I Dream of Jeannie star Barbara Eden endured years of rumors that she and Elvis Presley actually had a fling. However, she finally put it to bed 64 years later.
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The two worked together on a movie, Flaming Star, together and became friends. However, she and Presley never had any romantic interest in each other. At the time, Eden was married to actor Michael Ansara. Meanwhile, Presley had a love for himself — his future wife Priscilla.
"We were just good friends," she told Fox News. "I met him when he just got out of the Army. He was very happy."
Presley even asked Eden for advice on how to make his relationship with Priscilla work. He wanted to know the secrets to a happy marriage.
"Elvis told me about this girl that he really liked a lot," Eden said. "He said, 'I want to know how you and your husband survive this business. I'm a little worried about bringing her to the United States.'"
"I told him, 'This is our work,'" Eden shared. "'He goes on location, I go on location. But we're always together. This is how we make money, but we are a team. And as long as the two of you are a team, it will work out.' But Elvis was worried. 'I just don't know,'" he would say.
Elvis And Barbara Eden
Eden had nothing but good things to say about the late singer. She said that he was a true gentleman and always used to sing and play guitar on set.
"He was such a well-bred gentleman," Eden added. "Just wonderful to work with. I'd come on the set, and he'd immediately pull up a chair for me. Actors don't do that. But he was so courteous and gracious with me. He was truly a nice guy in this business. I remember he would have his father on set and another man he called his cousin, but I later found out it wasn't a cousin. But they would all just sit together, play guitar and sing.
However, what surprised Eden the most about Elvis is that he didn't get caught up in his own hype. He seemed like a regular guy who just loved music.
"What surprised me was how decent he was and just a regular guy," she explained. "I guess that surprised me, because I only knew him for his wonderful singing and his knees rocking together and all that. But I should have known better. . . . He was a very intelligent, talented, sweet man. And in [our] movie, he got the best reviews. It didn't make the money his other movies made, but he got recognition for being a really fine, natural actor."
