Las Vegas Weekly

October 22, 2009 · 12:19 PM

Elvis Presley’s pals celebrate new exhibit at the Imperial Palace

By Robin Leach

Joe Esposito, Elvis' tour manager, and Linda Thompson, Elvis' former girlfriend, on the velvet bedspread Linda picked out for Graceland in 1974 on display at King's Ransom Museum's Elvis Presley Exhibit at the Imperial Palace.

Photo: Erik Kabik/Retna/www.erikkabikphoto.com

Longtime Elvis Presley girlfriend Linda Thompson and his tour manager and bodyguard Joe Esposito were among the VIPs attending the opening of the new Elvis Presley exhibit at The King’s Ransom Museum at the Imperial Palace.

Our contributing photographer Erik Kabik was with them to capture a rare set of candid memories as they looked through valuable jewelry and memorabilia that ranged from guns, neon signs and even a signed library card from November 1947!

Rhonda Williams was at the exhibit and showed the legendary necklace Elvis took off his neck at a concert in 1974 and placed around hers when she was just 5.

My friend Linda, who is Brody Jenner’s mother from her marriage to Bruce Jenner, was Elvis’ girlfriend for four years. She showed the crushed velvet bedspread that she picked out for Graceland when she lived there in 1974. Take note of her image in the background from the 1970s!

Linda also showed the suit she designed for Elvis back then that matched one of her own at a store in Las Vegas called Susie Creamcheese, a legendary high-end boutique that dressed many stars including Shirley MacLaine, Cher, Dionne Warwick, Ann-Margret and Barbara Mandrell when they played the Strip. Now Annie Creamcheese, it was featured in Casino starring Sharon Stone.

Open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., the museum will remain at the Imperial Palace until next spring.

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

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