Elvis Presley shared the screen with some of Hollywood’s most beautiful actresses.
But one co-star became especially close to him without their friendship ever turning into the romance people might expect.
Shelley Fabares made three movies with Elvis: Girl Happy in 1965, Spinout in 1966 and Clambake in 1967.
Years later, when asked about their relationship, Shelley gave an answer that perfectly described the bond they developed.
“We ended up loving each other but there was no romance.”
She added that Elvis was charming and that she still missed him.
Shelley Fabares Remembers Elvis Presley
In a lengthy interview, Shelley recalled what it was really like acting, singing and spending time with Elvis across three films.
Their friendship had started with intimidation.
Shelley later remembered seeing Elvis walk onto the soundstage for the first time and being almost frozen by his presence. She had known his records, but seeing him in person was different. She wondered whether she would even be able to speak around him.
That nervousness did not last.
As they spent more time together, the two became comfortable enough that Shelley later remembered the films primarily as happy experiences.
“I loved doing those pictures,” she said. “They were great fun.”
Their chemistry was obvious enough that rumors of an affair followed them for years. Turner Classic Movies notes that stories about a romance persisted because of how naturally they appeared together onscreen.
But Shelley’s own version was clear.
There was affection.
There was chemistry.
There was love in the sense of a close friendship.
There was not a romance.
That distinction may also explain why Elvis apparently trusted her.
Accounts from people around him say Shelley became someone he could talk to privately, including during the period leading up to his marriage to Priscilla.
Of all Elvis’s leading ladies, Shelley was also unusual because Hollywood kept pairing them together.
One movie became three.
By Clambake, their professional relationship had stretched across several years, long enough for the initial nervousness to turn into genuine affection.
And decades later, Shelley did not try to turn that closeness into a sensational story.
She described it much more simply.
They loved each other. They just were never lovers.