May 17th in Elvis History

It's May 17th, and on this day in 1957, Elvis Presley was resting at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel following a brief hospital stay at Southern California’s Cedars of Lebanon Hospital. During the filming of *Jailhouse Rock*, Elvis had dislodged a cap from one of his teeth, which ended up lodged in his lung. The cap required a doctor to remove it with forceps. In an unexpected but heartwarming turn, Elvis's three hundred-pound friend, Lamar Fike, showed up unannounced at the Beverly Wilshire. Fike, who had left his job in Jacksonville, Florida, when he learned of Elvis's hospitalization, made the long drive straight to Hollywood to be by his side. A year earlier, the press had noticed Lamar often hanging around Elvis’s home in Memphis, and now, he became one of the first people allowed into Elvis's inner circle, offering his unwavering support during this challenging time.