Are you lonesome tonight? Do you miss me tonight? Are you? Sorry We Drifted apart Does your welcome to the podcast. I am Mel and I'm Kel and thinking we're cousins. We're cousins and best friends. Sometimes starting the episode is the hardest. I know. And I if there's new listeners, I want them to know that we're cousins. Yeah, I know. I think that that is so endearing about the podcast. This is a family run podcast. Yeah. It is family run business. Yeah. Thank you for joining us.
Thank you for joining us. So Kelly Kelly is really nervous about this episode. I am so this is a big couple flagship. It's a very famous flagship couple, but it's also quite controversial. This is Elvis Presley and Priscilla Bolio or Priscilla Presley. Elvis and Priscilla, you know, everybody knows them. Their big hair and her eye makeup and everything. But if you know anything more about them, you probably know that they met when Priscilla was only 14 years old. And how old was he?
He was 24. Bad, that is. So that's what we're dealing with today in a time. I'm nervous because I don't want to romanticize that, but I also don't want to be too serious and. It's all about it. You know, I want us. We we usually have a good time on this podcast. So yeah, it is. I I don't know what line to walk here. I know it's really tough because also I feel like a lot of people do love them.
If you guys saw Elvis last summer and and we're recording this I think a little bit before Priscilla came out, the movie about her. But the Elvis movie, we know that she's young in it, but they don't treat it like it's something bad. I think the movie is very sympathetic to Elvis. Obviously he's the hero character in it, like the tragic hero, so. Yes, it's interesting because like we do sometimes Goss over things as a society and why? I'm not sure.
And then sometimes we then revisit things and then get really focused on it. And this is obviously nowadays, if someone was to be 24, dating a 14 year old, that's the child. It's really bad. But I don't. I don't know. Sometimes as a society we look the other way and sometimes we come back and don't. I don't know. It's weird. Yeah, yeah, well, we'll get more into it. But yeah, actually the the day after this episode is supposed to air is when the Priscilla movie comes out.
Oh, great timing. I know, directed by Sofia Coppola. And that wasn't really intentional. I was thinking about what do I want to do next? I want to do something kind of classic, something kind of retro. And I thought about them. And then I just looked up when the movie was coming out and I was like, oh, perfect. So yeah, that movie is definitely, I mean, it's called Priscilla. It's based on Priscilla's memoir Elvis and Me. So that's going to be way more
about her. I think that the Elvis movie with Austin Butler. Really skimmed over it, so how interesting. But yeah, bear with me, guys. Don't judge me. And yeah, this is actually not my first time researching Elvis, but it's my first time doing it super in depth. I don't know if you did anything like this in high school, Mel, but I think senior year, like one of our last history projects, we all picked a person and did like a big. Research project on them and had
to present to the class. And I actually chose Elvis. And I remember that's when I learned that he dated a 14 year old. And I was like, oh, I didn't know that. Yeah, I was like so excited to get up there and talk about Elvis. I still had a good time, but yeah, that was shocking to me. That's so young. That is crazy. So did you do keep any of the same research that you got did for that project or no? Is this all new? No, no. I don't even know where all that is. But it's fun to revisit.
I mean, I always liked Elvis growing up. My dad's a big fan. Even when I was in elementary school, I made a Valentine box that had like, Burn and Love and Elvis lyrics on it. So what's your favorite? Like a little bit of a fan Elvis song maybe? Suspicious mind. I was going to say the same thing. I love that one. That's a good one. Maybe. Aren't you lonesome tonight? Oh yes, he does a cover of our theme song. Yeah, insert clip. Are you lonesome? Tonight.
Do you miss me tonight? Are you sorry we drifted apart? That was so exciting in the Elvis movie. I know our most most Elvis songs are covers, right? Like. Yeah, a lot of them are. He actually did not write his songs. He was. He was a performer, yeah. Not a songwriter. Jailhouse Rock. That's a good 1MM. Hmm. You know who would love this episode? Uncle Jesse. Yes, he would. So yeah, it. Would be my teddy bear.
Well yeah, we have a big couple, so we should probably get into it. 3 words I would use to describe Priscilla and Elvis are intense. Mm hmm. Unpredictable and confusing? Yes, not a good recipe. No, no, no. My main sources for this, in case anyone's curious, I listened to Priscilla's memoir Elvis and Me, which was published in 1985. I listened to the audio book and it wasn't that long. I basically listened to it back and forth. I was visiting my friend last weekend on long drive.
Does she narrate it so? Sweet. She Yeah, she narrates it and her voice is so sweet. She really sounds like Marilyn Monroe or Lana Del Rey or something. She just has that voice and she would do these, like, little laughs whenever she thought something was funny. It was really cute. That's cute. Also, I read a little bit of the book Last Train to Memphis by Peter Gwarlnick to get more info on Elvis. And elvispresleymusic.com and then some other places. But yeah, Elvis.
I mean, you might think you know a lot about him, but I was surprised by what I learned. He was born January 8th, 1935 in East Tupelo, Ms. Elvis Aaron Presley. His parents were Gladys and Vernon and he actually had a twin brother when he was born. Jesse Garin Presley. But sadly, he was born stillborn. I know. So sad. Elvis actually mentioned in reference to his twin his whole life, even though he never really knew him, you know, he still talked about him. That's sweet.
Yeah. And Elvis is actually Vernon, his dad's middle name. That's where that name came from. So Elvis grew up as an only child. And his mother, Gladys, was extremely protective of him. Some might say overprotective People said that he was unusually close to his mother and that they would talk in pet names and baby talk. And he's really attached to his father as well. He was, he was a total mama's boy. Like that term is used all the time to describe him.
She really did give him so much special attention. Like if company came over, she'd say that's Elvis's cup or that's Elvis's special plate. Don't use it. And. She definitely babied him a lot and it's understandable since they lost their other son. But I do think that some of the babying that Elvis experienced kind of may have led to his coping issues as an adult. Oh, I feel that. Which we'll get into, yeah.
I think he was used to being treated as a baby and being very taken care of. Yes. And I think that that's what he expected when he was older. Both of his parents had very odd jobs, this and that. They moved a lot. Not different towns, but like around town like to different houses. We take a drink I guess. I guess moved to different houses isn't the same as moving around a lot you're. Right. Oh, yeah, guys.
Oh. Well, I already took a drink, Kelly Kelly. In the last Patreon episode, she read the rules of our new drinking game, and that's one of them. Every time someone moves around a lot, take a drink. Should I read the other ones? Yeah, why not? OK, these are the rules so far. If you have any recommendations, send them in. But don't make the recommendations be about us and the things we say a lot, 'cause I know we repeat ourselves sometimes, but OK, these are the rules.
John Mayer makes an appearance. Someone opens up on Howard Stern. An Australian journalist asks a brazing question. A man cheats on his wife slash girlfriend. We have to keep in mind that times are different back then and someone moves around a lot, That's. And that's the drinking game so far. I'm sure we'll come up with some more just reoccurring themes. I love that. Yeah, we're going to. We should post this and ask for
suggestions. We should, but I don't want it to be like, oh, Cal always goes, oh, I know, yeah, yeah, 'cause that's something that I would get to in my head about. I know. Anyway, the Presley's they were very poor. They lived in public assisted housing and that's part of the reason why they were moving around so much. And E Tupelo was known as a very rough town at the time. In 1937, Elvis's dad, Vernon, actually went to prison for eight months. For forging a fake check. Oh, wow.
I'm trying to cash it. Yep. And weirdly, after his dad got out, the whole family started experiencing sleepwalking episodes. Oh my God, the whole family. Yeah, I know it's Elvis got his first guitar at age 11 and he was a quiet and sort of unusual kid. He brought his guitar to school every day, every single day, one year and. Kid said that he's saying hillbilly music and I don't know, I think they thought he was strange.
He learned guitar from the new pastor at church, 20 year old Frank Smith, who had actually married Elvis's 15 year old neighbor. Oh God, the pastor. I know. Oh my God. So I just mentioned that because. You know, we gotta keep in mind that things were different, different back then. Yeah, Drink. And that was something that Elvis, you know, witnessed. So I'm not saying everybody did that, but but yeah, if it's like, oh, if like, my pastor did it, then it's normal.
Yeah. Yeah. Wow. Elvis likes to play guitar for people, but he was really shy about it and sometimes he would only. Play when all the lights were turned out so no one could see him, which is cute. He was 13 years old. The family moved to Memphis and so then he had to attend a new school. And as a teenager he started dressing strangely fancy. When everybody else was wearing jeans.
He'd show up to school and dress pants, a coat, fashion his scarf into an Ascot. So people thought he was kind of weird. I feel like we had some kids like that in my school that would like, dress up. Oh, yeah, we had kids. Suit. There was always like one suit kid. Yeah, yeah, every. Day. That was Elvis, yeah, about young Elvis. The author Alana Nash, who's a total Elvis expert, I like came
across her many times. She said that Elvis was a late blooming mama's boy, a flop with girls and super religious, I know. After Elvis graduated in 1953, he began exploring singing professionally. In July he went to Sun Records in Memphis, which was this is in the Elvis movie If you guys saw it, where you can walk in and for 398 you could record your own 2 sided record of your own performance. Oh, so he went in there and the boss of some Sun Records, Sam Phillips, asked.
A guy to note down Elvis's name because he thought he was good and wrote good ballad singer Hold Elvis. So he left and then he was trying out for other things and he tried out for a quartet and he didn't get in. And he started working actually for a electric company as a truck driver. And he tried out for a band during this time. And the leader of the band said you should stick to truck truck driving because you're never going to make it as a singer. There's always stories like I
know, maybe we can add that. Yeah, somebody, somebody tells them they're never going to make it. I don't know what the word is. Oh, wait, we need to add to the drink, to the drinking thing. Somebody says like, I'm going to marry that person. Yeah, and then they. Do. I'm going to marry that person. Someone has a prophecy, yes. Before they've ever met. Yes. That's the key thing. Before they've ever met. OK, so yeah, Elvis, he's just
being a truck driver. And then back to that guy at Sun Records, Sam Phillips. He had some song that was going to a music publisher that needed a singer because they couldn't find the person that originally recorded the demo. I don't know how that happens, but they just.
Is couldn't trace him down And he remembered Elvis and he called him into the studio and had Elvis sing this song And Elvis couldn't really get it right at first, but they kept going And then he sang for some other people and they agreed to record this song with Elvis and the song was called That's All Right. And Sam ended up calling up. After Elvis recorded it and left, he called up this radio DJ and played it to him over the phone and the radio DJ said,
hey, can I have a copy of that? He sent it to him and then he played it on the radio and then the rest is history really, because all these people started calling in like crazy to hear it again. And yeah, that was the start of Elvis. That's all right. I don't know if that's how. You got. That's all right, Mama. The crazy thing is the first time he performed for, you know, a real crowd, he was still using his child size guitar. Oh wow.
A month later. OK, And I'm sorry this happened last week, but I feel like Elvis's back story is so much longer. Yeah. I mean, it just makes sense. He's the more famous one. Yeah, part of that is because he's Elvis. Other is her story ends when she's 14. Her back story. So oh that's true. There's like nothing to say. Oh God oh. So, you know, he started performing. And I guess the combination of his strong response to rhythm and nervousness at playing before a large crowd led him to
shake his legs as he performed. And his wide cut pants emphasizes movements, causing young women in the audience to scream. Oh yes, that was in the movie. Yeah. So gyrations. And in the movie Colonel Parker, he was introduced to him and because he had managed some other musicians and he became
Elvis's manager. And I won't really talk about him too much because this is about Priscilla, but Colonel Parker was a scumbag really, and took advantage of Elvis and made a lot of bad decisions for him and took a lot of a lot of his money and some people think he may have. Murdered someone back in the Netherlands and that's why he he was an illegal immigrant in the US and he was really shifty about his past and he never left because he didn't want anyone to
know. He was, you know, who he really was, like his real name. And some people think he may have been a murderer. It's just a theory. But so he wouldn't let Elvis leave too, right? Yeah. Wow, that's crazy. I know, but anyway. So when he was 20 years old, Elvis, he signed to RCA. He released the single Heartbreak Hotel. They began promoting their new singer Elvis Presley like crazy and he became a phenomenon. His debut album was March 19561956. I feel like was totally Elvis's year.
He had like all these TVTV appearances, Hound Dog, Blue Suede's Shoes, Don't Be Cruel, Love Me Tender. Like he was just crazy. And he started doing films, too. Acting Then he had this performance on the Milton Berle show where he abruptly stopped an up tempo rendition of Hound Dog and he started doing a slow grinding version of his body movements. Oh my God.
And I guess people went crazy. All the girls were screaming and the newspapers were outraged, you know, saying that he was the devil and turning all the teenagers super sexual and. His reputation. Even though he was incredibly popular, he had kind of a bad reputation now. Yeah, before meeting Priscilla, he definitely had many girlfriends, too many to talk about, honestly.
He definitely slept around. But it's interesting because some of the girls he dated, like Judy Spreckels and June Monaco, have said that they never slept with him. Oh, interesting. And it's kind of a common So what they did. I guess, I mean, I think they would do other things, but they would never have like penetration. Interesting. I get it. Maybe he just wasn't into it.
I don't know. The author, Albert Goldman, speculated the Elvis preferred voyeurism over normal sexual relations with women and suggested that he had an intense fear of STD's. Yeah. I mean, that makes sense. I mean, I think that's good if you're going to be sleeping around with that many. But wait, you can get CDs from like going down on somebody. I know, OK, he probably. Don't know. Interesting. Before he became really famous, I would say that Elvis was very polite.
He had impeccable manners. He's very old fashioned Southern. Him and his family were very insular. They just like. Being together at home, he definitely was a homebody, but he likes to be with people all the time. He really didn't like being alone and he was very particular. He liked things his way, you know, I think he would like to. He's the kind of person that would be like come to my house, you know, like he doesn't want to go to other people's houses. He wants you to come to his
house. And I do think he was caring with people though. He wanted to be liked by everyone and he's pretty spiritual, but he definitely had a temper. And I think as he got older, he became a lot more troubled and even more of a control freak. Yeah, OK, so we're almost, we're almost getting there. We're almost getting there. He, you know, dated a couple girls. In 1957, he was dating Anita
Wood, that TV performer. And then January 8th, 1956, his birthday, his 21st birthday, he became eligible for the draft. And Colonel Parker had written to the Pentagon requesting that Elvis be considered for this special service, which would allow him to do only six weeks of basic training and then
resume life as normal. But apparently Colonel had no intention of allowing Presley to sign up for the special services because he wouldn't receive any compensation for those performances he would do. And so over the next 12 months, Colonel Parker LED Elvis to believe that. It would be possible to avoid the draft completely while secretly planning to allow it. Oh my God, that's crazy.
I. Know because in his eyes, he thought that after all the negative publicity Elvis had gotten for being too sexual in his performances, that this would be the perfect chance to make older Americans see him as like an all American boy. So there's like a year between the draft and him actually joining the military. But. During that year, he was still acting in movies and had all this music come out all shook up. Blue Christmas, Here Comes Santa Claus. All those Christmas songs.
Love them. Jailhouse Rock, Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear. And he bought his mansion in Memphis, famously known as Graceland, was on 13 acres of land. But then he got the news that he would have to serve as a regular soldier, and he's furious that Colonel Parker. Didn't get him out of the draft, but he promised him that if he worked hard for those two years, because it's going to be two years in the military, he would turn a bigger star than when he left.
Yep. I know that's crazy that they even had a draft, but wow, I mean, good thing they didn't prioritize like celebrities. Yeah, I'm sure. Actually, they probably did. That's like, I bet they did, but. I think they could have is the thing I think they offered to. Let him just do six weeks of training and then he would be able to just perform for the soldiers. But Colonel Parker was like, no
is going. I don't know if this is like victim blaming of me, but is this like part of like him being so baby growing up? Because I am wondering like why did he need somebody to get him out of it, his manager, like couldn't he have been doing negotiations himself or something? Exactly. I think that he was pretty babied. And then once he became famous, Elvis really just let other people handle things for him. He didn't look at his finances or anything. He didn't handle his money.
He just let other people do all of it, which is kind of his fault. Yeah, You know? And then he just didn't even know how to take care of himself at all. Yeah, that's pretty sad. Yeah, so after he finished his movie, King Creole. He reported for induction on March 24th, 1958. His fans were very upset. He said goodbye to his family and friends and then he was taken by bus to Fort Chaffee, Arkansas and then he was transferred to Fort Hood, TX for
military training. While he was in Texas, his mother Gladys sadly felt I'll with liver complications and she collapsed and was hospitalized. Elvis requested leave from his training. And then August 14th, his mother died sadly of late stage liver disease and Elvis and his father Vernon lost it. They were crying their eyes out and screaming. During his mother's funeral. Elvis collapsed several times and he kept kissing her all over her body and his friend Lamar said.
We got off the elevator at the hospital and I could hear Elvis and Vernon wailing. I never heard anything like it before in my life. It was like a scream. So he was just devastated, like his mom was everything to him. I feel like this was a big turning point in his life. And then a month later, after that, he was stationed in West Germany and headed out to Germany. And that's where he met Priscilla Bollieu Bollie.
Beal i.e. U So she was living over in West Germany with her family at the time, 'cause? She was living in West Germany. OK, so who is Priscilla? She was born May 24th, 1945 at Brooklyn Navy Hospital. Her father, James Wagner, was AUS Navy pilot and her mother had her at 19 years old. James was 23. And when Priscilla was only six months old, her father actually died in a plane crash. Oh, wow.
Just so sad. Priscilla was three years old when her mother remarried an Air Force officer named Paul Bollier Bollier. I feel like I had it down. How to say it. And now I'm forgetting I know that was. Paul Bollier Paul Bollier from Quebec. Paul and her mother and had four other children. And the crazy thing is, Priscilla grew up thinking that Paula Bollier was her biological father. Oh my God, that's pretty bad.
She. Had no I know she had no idea about her biological dad names until she was older. That's so disrespectful to the biological father, like he he was cheated out of like a full life and died tragically. And for her to, like, not even know he existed is so awful. How could a parent keep a secret like that? I know, it's crazy. People scare me. People truly scare me. How deceptive people are? We were talking about that earlier, Yeah. Yeah, of someone of mine. I I couldn't.
There's like, no reason Her mom said that. She kept it a secret from her so that she would fit in more with the whole family. It's like, in a way, I understand that. But you know what? Sometimes there's going to be families and not everything's going to always fit in most families, you know.
Priscilla discovered this because she was looking through her mom's things and found a picture of her as a baby with her mother and her father and was like, who is that Guy Says Says Dad. But I don't know who that is. And the crazy thing, too, is that her mom asked her to keep the secret from the rest of her siblings. Oh my God, Mom, do better this. That's awful. That is awful. People. I. Know are sociopaths like I don't
understand stuff like that. God, I'm guessing she told her siblings eventually, because it's in her memoir. Burden. A child with something like that? That's so. Crazy. So they moved around a lot. Take a drink because Paul Paul Bollier was in the Air Force. They lived in Connecticut, New Mexico, Maine, Texas.
Apparently Priscilla felt very shy and uneasy about moving every time, But she was very beautiful and when they were living in Texas, she won a competition and became Queen of Del Valley High in the beginning of high school. That's when her family got the news that they'd be moving to West Germany for the Air Force, which crushed Priscilla. She was so upset to believe, being her new friend she'd made and, you know, she was queen of Delaware Valley High.
She was leaving behind a good thing. Her friend in Texas, though, told her that Elvis was stationed in West Germany, and Priscilla said she was determined to meet him. She liked Elvis, but she wasn't, she said. She wasn't as obsessed as her other friend, like she didn't have. Elvis T-shirts or whatever. But she did have a Elvis fan club magazine, OK? Which is crazy, I know. Imagine you have a fan club magazine of somebody and then you go on to marry them. It's just Oh my.
Gosh. So she's in West Germany, She's living there. She's going to school there. She's hanging out at this place called the Eagle's Nest, which I think. It's kind of like a diner. It was a place where American families hung out. She was hanging out there listening to the the, the jukebox. She's listening to the jukebox and this guy approaches her, who I think was maybe in his 20s. His name was Curry Grant and he invited her to go to a party at
Elvis's, which is very strained. Curry Grant was married, so he I don't think he was interested in Priscilla, but I don't know if he. Was scouting a girl for Elvis or something like I don't know why he no girls over there. I think so, yeah. I mean, yeah, Elvis was in the military. All he really did was go to his service and then go home. So I don't know if he was trying to just find some cool girls to bring over, but. He asked Priscilla if she'd go. She said.
I don't think my parents will let me. So Curry Grant actually went to her house and talked to her parents and assured them it would be fine. Oh my God, everything I'm learning about these parents is terrible. Like the age gap I'm honestly blaming on the parents. I know. There's really nobody else to blame. Oh my gosh. But yeah, her parents agreed. They're like, OK, you're going to pick her up? Bring her back by this time. All right, you can go.
So then on September 13th, 1959, Curry Grant picked up 14 year old Priscilla Bollier Bollier and brought her to Elvis's house in bad new I'm Germany, where he was renting while doing military service. And yeah, he's 24. How could the parents say yes or that like Oh yeah, like this a grown adult man is gonna pick up our 14 year old daughter and bring her to a party in order to meet another 24.
It's just cause Elvis was a celebrity so they were like yes, yes, God, totally the parents fault she. Said that that, like his fame did make her parents loosen up their morals. Yeah, a bit. I mean, yeah, that happens. So at the house. There was a lot of people there. And interestingly, Elvis's dad and his grandma were there. So it wasn't actually a crazy party. It sounded kind of wholesome.
Curry introduced her to Elvis, and when he heard that she was in the ninth grade, he said, what, you're just a little baby. And then there's small talking. And he played the piano and sang, I will say. Sort of. I mean, it doesn't make it OK, but I do think she looked a lot older for her age. When I look at pictures of her, feels very mature back then did, right? I don't. Know. Yeah. Maybe that's just us because we think their hair. Yeah, exactly.
Actually, we're older looking. Or if we just think they do. But she did look like a mature woman. But so she she hung out there. And then she didn't get home till 2:00 AM. Which was way past the curfew and her parents were very upset and said that she couldn't go again and she was in huge trouble. And then a few days later, Curry Grant called again and said Elvis would like you to come again next time.
Her parents are really uneasy about this, so Elvis actually came to meet her parents and tell them that I'll get her home at a reasonable time and everything. Her dad said, what exactly are your intentions here? Like what is the deal? And Elvis said that he was just lonesome and it was nice to meet someone from back home and that he just liked talking to their daughter. Is it talking all that you're doing? I think that the first party, yeah.
But no, they eventually would. Basically, she started going to Elvis's house. Multiple times a week. And every time she went there, there was a ton of people there and they'd all be listening to the piano and music playing and talking and grandma's there and dad's there and whatever. But Elvis do this thing where he would like make a face like a little hint at her and whisper to her like I'll meet you in my room and she would go meet him in his room and then.
They would make out and talk, yeah. Why would her parents let her do this? I think that Priscilla and her parents, even though she was only 14, so it seems like it would be way too early to be thinking about this. But I think they felt kind of like flattered that Elvis was interested in their daughter and felt like he could provide for her and could be good marriage material or something. Yeah, it's it's in a way lucky that they ended up getting married.
Because what most likely happens probably in that situation is he just like fucks around with her and like messes her up and damages her for life. And then like it's a Trump, like traumatizing experience for a 14 year old. It's lucky in a way that like they had a relationship because. I know. God it is. That's risky of them and just stupid. It is. And also, like you said, you're supposed to provide for your own. Child like you provide for her. God, I know.
I do think it wasn't quite as easy as it might sound like. I think that her and her parents fought. All the time about this, they would say like, no, you're not going. And she'd be like screaming and crying and saying you're ruining my life and that kind of thing. And then they would just give in and say, OK, I don't think they were just saying, like, Oh yeah, go ahead. They were not happy about it, but they just gave into it.
Yeah. And Priscilla said in her book that she felt like her parents were almost worried To let her miss this opportunity that like. If they stopped her from dating Elvis Presley that she would hate them. And I think sometimes parents want their kids to like them so much that they let them do things that are not really good for them. But they didn't want her to miss the chance to be with Elvis. Oh God, yeah.
OK, but The thing is, Elvis was still technically I'm pretty sure with Anita Wood. Oh God. As if this can't get any worse. I think that they were still talking. I don't know if they had an agreement or something because he was there for two years, but I'm pretty sure he was still talking to Anita during this time. And so Priscilla was going there multiple times a week and there was this whole ordeal about how she would get to Elvis's house because I think it was like a 45
minute drive away or something. So all of us would have to pick her up and drop her off. Or if he's getting back late from service, one of his friends or his dad would pick her up. It was a whole thing. She actually started failing school because she was staying up so late at Elvis's during the school week. That's not good, Yeah. One night Elvis's friend was driving her to the house in bad
New I'm and hid. The friend tried to like make a move on her and basically assaulted her and she told Elvis and he was furious and apparently cut him out of his life but. No, it was scary, like she was just being driven by these random people that were way older than her. That's terrifying, yeah. I know, baby. So I know it was 8 months that they were together in Germany. During this time, and the whole time that they were seeing each other, she didn't really know
where she fit into his life. She was suspicious that some of the other girls are at his house. We're seeing him too, like one girl one time knew. That his guitar pick was by his bedside table and she was like, huh, How did he, how did she know that? Oh, gosh. So I don't think they were officially exclusive. Yeah, but when you're 14, she's not going to know to like ask and stuff. Gosh, she really took advantage. That's really fucked up. I. Know. But then he had to go back to the States.
His two years in service were over. And before he left, apparently. This is according to her memoir. Apparently she begged him to sleep with her, but he said no, not yet. You're too young, I said in my notes. What's going on here? I mean, that's a good thing, but I find it hard to believe. Yeah, I know he was. I know he was really religious. But I also read that he did sleep with girls, So I was trying to figure this out. So he was leaving Germany. She went with him to the airport.
She actually drove in the car with him and said goodbye. But then she was lost in the crowd of screaming fans. And they're actually photos of her, I think, from Life magazine waving in the crowd. Wow. She was apparently so depressed after he left. She cried and didn't eat for days, and she didn't hear from Elvis for three weeks until he called. And said, like, how are you doing?
And over the next two years, she would sporadically hear from him just like every couple months or every few weeks he would call and she had no idea where she fit into his life. That's anxiety. Back to living. I feel like you. I know, like on edge. Like waiting for that call and then waiting for the next one. And oh, I feel like that would take over your whole high school. I know. And she was inundated with requests for interviews from
magazines. And there's a famous article about her called The Girl He Left Behind with those pictures from the crowd around the airport. And Elvis actually asked about the girl he left behind in an interview. And I have a clip I want to show you. Elvis, there have been a lot of rumors about your love life. Did you meet anyone special in Germany? Not any special one.
There was a little girl that I was, I was seeing quite often over there that her father was in the Air Force and actually they only got over there about two months before I left. And I was seeing her and she was at the train at the airport when I left, and there was some pictures made of her, but there was no big, there was no big romance, I mean. The stories came out. The girl he left behind and all that. It wasn't. It wasn't like that. I mean, I had to be careful when
I answer a question. Oh my God, that's so me. Like at work when people ask like about my love life and I'm like, I literally am like. Oh, I don't know. There was someone and I got no big. Romance. No big romance. And I got to be careful what I say. I start over sharing way too much. Yeah, wow. Austin Butler did a great job because that did. Was like, uncanny into Austin Butler's performance. Wow.
He truly did an amazing job. I was watching all these clips of Elvis and even older Elvis and I just feel like, wow, Austin nailed it. He really. Like that was that props to him. I I saw that clip and I was like wow, that's awesome, Butler. That's crazy. I know. But. OK, I had to say that was if it wasn't like Priscilla was 14, that was kind of cute. Like if it's just like the if. I didn't know anything. I know that was cute.
But damn it, Elvis, we want a root for you, but you make it so hard. Rooting for you, God. So he's back in the US. He's back to recording.
He's back to making movies. All this, he's back on his thing and unbeknownst to Priscilla, I think, although she had her suspicions, I think Elvis was back with Anita Wood and Anita was even living at Graceland. But while he's with Anita, he still is calling Priscilla every couple weeks or once in a while, which is not cool Elvis. And there were all these rumors of him with his Co stars and stuff, so it's kind of unclear what was going on here. Also, crazy enough Priscilla.
I don't know how she would know this, but she claimed that Elvis and Anita never went all the way. So. What I almost wonder. Maybe this isn't my place to speculate, but if he had erectile dysfunction or something? Because there are like guys, should I should I not say this? There are guys who can't. They can't stay hard. If someone's not going down on them or something, once they try to like, put it in, they can't. I know that's kind of vulgar. He had some kind of issue, for sure.
He did. I mean, I was even questioning, like, was he into women? And I was trying to Google it and I couldn't, Yeah, find anything about that. But I think he was. But there was something odd going on there. Yeah. And already at this time in his life, Elvis is taking a lot of pills. Oh, Oh yeah. He's taking pills to be awake. Yeah, he's taking pills to be awake. He's taking pills to go to sleep. He, like, lives on these pills. So I think that was messing with him.
Yeah, definitely. That would be a huge factor. So that summer in 1962, Elvis and Anita broke up and she left Graceland. And then Elvis called Priscilla and asked her to come visit him in LA and now she's, yeah, sorry. How old is she? She's 17 now. After a lot of begging and crying and pleading, Priscilla's parents agreed to let her visit him in LA for two weeks. They allowed her to go on the
condition that Elvis I know. Did they go with her pay for a first no. My God, I know they allowed her to go on the condition that Elvis pay for a first class round trip and arrange for her to be chaperoned at all times. By that, she right home every day. Who is the Chaperone by? I don't know. Like his dad or something? I don't know. Oh my God, these parents. We all knew people like this in high school, though, whose parents would let them do anything. It's like you idiots.
God, it's crazy. And it was really naive of them because the first she went to LA and the first night there, well, I guess nothing really happened the first night, but the second night, he said. Let's go to Vegas. Oh my God, what? I'm supposed to write my parents every day from LA? They'll notice if it says the stamp is from Vegas. And so they came up with a plan where she wrote all her letters in advance and someone on his team sent them every day. So sketchy.
Oh my God, Make it look like she was in LA the whole time. I know. But the first night she got there, so she hadn't seen Elvis in years, actually, she was really nervous. She walked into his house. I don't know why he didn't pick her up, but like somebody else picked her up from the airport. And yeah, and she walked in and he was playing pool with a bunch of people. And she said that he looked really different.
He had his hair dyed black. Now he seemed a lot more confident, and when he saw her in the doorway, he went to hug her and was all she's here, and everybody seemed all happy for her, but she felt uneasy because there were a bunch of girls there too, and she didn't know them and just felt out of place, you know? And I feel like when you're 1714 is forever you know like that's yeah, so long ago. So that's that must have been scary. They're not nuts. Yeah, that they stayed in touch
and that this even happened. That is cleared. Yeah, I mean, they didn't even have cell phones or social media or e-mail or anything, I know. That's so true. And it was only like, I guess it was like, what, eight months, was it? No, it meant two years. Wait, what do you mean 8? Months. Eight months that they were talking. Oh, that they made it. Yeah. Yeah. Eight months, yeah.
But still like and then and he lives such a fast life that it's like, I feel like he'd meet so many other people in that time period, but she must have such a deep impression on him. God, I know That first night she wanted to sleep with Elvis, but he said no, not yet. And he actually had her sleep in another bedroom, which seems nice. But Priscilla said later in life she found out that he might have been getting on call from Anita, which is maybe why he wanted his
own you God this. So they went to Vegas. They were partying and going to casinos. And as I said that he's taking a ton of pills to go to sleep and to be awake. First of all, he had a super fast lifestyle. Like you said. He had to do all this work and performing and you know, he had trouble letting go at night and going to sleep. And he also had a huge fear of insomnia and sleepwalking because remember, his whole family started sleepwalking, really. So that's part of the reason why
he was so into sleeping pills. And he took these super high dosage pills. And so when they were in Vegas, she started to notice that that like every night, she expected it to be like romantic around bedtime, but he would be like, already slurring his words and falling asleep, you know, And there's actually, I put it in my notes. I don't know why I got so interested in this facet, but a lot of women said that Elvis wasn't interested in having sex with them. It probably was because of all
the pills he was taking, yeah. Yeah, that makes sense. I mean maybe he won't read it but I have like 3 women quotes here just saying how he he didn't seem that interested I. Believe it, yeah. And on this trip, this is the first time Priscilla took amphetamines and sleeping pills to keep up with Elvis's lifestyle.
That's fucked up that he was like, I know, giving her that God. So she went back to Germany and then he invited her to come back to Graceland for Christmas, which was months away because it was summertime now. But he said that he would be busy filming movies and stuff and it would be nice to see her at Christmas time. So she waited for the right moment to suggest it to her parents. And then when she did, they were so upset and said that Christmas was her family.
How could you say that? But they did agree to let her go to Graceland for Christmas. Oh my God, these parents get a backbone. Jesus Christ. So she flew to Memphis, Graceland, Tennessee, and she went for the the week. Her first night there, Elvis gave her sleeping pills and they knocked her out for literally 2. Days. Oh my God, that's a two days. I don't. Worry that someone died if they
were passed out for two days. That's crazy, I guess, because that's the amount that he took and he didn't realize that he had such a high tolerance. So yeah, and then I guess because she was gone for two days he didn't like, but now there's only 5 days of Priscilla. So then he asked her if she could ask her parents to stay longer. And I bet they said yes. They said no, Oh. OK. They actually said no. OK, good, good, good. This is the crazy thing though. What then?
He suggested. What if you moved to Graceland and just go to school here? And I hope they said no. They said yes. Oh my God, I. Know they're they're trying so much to secure the bag. Like it's ridiculous. It's, it's. They should provide. Still 17. Yeah. He's like a musician, a famous musician. So, like, he's obviously not even living like the normal lifestyle of a regular guy. That's ridiculous. It's really sad, 'cause I feel like she was robbed of, like a young person's experience.
Like, he's not even a good boyfriend. He's a bad lover. He's not good. It's he's just famous. But he's not. He's not even, like providing anything. I mean she was in love with him and they she does say that they had a very special bond and they could talk about things. And I don't think it was just like, oh, he's total shit. Like, I think she did think that they had a romance. Yeah. But yeah, I mean, I don't think her parents, again, I don't think they liked the idea.
And I think they said no at first. But then she kept begging and they said yes. And part of the agreement was that they would eventually marry, that she would finish her senior year at an all girls Catholic school, and that she would live with Elvis's father and stepmother in a separate house, which was a few streets away. Weird until she graduated.
Weird. But according to her autobiography, because she did move there and she moved into Elvis's dad's house, she had gradually moved her things into Graceland, and it's believed that she had been living there full time as early as May 1963. OK, when she was 18, but she was not actually doing the living at Dad's house thing, Yeah. Wow. But she would expect. I mean, why? Why would Elvis Presley? Yeah, just like, yeah, you my girlfriend is going to live a
couple streets away. Like, no. Yeah. Wait one SEC. I'm just going to. My door is like half open. I'm just going to close it. All right, I'm back. OK, A couple, A couple more pages. This is this is this. Is a riveting episode. I'm like, on that. OK, oh, someone's like, rubbing their engine. OK, keep going. So now she's living at Graceland. I actually kind of want to go to Graceland now. I never I really wanted to before this, but now. I want to go to Tennessee. Me too, Mel.
I never have. Yeah, that's a like, that's like a central state to go to. We should go. Yeah, I want to go to Chattanooga. I mean, that's a cool place. I would be down. I'd go. I'd go anywhere. Seriously. Anyway, she's living at Graceland. Her life is totally merged with Elvis's. He chose her clothes, her makeup, her hair, her big hair. Wait, He chose it. She spent, yeah. I mean, it was like his suggestion, you know, they'd go shopping together and he'd be
like, Oh yeah, wear this. He basically shaped her whole look, the one with the big hair and the dramatic eye makeup. According to her, she spent all her time with his family and his whole entourage. Thing about Elvis is he always had all his guys around, like his friends that worked for him. They were constantly there and he had a totally crazy life. He had access to anything he wanted.
I mean, he had so much money, like they would rent out the entire movie theater whenever he wanted or the whole amusement park. And when something would annoy him on TV, he would take out his gun and shoot the TV. I know. Handed over my face right now. Yeah. God that he would stay up all night long and would sleep till 3:00 or 4:00 in the afternoon. Oh my God, he was not a good lover. Like, I feel bad for her that this scary, the love of her life. Like he's terrible.
Oh, and Priscilla would still. She was still in school. So she would go to school and then she would get back and he would just be waking up and ready to start his crazy day. Elvis would obsessively This is this isn't bad, but it's just weird. He would obsessively eat this name foods over and over until he got bored of it. Oh yeah, somewhat do that, but but not as dramatic. Wasn't he really obsessed with peanut butter or banana
sandwiches? Yes. That's what I specifically Peanut butter banana bacon sandwich. OK, wow. And Priscilla said that Elvis enjoyed meatloaf and mashed potatoes so much that he ate it every day for dinner for six months. That was like, wasn't he? Didn't he have a lot of bowel issues, too? Like, that's good. Not gonna help? I think so. He. Yeah. He did not take care of himself.
Yeah. And. And and he started to gain weight but then he got really into karate and then he got more slim and he was always like back and. Forth. But that probably the not taking care of himself speaks to him being baby his whole life. So it's like he didn't have any form of autonomy or maturity whatsoever. God, OK. And he did have a temper, as they mentioned in the beginning. And she said that in the house in Graceland, everyone's mood kind of depended on Elvis's.
You know, like when he would come out in the morning, or I guess it would be the afternoon. Like everyone would wait to see how he felt because like he was in a bad mood, wouldn't want to take him off. Yeah, he had too much power. God, she said. One time he asked her what she thought about a song and she said that he that he had recorded and she said that she didn't really like it and he threw a chair and he didn't throw it at her.
But there was like a stack of records on it and they all went everywhere and like hit her. And she said it was really scary. That is really scary. Oh, I feel really bad for her. I know it.
Makes me sad. It makes because I was thinking in the beginning of this episode, I was like, I don't know, like how critical to be of this relationship, because I think that, like, to this day, she still seems to have an undying love for Elvis. But it makes me really sad because I think so much of it is probably because of how he treated her and he created this dynamic that was really not OK. And I don't know, I feel like you cheated at her out of experiences that she could have had.
I know. That makes me sad. But you do have to remember times were different back then. A lot of women weren't expected to have that many experiences. A lot of women did just get married after high. School. In a way, she did get to experience more than the average. Woman just like travelling and all the things she had, but she definitely wasn't treated that well. And yeah, I don't know, I think that she really, really did love
him. And I think in a way jumping ahead, I think the relationship got was one of those where it got better after they weren't together anymore. But it's upsetting. I mean, she she definitely had good memories with him, but he was a very hard person. I feel like if you get with somebody at that age, when you're that young, you don't know anything differently so. You're going to always be very forgiving and understanding and loyal to them because that's all you know.
And like it's it's so intertwined. Your brain is not even fully developed. So it's so intertwined with your sense of self that like even when she's 6570, she's not going to even be able to be mad at Elvis because Elvis is a part of her. You know, it's kind of sad. It's true, she finally graduated high school and Elvis was excited for it. He wanted to go, but she said she asked him not to go because
he thought that he would. She thought he would distract from all the graduates and he said, oh, he understood. So he waited outside for her to come out. That's crazy. I mean, he was like the most famous person in the world, probably. Can you imagine someone in your? Oh my God. Boyfriend's outside and it's like. Especially in all girls school. Like what?
I know it's crazy. But she did graduate, so that's good because I know her grades weren't doing so well And Elvis would leave often to go to Hollywood to make movies and he would leave her at Graceland and there were a lot of rumors about him and his Co star and Margaret getting together and. And Margaret even told the press that they were engaged and Priscilla confronted Elvis and said what the heck is this?
And Elvis like freaked out and said that Ann Margaret made it up. But I do think that there could be some truth to it, because some a letter or a Telegraph or something got sent to the house from Ann Margaret that said, I can't remember exactly what it said, but it said like I'm confused what happened or something. Oh my God, this dog. He is a dog and two I know, and two weeks later he told Priscilla it was all over with her. Him and Anne did keep in touch
the rest of his life. Oh Oh my God, I don't trust him at all. I don't not trust him. You can't. You can't trust him. Even though I'm describing Elvis in a very negative way, he could be very caring of everyone. Like all the people that lived at Graceland, all his friends and everything, Whenever they asked something from from him, he would give it to them. And he always supported people like help them put a down payment on a house or whatever, and like he was super loyal to
everybody in his life. Yeah, people are so complicated. Almost. Yeah, because people did really take advantage of him. And it's weird because we're saying like he has too much power. But then his manager for some reason had such a hold over him and like somehow made him do all these bad movies. And at one point later in his life, he was taking away depending like on certain projects, he was taking like 80% of Elvis's money or like sometimes usually was like 50%.
But it's just no. It's like he was almost too trusting with some people, but you also couldn't trust him so. Exactly. Yeah. It's like he was like, he's a super confusing person. He let people be the alpha in so many different situations and then like this, when he had the opportunity, he had to be the alpha. Yeah, yes, yes, yes. But I think that he had at the end of the day he kind of did have low self esteem, like he was very sensitive to criticism and. You know who that's reminding me
of? My old friend Megan from Colin. All this was troubled, though. Like he he really was. I think he was depressed at some point. And he was also very spiritual. He held Bible readings at Graceland and he was also exploring Eastern spirituality. He was. He's very into stuff like that. And he tried to get Priscilla to be into it, too, but she wasn't. Really. Yeah. So now she's been living at Graceland for three years.
And apparently Colonel Parker, his manager, reminded Elvis of RC as moral clause because it didn't look good that him and Priscilla were living together and that they weren't married. And he had. He had promised Priscilla's dad that he would marry her. And both Priscilla's dad and Colonel Parker were really putting the heat on him about it. Like, you have to marry her.
You can't just keep doing this. And apparently part of the reason Colonel Parker was so stressed about this was recently the singer Jerry Lee Lewis had recently married his 13 year old cousin. Oh. What? What? Yeah, cousin. Yeah. And it had been a huge scandal and kind of ruined his career. And they didn't want that to happen to Elvis. Oh. My God, I'm disgusted.
And fun fact, later in life, like in the 70s, Jerry Lee Lewis showed up at Graceland, it was throwing bottles at the entrance and Elvis was watching from the security camera and told the staff to call the police. What? Why? How did he even get there? That's crazy. I never heard even heard. I heard that about him. That is weird.
I actually heard about it because when I was researching the Winona Ryder episode, she was in a movie called Great Balls of Fire and she played Jerry Lee Lewis's 13 year old bride in the movie depiction of it. Wait, he was so creepy looking. I'm looking at him up right now. His wife looks like she really looked 13 too. It's not even like I know she looks. Old for her age, which no matter what. No, no, no. You yuck. So yeah, they they really didn't want APR disaster like that.
And she was 21 now, and I don't know. I don't. I think Elvis did love her and I think he did always want to get married. But it does kind of sound like he was pressured a little bit. And shortly before Christmas 1966, he proposed to her, Just at home in her dressing room, apparently, and she said yes. Oh wow. And later, Priscilla told Ladies her home journal that her and Elvis were happy to just live together. But she said at the time it wasn't nice for people to just live together.
Yeah, so. Yeah, I think she was dying to marry him either. But it was because it was social. It would have been more socially acceptable to get married. Yeah, that makes sense. There's a lot of conflicting stories about this. Like, some sources say that he was so happy to marry her and he was in love. And some say that he felt trapped and was forced to. So I don't know. I think maybe it was a little bit of both. All right. She's been living in Graceland
for years. According to Priscilla, in her memoir, they still had not slept together. What? That's She said that Elvis told her they had to wait until they were married, he said. I'm not saying we can't do other things, it's just the actual encounter I want to save. It so maybe that's a part of it too is he was very religious like some people do or just buy the book or like we can literally do anything but like
we cannot have. He was very religious but I don't think he was a virgin so. That's weird, you know? Yeah. But maybe, maybe he had. He wanted to start over or. Something I don't know. Yeah. Wow. Yeah, she and Priscilla's wears by it like she's been asked about it many times. To this day, she swears that they never had sex until her wedding night.
Honestly, I kind of believe her. If there's so many testaments from other women about, like the fact that he wasn't having sex and he was on all these pills, probably wasn't that capable of it, to be honest with you. I know I didn't believe it at first, but then the more I was looking into it and all of his exes, a lot of they pretty much all said the same thing. So I think it was true, kind of random, but Elvis started
getting super into horses. Oh, and he bought horses for everybody, all his friends and Priscilla and riding gear and clothing and built the stable and like all this thing. And he got Priscilla. Yeah, very expensive. And he got Priscilla Horse for Christmas that year. And then actually it's OK if I go to the. Bathroom. I have to go to the bathroom. Really too. I was just going to say that. OK, perfect. Let's do it. OK, let's take a break and we're back, OK?
He had just gotten her horse and then the couple married on May 1st, 1967 at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas. The wedding was arranged by that horrible Colonel Parker to maximize publicity and featured very few guests. And it was only 8 minutes long the whole service. Oh wow. Were her parents there? I bet. I bet they were probably right. They were. But it was.
It was very small, and it actually caused a lot of rifts between Elvis and many of his closest friends because they were not invited to wedding ceremony, because the Colonel wanted to keep it really small for some reason. And then afterward, there was a breakfast reception and a publicity What's it called? A oh, press conference. Like, what's the word? It's followed by a press conference. So it was kind of like all
business, in a way. Then Elvis and Priscilla boarded Private Jet and they had a short honeymoon in Palm Springs. Same honeymoon spot as Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio. I remembered. So did he request ATV and the. And then he shoots it with his gun? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like what? Apparently. Remember Ann Margaret who said that they were engaged? Yes. She got married just one week after this. OK. I'm happy she found love.
She was moving. Yeah. Yeah. And then, in the attempts to heal riffs with their friends, Elvis and Priscilla had another reception at Graceland on May 29th and invited all the people that weren't able to attend the original ceremonies. That's nice, Yeah. Soon after, Priscilla found out that she was pregnant, which she was upset about because she felt like it was too soon. She's so young. How? How old is she at this point? Like 2120, I think 21. Yeah.
So she's pregnant. And then I could not believe this. I was guys, I was listening to her memoir while I was driving. It was actually dark at this point. I was in the woods and I heard that when she was seven months pregnant, Elvis suggested that they take a break. Oh my God, I was at the wheel and I just couldn't believe it. I was like, are you kidding? Elvis, you cannot get any lower right now. Like, I was so mad at him. Oh my God.
But basically the next day he actually, like, he never said it and they just kept being together. Oh. My. God, he probably. He probably was super fucked up like on pills and stuff and was like pissed at her for probably being pissed at him about how shitty of a boyfriend or husband he was and Oh my God, but like that. That's the thing that makes you feel so bad for Priscilla
though. It's like she she was so beautiful and she was so loving, loving and forgiving and was understanding and like her whole like. Young life was taken over and stolen by this guy who just didn't deserve her at all. But just because he was famous, like it's so fucked up. Oh God. But they stayed together. February 1st, 1968, she gave birth to Lisa Marie Presley. She was born exactly nine months
after their wedding. Wow. Wow. Sometimes I feel like I sound like Owen Wilson on this podcast with the with the Like 2 accidental impersonations. As if you couldn't feel bad enough for Priscilla. And yes, OK, she has all the money and all, you know she can do whatever she wants. But still, I feel really bad for her.
And I feel even more bad for her, because after she had Bliss and Marie, Elvis apparently became less and less sexually interested in her, and he once told her that he couldn't be, like, sexually attracted to a mother. Oh. My God, I know he, he really, he's like a psychologist dream because he he had so much stuff going on. He totally had that Madonna horror complex, you know? I don't. I don't think I know what that is.
Something about his mom. Oh, that's like when somebody has trouble seeing women as more than stereotypes. Like Madonna, meaning like the Heavenly Mother, you know, or the whore, the sexual one. And like they can't see a woman as somehow being both. I feel like you know neither or whatever, but. Yeah, a lot of guys like that. Oh my God. I know. Oh, I feel so bad for her. I feel so. But if you think about it, if you think about it, she only really had sex with Elvis for like 9 months.
I shouldn't be laughing. Maybe a little bit longer than that, but really it wasn't that long because he wouldn't have sex with her before their wedding and then after he was not interested anymore. And it's like he, I feel like he made her feel so important and then like would discard her. And she's a mother because you knocked her up. Like, that's awful. I mean they still they still spent time together like they were still a family.
It's not like he was just gone. But yeah, he you know, he wasn't seeming as attracted to her, even though she if you see pictures of her, she was gorgeous. Yeah, like that. One of the most gorgeous people ever. Yeah. Actually reminds me of Breaking Dawn because there were stories about her, like dressing up in lingerie and, you know, going to lie down next to Elvis and he was already falling asleep because of his sleeping pills. Oh my God, yeah, that's very
breaking down part one. So man, there's so many connections to everything, You know, life is just a tapestry and all the strings connect. Because this reminds me so much of the F Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda Fitzgerald episode, because she, you know, she's going through a hard time and she starts taking dance lessons and she starts getting so into it. And she starts going multiple times a day. Like, who does that? I don't know. Anybody that does that. Like an adult? Yeah, multiple.
Times a day I want to do that. That'd be so fun. I know. Oh my. I guess if you don't have a job and you have all the money in the world, you can. That'd be my dream life, actually. Yeah, yeah. So she started dancing every day, just like Zelda, and she actually had a brief affair with her dance instructor Mark. Good for her, Yeah, good for her. But he was 45. Oh, but whatever. Yeah. I mean, at this point, at this point, though, she needs a little, like, intimacy.
And yeah, she's done. Yeah. And he's been cheating on her, so. He has been. We we need to take a drink for that. Oh yes. So then Elvis had been in a slump recently, career wise. All his movies were kind of silly and very similar to each other and people were starting to say they were a joke. I think that's part of the reason he was being so terrible to Priscilla is he really felt down in the dumps about himself. But then he had his comeback special on TV, which was a huge
hit. He hadn't been on TV in years, and he had kind of stepped away from music, just doing his silly movies. But then when the special came out, people were just wowed about IT. People loved him again. I mean, I don't, I don't know what we can compare this to in recent times. I'm kind of. I almost feel like it reminds me of like Lady Gaga and choosing A Star is Born like. I mean, no, she had, she had a good reputation.
She, it hadn't been a negative reputation, but people were like, Oh my God, it was she was back in the spotlight, you know, who was reminding me of less So because I feel like she's never been the way that she was in the beginning. But Britney Spears where like people love Britney Spears. And then obvious. And then she was like a joke
like. To people like, it was like it was very unpopular to look like Britney Spears, and then now people are very sympathetic to her, obviously, but that's true. People really, Britney and Elvis have so many similarities. Yeah, they really do. Because also like her conservatorship, I mean, it's not the same, but I feel like
Elvis wasn't in control. I mean, in the beginning it was kind of his fault, but then I think it kind of like got out to the point where he just had no control over his finances and both of Elvis and Brittany did the Vegas residency. That's true, yeah. And they both came from, like, pretty Southern religious families as well. Yes. So yeah, the comeback special was a huge hit. And then he was invited to perform at the International Hotel in Vegas, which was his first. So this is 1969.
It was his first live performance in nearly eight years. Wow. And he was super nervous. And there's actually this really cute footage of him backstage before the show that, you know, I was so angry at Elvis. And then I watched this footage and I was like, oh, yeah, because he was like, blowing out a puff of air. And he was like, I hope I don't forget the lurk because I'm like, he was practicing. And you could see that he was really nervous and.
Well, let's see. I feel like that is very validating to Priscilla because it's like we can see why she was head over heels for this man. Like it's He does have charm, so he does. He does so both his TV comeback special and his return to the stage where immense successes and he felt way more confident in in higher spirits. And I guess it improved their relationship for a little while. He continued to do more shows in Vegas.
They came up with a deal where he would like twice a year do a number of shows there and he started to, you know, he would their relationship was better because of his success. But then the success started to take away from the relationship because he wanted to keep up the old lifestyle and she didn't. And then she eventually just said, you know what, you can just go out with the boys. Like, I I don't want to come anymore. Like, I I can't do this anymore.
So started spending less time together while he was busy off of his shows and everything. She started to get a lot more into karate, which was something that Elvis was into too. He was actually a black belt. I didn't know that. And apparently his, like his jumpsuit outfits that he would wear was kind of inspired from the karate outfit.
I know I didn't know that. So she's getting really into karate and also Taekwondo and she's starting to feel a lot more confident about herself and she's making new friends through it, meeting other couples. She started to not wear as much make up and started dressing how she wanted to. And she started to realize that her relationship wasn't that healthy. Like as she was starting to spend more time with adult couples that were, I don't know,
in the karate community. And she started taking lessons from Mike Stone, a Hawaiian karate instructor she met in 1972, actually backstage at one of Elvis's concerts, and she soon soon began an affair with him. Couple months after this affair started, she said that Elvis asked to see her in his hotel suite, and she wrote in her memoir that he forcefully made love to me. And said this is how a real man makes love to his woman.
But then later Priscilla said she regretted her choice of words and said that it was an overstatement and said that what really hurt was that he was not sensitive to me as a woman and his attempt at reconciliation had come too late, suggesting that he was deliberately trying to compensate for his lack of sexual interest. But it was too late. So basically he was like, oh, you're with another man, like,
let me show you. But, you know, he hadn't been interested in her sexually in like, years, basically. So. Wait, but so who did? Too late? Who did she originally use those words with? Like the forcibly sexual with that was in her book Elvis and Me and. Then she later said that she she said she regretted writing it that way. Well, yeah. Because, I mean, it sounds like, you know, the worst that it could be, like that's that it does is awful. I know. So she's seeing Mike Stone.
He's kind of doing his thing. He's also deteriorating. He's on pills and everything, and eventually she told him that she's leaving him. Leaving Elvis. Yep, Yep. And he was shocked. But then eventually he seemed to understand and he agreed to the separation and Elvis and Priscilla separated on February 24th, 1972, filed for legal separation on July 26th. And this is 1 nice thing Elvis did.
Well, not the only nice thing, but he to protect Priscilla and Lisa Marie because whoever filed, I guess their address would become available on public records. Oh yeah, so he filed for a divorce to keep them, even though he didn't want to. But he did it. And then it was on his 30th birthday, actually. Oh. Oh wow. He filed for divorce. That's the least he can do, I guess. Yeah, I know. But then, oh, Elvis. Later that month.
Apparently he became paranoid about Mike Stone, the karate instructor that Lisa left him for, and said he said there's too much pain in me, Stone must die, but he didn't actually do anything. They're getting divorced. Like, what is he like? It's not his place. I know, I know. I think he's just having an outburst. But yeah. Then their divorce was finalized October 9th, 1973. Their marriage ended after only six years of marriage, but they they actually ended on good terms.
They left the courthouse walking hand in hand. Oh wow. And I know, consciously uncompleting I I had no. Idea. They were only married for six years. Like I feel like there's such an iconic couple in history. I know, that's crazy. I also thought that I was so ignorant I thought they were married for 20 years or something like years. Until like like, I mean, they didn't date for a long time, but yeah, and they they did keep in
touch. They always talked and he would still spend time with Lisa Marie and when they were together as a family, they would still be arm in arm like they were. One of those really feel good. Separated families. But he died only like Lisa Marie was like a very young child when he died, right? Yes. So she, you know, she was with Mike Stone. After the divorce, Elvis started seeing somebody else. He started seeing the actress Sheila Ryan. And I thought it was interesting.
I have another clip to send you. Elvis was doing a show 1974, so this would be like a year after their divorce, and he called out Priscilla and Lisa Marie and his new girlfriend oh during the show. I want us. I want to make one thing clear. Let me make something clear. I've been singing that song for a long, just a minute here. I've been singing that song for a long time and a lot of people kind of got it associated with me because I think it's a personal name. It is not.
It's a beautiful song written by Marty Robbins. And I heard Frankie Lane do it. I think it was. And I just love the song and has nothing to do with me personally or my my, my ex-wife, Priscilla. She's right here. I need to stand up. Come out, Johnny. Come out. Come on out. Turn around and let them see you. Let them see you. Well, she's she's she's a beautiful chick. And I'll tell you for sure, boy. Well, I, I, I know that when I picked someone, you know. God damn. Now show up.
My little daughter, Lisa, she's six years old. Look at her. Jump up. Pull your dress down, Lisa. You pull your dress down where you jump up like that again, young lady. And then at the same boat as my girlfriend, Sheila. Sign up, Sheila. Turn around. Turn around. Completely around, Sheila. Straight up. Hold the ring up. Hold the ring up the ring your right hand. Look at that son of a bitch. Now the thing I'm trying to get across is we're the very best of friends, and we always have
been. Our divorce came about not because of another man or another woman, but because of the circumstances involving my career. I was travelling too much. I was gone too much. And it was just an agreement that I didn't think it was fair to her because I was gone so much and and everything. So I therefore as decently as you can do that type of thing. We just made an agreement to her to always be friends and be close and care because we have a daughter to raise.
He's such an over share. Oh my God, he did over. Imagine being at that concert. That would be so exciting. Actually, yeah. Whoa. You know, we broke up. But also be wait, what's the new girlfriend's name? Sheila. Yeah. And are they engaged at this time? I don't think so. Why was he like the ring? The ring. Show them the ring. I know, I know. I don't know. I don't think it's just a ring. Yes, so that's weird. So. I imagine being hurt at this concert.
And he's like, we broke up just because of schedules. Like, you know, we're still best friends. Like, oh God. So he, you know, he's doing all his Vegas residency shows over and over and over and over again. And his mental health was horrible. He's all bloated from drugs. He's totally being taken advantage of of by the Colonel's just kind of like, you know, every night put out on stage and
he was really going downhill. And it's sad, like Elvis actually said to a friend that he wished he could walk away from his life, but he couldn't because too many people depended on. And oddly, Priscilla and Elvis still talked about maybe their time would be someday some other time. They said stuff like that all
the time. But when he was 42 years old, on August 16th, 1977, Elvis died of a heart attack likely brought on by his addiction to barbiturates, which also is what likely killed Marilyn Monroe. So. Yeah, terrible, terrible addiction. Priscilla in her book was super confused and it almost seemed like she was questioning his death and she was like it didn't make sense. He was rarely left alone. Like how could this have happened?
I mean, she didn't have any other explanation, but she seemed like unable to believe it. She she was actually devastated to hear that Elvis had died, like she was in total shock. He was still a central part of her life and Lisa Marie was only nine years old. Oh, that's so that's so tragic. Yeah, and that the girl and Margaret that X. She attended the funeral with her husband. Priscilla said she actually felt a bond with her and didn't feel resentful anymore.
Yeah, Priscilla in her book, said that she had heard that Elvis's mood was down and that he at this point was dating somebody else. Ginger Alden, and he'd been contemplating breaking up with her. They talked about it, but the last very last time she talked to him on the phone, she said that he was in pretty high spirits and was laughing and she thought he was going to be OK, but it's a total shock. So Elvis was gone. Elvis. Elvis had officially left the
building and. Oh God, she she she had had a lot of other relationships after after the divorce and after he died. Yeah, she even dated Robert Kardashian, right? She did. She did, yes. Oh, my gosh. I mean, she, she's still alive. So, like, she's had a lot of relationships. She dated A photographer, Terry O'Neill. Yeah. She dated Robert Kardashian. She dated A hairdresser, Eli Serzer, another guy, like so many people, Richard Gere.
But for 22 years, she was with someone named Marco Antenna, Antonio Garcia. And she did have a son with him. So that was a significant relationship in her life. And Priscilla, really, you know, she she did grow into herself. I think she started acting. She was in Naked Gun, the movies and on the hit TV show Dallas. That's good. But weirdly, after Elvis's death, she got into Scientology. Oh, I didn't know that me. Yep, she might still be in it.
I was reading articles that said that she had left it, but then I read articles said no, she's still in it. So I feel a little suspicious of her 'cause right after Lisa Marie died, I remember seeing articles that she was like suing in order to get like the inheritance or whatever. Like, rather than Lisa Marie's kids getting the inheritance.
Yeah, I don't know how to feel about Priscilla because listening to her read her memoir, I thought she seemed so sweet and I felt very fond of her hearing her younger story. But I do think that she is a little money driven. And one other thing about that is that after her and Elvis divorce, she changed her name back to Bollier, but then she changed it back to Presley. Oh.
Wow. And when she was trying to get control over Graceland and people thought that was suspicious because it's like, OK, you're just trying to do that because it makes you have a connection to Elvis and. Yeah, you know, you change your name, especially like, you might think like, oh, it's because, you know, she wants to be close with her daughter, but she had a son, like another son from a different relationship. So yeah, she did successfully turn Graceland into big tourist attraction.
Like she she kind of is responsible for that. But I know, I know, she is a little bit opportunistic to be opportunistic. Yeah, I do have a clip I want to show you. I know this is getting really long, but just to hear Priscilla, she talked to Barbara Walters about her book Elvis and Me. Elvis's way of of dealing with problems were not confronting the problems and if there was a problem, he would buy. Or to make it all right and go right for you. Make it better. He'd buy you a gift.
He would leave you. He would go off to make pictures. He would go off to Las Vegas. And you heard about other women. How'd you feel? What'd you do about it? I felt horrible. It was almost a part of it was the fear that I had, too. I didn't want him to leave my sight. I wanted to be with him. Because if I left him again, that fear always came in. I'm going to lose him. You wrote in your book that one of your greatest worries was about his Co star Ann Margaret. Yes, that's true.
I knew there was a fair an affair. And if you confronted him, if I confronted him, you'd deny it. I'll get mad. Well, that's usually what happens when you're caught. So you live with that? Yes. You wrote all of his controlled your looks, your clothes, your hair, your makeup. He controlled you totally. Is that accurate? I was definitely under a spell of of what I thought was love. And I I had to take responsibility for that too. But you were 1617 years old. But what did I know?
I knew nothing else. I had nothing else. I had. I had no experience, not even in life, but with other people. And even though he wanted you virginal and pure, he dressed you sequin. Shiny material, low cut. Slid up the side. Why? I think maybe it was his way of showing sophistication. I maybe. Maybe making me appear older. I don't know. There's some kind of a an appeal that men like with a trashy kind of look. Maybe that's what turned him on.
Six years you lived there before he decided to marry you. In those six years of sleeping with him every night, he never had intercourse with you. You wrote in your book that there were times when you begged him. I even wrote it down. You said I'm a woman who needs to Make Love to feel desired by her man. Please don't make me beg six years of Priscilla. Why? Well. Again, you know, I can only go back to what his concept was as what he wanted in a woman and somewhere he along in his past
he said that he wanted a virgin. That is really sad, but I feel like Barbara Walters is like what Diane Sawyer wishes she was. Yeah, I know. She was grilling her, though. Yeah, not in a bad way. But it's it's less like, scary. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's not. Yeah, it's not as scary. Something about it does feel cozier.
Yeah, it's interesting that, I mean, that was 1985, but Priscilla, throughout that whole interview, she is very sympathetic to Elvis. But Barbara, the whole time is like saying the things that we're saying, like your parents let you do. That he did what? Like she's incredulous about it. And Priscilla in this calm voice is like, well. Priscilla. Really. She was so beautiful. Oh my gosh, she's so beautiful. Insane.
It's like, it's, it is. I remember the first time I heard of you, Priscilla, was, I was, I must have been like seven or eight or something. And I saw her on the news and I remember hearing that she was 60 years old, but she looked about 30 years old like and obviously she's had plastic surgery, but like, it was so high opening to me that someone of that age could looks like as young as she did.
I know. I was looking at pictures of her and Elvis earlier and some of the pictures, she really looked like a Barbie to me. Like, I just. I couldn't believe it. I was like, wait, it's like, is that real? What the heck? Yeah. It's like, you know, she's human, but yeah, she's she's still with us. Lisa Marie, sadly, is not. But Priscilla is the grandmother to four and great has great grandchild. Because Riley, how do you say her last name? Kia. I think Kia.
Yeah, Riley Kia. Her granddaughter recently had a daughter, so. She's great, She's a great grandmother. And coming out soon is the movie about her, Priscilla, directed by Sofia Coppola. Which crazy enough. Sofia Coppola's cousin is Nicolas Cage, who was married to Lisa Murray. Oh my God, her cousin. And I'm. I'm intrigued to see this movie and see how accurate it is and you know. I had no idea that everything's in there. I didn't know that Nicolas Cage
and Lisa Murray were married. That's crazy. We're gonna have to cover them someday. So many. There's so many people. And I I would actually like to learn more about Elvis and and Margaret. So maybe someday I was actually going to do that originally because my dad suggested it, but then I learned that, well, he knew Priscilla first, so I feel like I should do Priscilla first. Yeah, but that is like that relationship that's in the
wings, you know what I mean? And like, he always, like, kept her waiting, probably. And she's always the other woman. But oh wow. I have to say, after all of this, like I thought I was going to be a little bit more sympathetic to Elvis, but I'm actually less Oh no, but I hope my research didn't. Skew No, no, no, no. I mean it's like it's just objectively, it's like objectively pretty bad for him.
But but I it's a it's complicated because there's so many different things like he was also at the same time being taken advantage of and. Yeah, gosh, it's very troubled. And it is interesting like I was listening to, well, because I went basically to the same place two weekends a row. I went to like the Vermont, New Hampshire line. It's like 2 hours away. So I drove like 8 hours recently. So I was listening to a lot of Elvis stuff while I was driving and I was listening to a lot of
Elvis experts. And it's interesting. It's like a lot of them are obsessed with Elvis. You know, they like some people have dedicated their lives to research Elvis and interview people and stuff, but they 100% acknowledge all his flaws and how problematic he could be. So he's a very interesting person, but he definitely did people dirty too. Wow. That was a riveting episode. Kelly, thank you so much. I'm the edge of my seat. So who who we talk about next
week, next week, next week? We are talking about another historical couple. We've had a couple in a row now and one of the people is also known for their big hair. OK. And the couple is also known for people that know known for having issues in the bedroom as well. What I. Don't that's. All I'll say. OK, I don't. Know if I know that one, but I'm excited about that. All right. Well, thank you guys. Do you have anything else to add, Kel? No, that's it.
Thank you so much for listening and we'll get back together next week. Is your heart filled with pain? Shall I Come Back Again? 10 Medium.