Joe Esposito(1938-2016)

Joe Esposito was born in 1938. He first met singer Elvis Presley while they both were in the military in 1958. They both went through basic training at Fort Hood, Texas, but they didn't meet face to face until a year later when they were stationed in West Germany, where they became fast friends. Esposito became Elvis's road manager and bodyguard beginning in 1960 and helped Elvis's aide Marty Lacker with the bookkeeping. It was Esposito who arranged women for Elvis to date. Esposito served as the best man at Elvis's wedding while Esposito's wife, Joan, served as the matron of honor. Esposito also played the guitar for Elvis's recording sessions from 1971 onward. After Elvis's death in 1977, Esposito started his own business, the Sterling Coach Company, a Los Angeles limousine service. He later became the road manager for the Bee Gees. Esposito appeared in several of Elvis's films and portrayed himself in the 1981 movie This Is Elvis.