. And he said, "My boss likes you and
he wants to see you."
Q : Did you go on a big date with Elvis?
A : Yes, I went on a big date with Elvis. Big, big date. It lasted
about two years. That's a big date.
Q : What were the type of things that you would do?
A : Elvis and I used to hide, you know. We would sneak out in the
middle of the night and go get ice cream and it was like helicopters
and the armed guard would come out and, you know, seek us out and hold
us at gunpoint and be like, get back to the hotel. Of course, I'm
exaggerating, but, yeah, we did, you know, just tried to be little
kids, bad little kids. And he entertained me. The second night that I
was there, our second evening together, he took me out on the balcony
of the International Suite, you know, the big suite in Las Vegas that
was sort of his home when he was in Las Vegas. And he sang to me. And
he would sing a lot and we would read and have fun. We did have fun.
Q : Was there a special song?
A : Yes, well, you know what, there was a song that I loved and it
wasn't a song that he sang. The song that he sang to me the first
night, oddly enough, was a song, it was a single that I bought when I
was maybe thirteen and I bought it and I was so proud of it. It was all
the money I had, ninety-nine cents, you know. And I put it up on the
counter and I was just looking at it and the name of it, oh, don't you
just hate that. Anyway, it slipped behind the counter and I was
devastated.
Q : What were the qualities you saw in Elvis that touched you?
A : Elvis had qualities that no other human being has, had, will have.
Some of them are so hard to describe because the charisma, the
qualities that he had were almost not of this world, you know. They
were, a lot of times, angelic. He knew things before I knew things. He
knew things that I was feeling before I was feeling them. He was very
much a little boy, had that little boy quality and I've often said, you
know, before I met him, he had that smile and everyone interpreted that
smile to be his sexy look. And it wasn't that at all. It wasn't a sexy
look. It was his innocence, his vulnerability. It wasn't at all
something that he turned on and off. It was just, you know, just
vulnerable.
Q : Elvis had a tender heart?
A : I don't think that there's another person, although, again, I mean,
you know, let's face it. The man was just not normal, you know. The
biggest joy that he had was in giving and I didn't really understand it
that much at the time. But it was what brought most joy to him was to
give.
Q : What meant most to you in your relationship with Elvis?
A : The thing that meant the most to me in my relationship with Elvis
was that it was different than relationships that he had had with other
women in that I wasn't the nagging, jealous. And I'm not saying that
all the women that he was with were nagging and jealous but I didn't
try to change him. I mean, I didn't expect him to be monogamous. When
he would go away, I knew that he was gonna be with another woman and
when he would come back he would tell me about what happened. And we
would laugh because, you know, I was secure in knowing that, I mean, I
wasn't a jealous. I'm still not a jealous person. And so what was most
different about my relationship with him is that he didn't have to
explain. He didn't have to be afraid. He didn't have to hide, although
he did hide some things. I mean, it wasn't completely an open book but.
Q : Was it a really passionate relationship?
A : Our relationship was passionate and I'm surprised to hear that
women that I know, because at the time there were basically two. And
then, you know, there was myself and then Linda Thompson and we were
sort of you know, running the race and we were, at first, you know, he
was seeing her and then I came along and then it was sort of like a
horserace, you know. We were neck and neck and then I fell behind and
then she, you know. But I'd heard that he didn't have a lot of intimacy
with women. That mostly he did, you know, a lot of talking and staying
up and reading and we had a very active passionate romantic life.
Sometimes more than I was ready for, prepared for. I, you know,
sometimes I was tired and it was no, no, no. So, you know, yeah, I'm
really, really surprised to hear that other women had, you know, a
problem with the amount of intimacy and sex and.
Q : And then sometimes you kept him up by reading to him?
A : Yeah, he would have me read to him until he would fall asleep and
then I would sort of like really slowly close the book and lean over
and put it on the bedside table and then I was so excited because then
I got to go to sleep and I'd just be coming back and put my head on the
pillow, it was too late. But, oh, what, Keep reading. I was like. Oh,
okay. I was, really I was.
Q : Forgive me if this isn't you.
A : Oh, I know what's coming.
Q : Elvis wanted everybody to get their hair dyed in the middle of the
night?
A : In the middle of the night, Elvis wanted his hair dyed. And so he
wanted me to do it. He didn't want Charlie Hodge to do it. And I don't
think Charlie's really ever lived that down.
Q : Talk about Elvis' playfulness.
A : Yeah, he had this laugh. He and Joe Esposito would sometimes get
together before all the people came over. And they'd be in the den and
I'd be there and Elvis would start telling jokes. And then Joe would
start telling jokes and sometimes it was interesting because they would
finish each others sentences and so Joe would tell a joke and then
Elvis would finish the joke and then they would start laughing. And he
would get carried away and he'd start hitting me on the leg cause you
know how someone will hit themselves on the leg when they're hysterical
laughing. And, you know, ha-ha-ha-ha-ha, like that. And he was like. He
would, my leg is like, you know, just kind of welting up a little bit.
And then he used to have a good time with Ricky, his stepbrother. And
he had this sword thing that he would do with Ricky. I don't know if
you've heard about that.
Q : Tell us about that.
A : Okay, there was a trick, I mean, and I don't even, you know, he
could do things that were really not normal, that were not, I mean, you
could always feel safe no matter what he was doing. You would always
feel like there were angels around or something. But he had these two,
I don't know what kind of knives or samurai or huge, huge like each
knife was about that long. And he'd take the two of 'em and he'd say,
"Ricky, go get me my knives." Well, Ricky would just break into a sweat
and he'd turn all red, "No, please, not the-- I'll do anything. Please
don't make me do that. Don't make me do that." So he'd take these two
knives and he'd go into his kind of karate mode, you know, and he would
go [NINJA SOUNDS]. Up and down his body, missing him by, you know, just
little and never touched him but and, you know, of course, that we all
thought that was funny but Ricky didn't think it was funny.
Q : He was probably sweating.
A : Yeah, yeah. That was funny. And just, you know, there was this one
thing. He had that all the guys had all these jokes between them and
one of them was that and that meant something. And I probably shouldn't
say what it meant. But it was funny.
Q : You can say.
A : It would mean "fuck you."
Q : Did you get that?
A : And, I mean, you know, the whole group, everybody, Elvis and Joe
and Jerry and Ricky and just whoever was around, it was just always
laughter. Just did it all the time and there were jokes. I remember one
time we were going to the Memphian theatre. We were going there and on
the way, you know, they would say, so we're going to the Memphian, no,
the Memphuan, no the Memphieuian, the Memphalpheu. You know, and so
then that would just like, you know, spin off into something
ridiculous. And then I would always need to wear somebodys coat because
I forgot to pack mine and Jerry Schilling always ended up having to
give up his coat. So, you know, it was like, "Damn, Elvis, why can't
you just buy your girl some damn clothes," you know. And just
lighthearted and, you know, on the spot, it's hard to think of some of
the things but call me tomorrow and I'll tell you the rest. But there's
just a lot.
Q : Would Elvis run several pictures a night?
A : When we would go to the Memphian, it would the Memphalpheu. We
wouldn't go until late. And usually, I don't know. I think his personal
best was eight movies. I mean, one time I think I sat through three but
that was the most that I had ever had to endure. It was Bruce Lee's
"Kung Fu Fighting" or "Enter the Dragon" or one of those.
Q : What other type of movies did Elvis like?
A : Yes, "Dr. Strangelove." And all the Clouseau.
Q : Peter Sellers films?
A : Yes, so Elvis really loved Peter Sellers in the Pink Panther films.
Q : Did you do things like "Do you have a rhoom?"
A : "A rhoom." Yeah, he would say, "Guys, we are going to our..." No,
no, no, no that's a different accent. "We are going to our rhooms. Our
rhoom. Sheila Marie and I are going to the rhoom." Yeah.
Q : Did you ever just go out the two of you?
A : One time we were gonna go for a ride in the yellow Pantera and I
was petrified because, you know, he just didn't go slow, you know. I
was worried because he didn't drive that often cause we were always in
a limousine and it was late and it was dark and we were on the
Mississippi interstate. It was what and he's in this car and I'm there
and it's just the two of us and I'm like, okay, I don't know how to be
just the two of us, you know. And he was like lit up, you know, like a
Christmas tree. His eyes were like they could be, you know. And we were
going seventy-five and I'm thinking, okay, you know, I can deal with
seventy-five. And then eighty-five and ninety-five and a hundred and
thirty. We were going a hundred and thirty and I'm thinking and then he
goes, "Here, you take the wheel." And takes his hands off and I was
like, "Please, that's not funny. Please." And I was like begging him
and I was really scared. I was really scared and but yet I was just a
side of him that I didn't see often. Carefree, you know, he wasn't on
the job, he wasn't working. He wasn't at Las Vegas and he wasn't doing
shows. So he was just having a good time and when we saw those gates
with the musical notes on them, I was like, huh and I was really happy
to be back.
mr.T
> I haven't seen this posted here yet...I guess it was only a matter of
> time. I remember when she married James Caan, my mother joked that
> she was just determined to catch her a celebrity. Maybe mom was
> right. She sounds pretty arrogant (and not exactly like the sharpest
> tool in the shed) in her interview...I don't know what Elvis saw in
> her. But she also seems to make more of their relationship that
> there probably was. Typical.
>
> Garry
>
> ____________________________________________________________
>
Her book isn't out yet. As I understand it, Sheila never understood that E
was serious with her, she was only told so later on.
--
T.
Broadway
Constant companion for three years?
ImT...@aol.com
Yeah, I thought it was more like three months. For her to claim she
was with him that long, there seem to be very few pictures of them
together, mainly from summer and fall of 1974. There is a copy of a
check to her for $1000, which supposedly was her Christmas present in
1974.
Who was that blonde Diane Goodman I've only seen one picture of with
Elvis? It looks like after a show because Elvis is wearing stage
clothes (looks like an early 1975 jumpsuit) and they are in the back of
a limo, but I've only heard her mentioned a couple times, and I've
never heard any details about who she is, or how she ended up with
Elvis , or for how long.
Garry
H
studio with him at the "Today" album sessions. There is an outtake
available where he asks her to come over to him and he sings the song
for her.
mr.T
Don't know much on Diane Goodman except she was a former Miss Georgia that E
dated (briefly) in 1975. The picture you refere to was shot July 19, 1975
(see below).
Here's a copy of a post I made some time ago,
****
Elvis (seemingly) wanted to loose Linda (a shame), but
not Sheila I think. But as I see it, he did loose both. Anyway, Elvis wasn't
only dating Linda and Sheila at the time, in 1975 he was also dating, among
a couple of others (perhaps shortly, but still...) Diane Goodman and Ann
Pennington. The latter, while involved with Elvis at the same time, also
became a friend of Sheila as far as I know. I've also read that it was
Pennington that invited Sheila to Hugh Hefners house where she met with
Caan. Shortly after that first meeting they went on a few days
(acid/fishing) trip together (nice combination don't you think?), and when
Sheila returned home Joe Esposito was there waiting for her on Elvis' order.
Sheila told Joe right away, but they (he!) decided not to tell Elvis. The
excuse they used for her not to be able to go on tour (or to LA, or wherever
E wanted her to go) with Elvis was that she had an ear-infection and was not
allowed by her doctor to travel by air. Finally, shortly after, on the
phone, Sheila told Elvis she did marry, or planned to marry, Caan.
Again, as far as I know, Elvis never left Sheila. And Elvis did not want to
lose Sheila. Not at that time, or like that, anyway.
About Linda, - I don't think E wanted to loose Linda. The problem was, she
grew up...
****
From Wikipedia on Ann Pennington,
Ann Victoria Pennington (born June 3, 1950 in Seattle, Washington) is an
American model and actress. She was Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month
for its March 1976 issue.
Ann was the second half of the first sisters to be Playmates at separate
times -- her older sister Janice was Miss May 1971. (Janice would later gain
fame as a model on The Price Is Right; Ann would appear occasionally on that
program, as well as Card Sharks.) In 1980 Ann married actor/producer Shaun
Cassidy; they divorced in 1993 and share two children. (Ann already had one
daughter from a previous marriage.) Eventually she married skier Peter
Brinkman, whom she had been dating at the time of her pictorial, but he
passed away in 2005.
Here's some pictures...
of Sheila Ryan,
http://tinyurl.com/y3u2u2
http://tinyurl.com/yhjtgz
http://tinyurl.com/yczg2j
...and Diane Goodman,
http://tinyurl.com/ykc2gh
http://tinyurl.com/ya6hcm
http://tinyurl.com/ymjxn3
http://tinyurl.com/ygcpht
...and Ann Pennington,
http://tinyurl.com/ygyrf8
http://tinyurl.com/yhcjpq
http://tinyurl.com/yyuee8
--
T.
marty
<ImT...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:1167542650....@i12g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
Diane was a Ms. Georgia and they only dated once or twice. No big deal.
Marty
>
marty
Sheila was a good girl and she was a lot of fun, so was Ann.
One time on tour, we were in Monroe, Lousiana for the umpteenth time and we
were at this crummy Ramada Inn. Elvis asked me to take Sheila to the
airport and then wait about 30 minutes and pick up Ann who was flying in.
Sometimes it was like a revolving door and neither one of them knew about
the other at the time.
Marty
mr.T
Thanks Marty, amazing he got away with it. But then again, they both knew
about each other so there wasn't much to hide.
--
T.