A new movie about the King, Elvis Presley – starring Tom Butler and Tom Hanks was released on Friday, June 23, 2022.
David – his step-brother – who worked As Elvis’s bodyguard and tour manager, said at the height of his addiction, the star was popping 33 sleeping pills and nine shots of Demerol a day – and topping up on amphetamines, codeine, morphine, diazepam, and Placidyl.
“I tried to stop him,” David said, now an author and filmmaker.
“One time, he pulled a gun on me and said: ‘Put the drugs down now.’
“I told him: ‘You hired me to protect you.’ But he put that gun to my forehead. And I said: ‘Really? Is that what is going to happen?’
“I was not afraid because he would never shoot me. But he was dramatically trying to drive home a point that it was his decision.
“Elvis loved us, but he got addicted and could not get over that. He liked the way he made them feel, couldn’t stop, and it cost him his life.”
Another time, David remembers the Suspicious Minds singer reaching for his gun after pouring out a bottle of pills on his bed before a show at LSU.
“He was an addict. I’ve worked in that field helping young people with problems, but I’ve never seen anyone be gripped by addiction like my brother.”
He wants people to know what a devastating thing addiction truly is .”His legacy will never be taken away, but it also reminds the people that the most popular individual in the world had a problem that cost him his life.”
