Introduction
In the 1950s, '60s, and '70s, famed Hollywood wardrobe designer Byrun Munson worked on countless motion pictures and television shows contracted with Columbia and Screen Gems Studios. Some of the TV productions that utilized his expertise were sitcoms like Hazel, I Dream of Jeannie, and Bewitched, while the movies he worked on include Kissing Cousins, starring Elvis Presley.
A Closer Look
While assisting with the costume design of Kissing Cousins, in which Presley played a dual role of lookalike relatives, Byrun Munson became friendly with the multi-talented performer.
During one off-screen conversation in between scenes, Munson was walking past one of Presley's famed Cadillacs. As Munson stopped to admire the specialized chrome wheel covers that Presley had positioned on the vehicle, the actor-singer came walking by.
At that point, Munson turned to Presley and said, "Man or man...those are some beautiful wheel covers." "So, you like 'em, uh?" Presley replied. "I sure do," Munson said.
A few hours later, filming for Kissing Cousins had ended, and the cast and crew went home. The next day, everyone returned to work, just as they had for weeks before and after. But something was different, at least for Munson.
When Munson went and came back from lunch, he noticed that the chrome wheel covers he had so admired on Presley's Cadillac, were now on his car. The superstar singer/actor had given the wheel covers to Munson, and secretly had them placed on Munson's car.
"I'll never forget his kindness and generosity," Munson said in an interview from 1989. "Elvis Presley was one of the nicest, most honest people I have ever worked with in the entertainment industry. He walked the talk."
[Note: All commentary that appears in this article was based on an interview Byrun Munson granted to the author. Certain other facts and information in this article were resourced from entertainment news and media outlets including IMDb.com and Wikipedia.org.]
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