2008 Woodie Awards
Weird News
Issue date: 11/21/02 Section: News Digest
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It's no tease: An anonymous Elvis Presley memorabilia collector has reportedly agreed to pay $115,000 for a hunka-hunka hair reportedly scooped up by the late singer's barber.
MastroNet Inc., an Illinois-based Internet company that conducted the online auction, has not released the winning bidder's name, citing confidentiality agreements. But Brian Marren, vice president of acquisitions for the company, said the person was a "big Elvis collector" who fought a last-minute bidding war before typing in the winning bid about 2 a.m. EST Saturday.
The black hairball, which had been up for auction since Oct. 28, was allegedly sealed and saved by Homer "Gill" Gilleland, Presley's barber for more than 20 years. Gilleland, who traveled with the King, would color the singer's sandy-blond hair black, then cut it into a towel around Presley's neck. Friends of the barber said he bundled up the towels with the hair inside and took them home. He then put the hair in a plastic bread bag, where it stayed until Presley died in 1977. Shortly after, friends said Gilleland began selling strands of the hair in a souvenir shop across the street from Presley's Memphis home, Graceland.