To Doolie Jones, 83, God is the "King of the World."
And Elvis is "The King of Rock N' Roll.
Jones, who has been a beautician for the past 67 years and is still working at Two's Company Hairstyling in the Summerhill Square, is known in Texarkana as an Elvis superfan. When the movie about the international icon premiered in June, she saw it on opening night with her boyfriend, John Hall, and friends.
"People called me to make sure I knew the movie was here," Doolie said. "Like I would have missed it."
Doolie, who has seen and owns VHS tapes of all the movies Elvis starred in, said this movie was good and even she learned some things she did not know about her favorite musician.
She was also impressed with Tom Hanks, who played Elvis' manager, Colonel Tom Parker, despite Hanks being the antagonist in the film.
"I think Tom Hanks should get an award or something for his role," Doolie said. "I liked the actor who played Elvis, too. And when the character got older and wore the outfits Elvis wore, and looked more like him, you would really get into that and get all wound up in the movie."
Doolie has been "All Shook Up," for Elvis since she got the opportunity to see him at the municipal auditorium in downtown Texarkana in 1955. She does not remember which girlfriend had wheels that night to get them there, but she does remember the show and how Elvis' performance and moves made her feel electrified.
"I was sitting in the balcony and if I knew it wouldn't have killed me or him, I would have jumped downstairs to get close to him," she said.
Of course, she was not alone in the trance other young women found themselves in after seeing Elvis perform. So, after the show was over, she went backstage to where he was signing autographs on a platform and got to touch the performer.
"I grabbed his pant leg and I have had a thing for pants legs ever since," she said, laughing.
Doolie followed Elvis' career during and after the singer tragically died on Aug. 16, 1977.
Although that was almost fifty years ago, Doolie still remembers exactly what she was doing the moment she heard the news. She was at Sands Motel in Texarkana swimming with her girlfriends and their children in the pool.
"They came over the speaker to announce it and I am here to tell you, it was such a shock, you couldn't help but cry," she said.
Despite his physical death, Elvis and his memory and how watching his movies makes her feel, "all warm and fuzzy," is something that has not faded with time, she said.
Longtime workmate Lisa Nolen, also a beautician, said Doolie's appreciation of Elvis is to the level that she would have had to have a date with the star even if her late husband, Bill Jones was alive, or her boyfriend, Hall. Hall and Doolie have been "going steady," for almost a year and she wears his high school class ring on a necklace.
"I have never known someone to be so obsessed. I know you would have stalked him," Nolen said. "But I suppose you didn't have a car."
Doolie admits she has affection for Elvis and always will but wants to make sure everyone knows she puts her faith and God first in her life.
Still, she doesn't see the harm in surrounding herself with Elvis's memorabilia both at home and at work and listening to his music to take herself back to those precious memories. And she said the new movie about Elvis allowed her to do that.
"I enjoyed just sitting there looking at him," she said. "It was just like everything you know if you are an Elvis fan. I lived through life, read books and there was not much on there that I didn't already know. But seeing this guy and having Elvis in mind. It was just great."
Doolie Jones holds an Elvis memento at her station inside Two’s Company inside Summerhill Square. (Photo by Becky Bell)