Fact Check

Bruce Lee and Elvis Presley in a Dojo?

A photograph purportedly showing the martial artist and singer together is actually a composite of at least two different images.

Published May 18, 2017

Claim:
A photograph shows Elvis Presley posing with Bruce Lee.

An image purportedly showing Elvis and Bruce Lee together in a dojo is frequently spread on social media by Twitter accounts such as @OldPicsArchive:

This image is not a photograph, but a composite of at least two different pictures.

The first image originally showed Elvis with Wayne Carman, a fellow karate student who trained with the famous musician under Master Kang Rhee in Memphis between 1970 and 1974. The other image showed Bruce Lee with Joe Hayes.

Here is a look at the real photograph of Elvis and Wayne Carman (left), the doctored image of Elvis and Bruce Lee (center), and the real picture of Lee with Hayes (right):

Sources

Greene, Nick   "Was Elvis Actually Any Good at Karate?"     Mental Floss.   5 December May 2014.

Lacancha.com.   "The Greats of Tae Kwon Do: Joseph Hayes."     Retrieved 17 May 2017.

The Last Dragon Tribute.   "The Forgotten Fury: 12 Legendary Black Martial Arts Masters You Need to Know."     22 February 2015.

Dan Evon is a former writer for Snopes.