Elvis Presley

First appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, September 9, 1956 About 60 million viewers tuned in, with the actor Charles Laughton introducing him because Sullivan was recovering from a car crash. Elvis sang Don't Be Cruel and Hound Dog, and the cameras showed him head to toe; the famous waist-up shots came at a later appearance. It is a good way into talk of first records, coffee bars and what their own parents made of all that hip-shaking.