Article: Elvis unfairly caught in a `fat' trap Impersonators, scholars agree the King's bloated image is overblown

When was Elvis fat?

James Lowrey doesn't like what the question implies that Elvis Presley spent the entire 1970s half-baked on pills and eating himself to new widths, an embarrassing Vegas showpiece.

"People think that if Elvis wore a jumpsuit, he was fat," said Lowrey, the Elvis impersonator at Legends in Concert in Surfside Beach, S.C.

Lowrey is one of the countless impersonators who does the Las Vegas-era version of The King Elvis in sequined jumpsuits and beefy sideburns, crooning "My Way." It's an image of the King popularly known as "fat Elvis," the kitschy Elvis recreated in velvet. The chunky Elvis who lost out as a postage stamp.

This mainstream interpretation of the Vegas ...

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