It has been pointed out that it wasn’t just Marilyn’s height that would have put Elvis off. He infamously preferred younger women and, indeed, teenagers like Priscilla. He was also drawn to more demure, virginal types. Marilyn was 34 at the time, nine years older than him, and exuded sexual allure.
However, it is also true that this was for those he might have been considering marrying. The King was certainly very attracted to the sexually confident and challenging Ann-Margret, with whom he had a long affair after starring together in Viva Las Vegas.
Marilyn, conversely, was drawn to older, powerful men, like Miller (11 years her senior), President John F Kennedy, and her second husband, baseball star Joe DiMaggio who was 40 to her 28 when they married.