Elvis Presley

:"Elvis" redirects here. For other persons and things named Elvis, see Elvis (disambiguation).

Death and burial

Elvis died at his home Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee on August 16 , 1977. He was found on the floor of his bedroom's bathroom ensuite by girlfriend Ginger Alden who had been asleep in his bed. He was transported to Baptist Memorial Hospital where doctors pronounced him dead at 3.30pm. He was only 42 years old.

Related Topics:
Graceland - Memphis, Tennessee - August 16 - 1977 - Ginger Alden

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At a press conference following his death, the medical examiners declared that he had died of a heart attack. Heart disease was very prevalent in his family, especially on his father's side. Elvis' father Vernon also died of heart failure in 1979. In an interview for the BBC television programme Hard Talk on July 312000, Sam Phillips offered a slightly different explanation, based on his thirty year friendship with the Presley family. He believed that the cause of Elvis' death was due to kidney failure, saying that members of the Presley family had a genetic weakness in their kidneys. He cited similarities between the deaths of Elvis and his mother Gladys. Phillips remarked that some six to eight weeks before each of their deaths, they suddenly and inexplicably became bloated, which he attributed to a kidney problem. Gladys Presley, who was only 47 years old at the time, was diagnosed to have died of a heart attack brought on by hepatitis.

Related Topics:
BBC - July 31 - 2000

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Dr. Willis Madrey, who was responsible for examining Elvis's liver two years before his death, said

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"I had understood he was having some gastrointestinal problems his doctors were trying to evaluate"

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http://www.3ad.net/elvis/elvis_death.htm. He was referring to Elvis's obesity and enlarged colon, which progressively got worse over time and likely led to severe constipation problems. There is a wide belief that this combined with a weak heart caused his death but the autopsy records will not be in the public domain until 2027.

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Presley was originally buried at Forest Hill Cemetery in Memphis next to his mother. After an attempted theft of the body, his and his mother's remains were moved to Graceland.

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