Al Dvorin, the man who coined the phrase, "Elvis has left the building," was killed Sunday in a single-car accident near the California-Nevada border as he was returning to Las Vegas from a Presley tribute in California. He was 81.
California Highway Patrol Officer Mike Ware said Dvorin was killed when he was thrown from a car that swerved off the pavement on a curve. The car plunged down an embankment and rolled at least once.
The California Highway Patrol did not release the name of the driver.
Friends of Dvorin said the driver was Elvis' photographer, Ed Bonja, who was wearing his seat belt at the time of the rollover and survived the accident.
"I'm absolutely devastated," friend and colleague Jim Mydlach of Las Vegas said. "We have lost a true icon of the entertainment business."
Dvorin had been in Las Vegas for the past week and a half, involved in shows starring Elvis impersonators at the Cannery and the Aladdin.
After videotaping a session at the Las Vegas Hilton on Thursday night, Mydlach said he asked Dvorin what it was like without his wife, Bernice, who died on March 13 from cancer at their home in Chicago.
Dvorin told his friend he was very lonely since his wife's passing, and was combating that loneliness with lots of work.
"I'm staying busy," Dvorin said. "I love to be on the stage. If it (Dvorin's death) happens on the road," and his voice trailed off, Mydlach said.
Dvorin brought Mydlach, who was a Chicago DJ, into show business 38 years ago in Chicago while he was a talent scout managing television shows for children. In the 1940s Dvorin, a trumpet player, formed the Al Dvorin Orchestra and played all over the country.
By 1957 Dvorin was playing backup for the rock 'n' roll legend Elvis Presley. "He was with Elvis from day one," Mydlach said.
Dvorin told The Desert Sun newspaper of Palm Springs, Calif., in an interview published Saturday, that he hadn't heard others use the phrase before he began saying it.
"Everybody and his brother has claimed the line and I'm sure Elvis' mother, when somebody called him, said, 'Elvis is not home. Elvis has left the building,' " Dvorin said. "As far as I know, I created it."
According to a story in the Aug. 21, 2002, editions of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, broadcaster and popular music historian Norm N. Nite said, "Elvis has left the building" was first uttered in 1969 when Col. Tom Parker asked Al Dvorin to make an announcement for the benefit of those fans who remained in a showroom waiting for an encore that was not to come.
"Dvorin's remark was unscripted but soon became a staple at Presley concerts," Nite said.
In addition to Elvis, Dvorin worked for Frank Sinatra, John Denver and Eddie Arnold.
Once Parker became Presley's manager, he hired Dvorin to book opening acts for Elvis and sell memorabilia and souvenirs after shows. During the 1950s Parker preferred Vaudeville-style openers such as jugglers and dancers, who wouldn't compete with Presley's star power and would help counter rock 'n roll's juvenile delinquent image, according to the reference book, "Elvis Day by Day."
Dvorin said he began introducing Presley after criticizing an announcer Parker had hired. Parker fired the man and ordered Dvorin to take the microphone.
"I had done every job except dye his (Elvis') hair and announce," he said.
Dvorin was with Presley on his last tour in 1977. The singer died of heart problems and drug abuse that August.
"To his dying day, he was modest. He was just a nice person," Dvorin said of Presley.
The announcer had continued to appear at Presley conventions and commemorations nationwide, Mydlach said.
Once Mydlach was at Parker's Palm Springs home. "You know, Mr. Mydlach, you've got a $1 million education from Mr. Dvorin and me," Parker said. Mydlach said the colonel handed him a pair of shoes and told him, "Now you've got to fill them."
Mydlach said he felt humbled by the challenge.
Dvorin performed the night before he died at a show at Trump 29 Casino in Coachella, Calif. His appearance with "American Trilogy," a concert by Elvis impersonator Paul Casey, drew numerous standing ovations, Casey said.
"I was standing in the wings watching him and it was a magical moment," Casey said. "Almost all his life he gave to the memory of Elvis."
Casey left with Dvorin and Bonja after the show. The trio stopped in Kelso, Calif., where Dvorin and Bonja switched to Bonja's car, packed with Elvis photos. Bonja promised Casey he wouldn't drive too fast because of the memorable cargo.
Dvorin was killed instantly in the crash. "At least, thank God, he didn't suffer," Mydlach said, breaking into tears. "Al Dvorin has left the building."
The Associated Press and Sun reporter Ed Koch contributed to this story.
archive