WILKES-BARRE — Elvis (Jr.) will Boscov all next week.
To celebrate the grand re-opening of Boscov’s Department Store on South Main Street, Elvis Aaron Presley Jr. will be one of the honored guests.
Presley will take center stage as he entertains customers in the store’s auditorium daily from June 5-11. Admission to his performances is free, as space allows.
According to information provided by Boscov’s, Presley Jr. is the son of the late Elvis Presley (who died Aug. 16, 1977) born out-of-wedlock on Dec. 24, 1961, in Gary, Indiana, the result of a liaison between Elvis Presley and Angelique Delores Pettyjohn, an extra in the film “Blue Hawaii.”
According to the Boscov’s release, Elvis’ manager, Colonel Tom Parker, feared a marriage, as well as impending fatherhood, would seriously damage the King’s reputation and fame. Pettyjohn agreed to have the baby in secret and allow the child to be adopted at birth.
The following information was provided in the Boscov’s news release:
• Col. Parker, who himself was an orphan adopted by a circus couple, drew on his own experiences and found a young Yugoslavian couple known as “The Vargas” traveling with Ringling Brothers Circus to adopt the child.
• The conditions of the adoption were simple: the identity of the child’s biological parents was not to be released until the infant reached his 21st birthday and the adoptive parents were not to seek any compensation from the Presley family on behalf of the child.
• The infant began his life as Phillip Stanic and, at age 5, entered the spotlight as a circus clown. He later trained exotic cats and, by age 15, was the youngest animal trainer in the world.
• At the age of 16, he began performing in night clubs while working the circus during the day. When he reached his 21st birthday, the young man was told he was adopted and his biological father was Elvis Presley.
• Phillip Stanic applied for and was granted on Jan. 21, 1985, the legal right to bear the name Elvis Aaron Presley Jr. by the U.S. Federal Court system.
