Last year, when the "Elvis at 21" exhibit first opened in Los Angeles, the caption for the legendary photo "The Kiss" taken by photographer Alfred Wertheimer described the woman in the photo kissing Elvis as "Elvis' date". Now, over 50 years after that historic photo was taken, the name of the woman has finally been revealed.
Barbara Gray or 'Bobbi', then using her maiden name of Owens, finally came forward to claim her title as the woman in "The Kiss" photo. After years of countless women claiming to be Elvis' companion in that photo, Gray was finally able to convince the skeptical Wertheimer that she was truly the woman whose identity remained a mystery ever since the photo was taken backstage at The Mosque Theater in Richmond, Virginia on June 30, 1956.
The photo has been one of the highlights of Wertheimer's 'Elvis at 21' photo exhibit currently on display at the Clinton Library in Little Rock, Arkansas. Wertheimer had been hired in 1956 by RCA Victor to take some shots of Presley, their young, rising rock and roll star. The photos first appeared in 'The Amazing Elvis Presley', a magazine published in September 1956, but were virtually forgotten until Elvis Presley's death in 1977. “Then the phone started ringing,” Wertheimer told Vanity Fair, “and it really hasn’t stopped in the 34 years since.”
With a little mediation from Vanity Fair and Elvis author Alanna Nash ("Baby, Let's Play House"), Bobbi Gray was able to prove to Wertheimer that she was the young girl that became Elvis' date for the day in 1956, even though she had tried unsuccessfully once before in the 1970s to contact the photographer.
One of the key clues in solving the mystery was Gray's height. Bobbi is only 4'11" and that was one trait that stood out in Wertheimer's memory. Also convinced by a series of detailed questions he asked her, Wertheimer is now acknowledging that Gray was the woman in "The Kiss". (Watch the two of them appear together on The Today Show on August 8, 2011)
Gray says she was not motivated to reveal her identity for money, but rather more for the acknowledgment and recognition that she was the woman in the photo. Wertheimer has agreed to a settlement with her, since she originally never signed a photo release.
One thing is for sure: when the 'Elvis at 21' exhibit opens at its next stop in Mobile, Alabama on September 10 at the Mobile Museum of Art, the photo caption on "The Kiss" will now have Barbara Gray's name on it.
See more photos from the 'Elvis at 21' exhibit
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