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Top 10 Fascinating Facts about Priscilla Presley

Priscilla Ann Presley was born on May 24, 1945, in New York City. Her other names are Priscilla Wagner, Priscilla Beaulieu, and Priscilla Beaulieu Presley. She is an American actress and businesswoman, she is also known as the former wife of American singer Elvis Presley. Priscilla is the co-founder and former chairwoman of Elvis Presley Enterprises, it is the company that turned Graceland into one of the top tourist attractions in the United States.

Throughout her acting career, she is known for co-starring with Leslie Nielsen in the three Naked Gun films and playing the role of Jenna Wade on the long-running television series.

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1. Her Early Life

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In 1948, Priscilla’s mother, Ann, married a United States Air Force officer named Paul Beaulieu from Quebec, Canada. Even though he was not Priscilla’s biological father, he raised her like his own. The couple had five children together namely Donald, Michelle, Jeffrey, Thomas, and Timothy. The family repeatedly relocated as her stepfather’s Air Force career moved them from Connecticut to New Mexico to Maine over the next few years.

Priscilla has always noted how uneasy she felt always having to move so often and never knowing if she could ever make friends for life or simply fit in. Just as she was beginning to feel comfortable in her new home in Del Valle, Texas, her stepfather was transferred to Wiesbaden, West Germany in 1956. 

2. Her Life In West Germany

During the first three months of their time in West Germany, The Beaulieu family stayed at the Helene Hotel but living there became too expensive so they had to look for a place to rent. They finally settled into a large apartment in a vintage building that was constructed long before World War I. 

Just as the family was beginning to settle into their new home, they found out it was a brothel. Due to the scarcity of housing, they had no choice but to stay there.

3. Her Relationship With Elvis Presley

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Priscilla met Elvis in 1959 during his Army career. They met at a party at his rented home in Bad Bauheim, Germany. Even though she was only 14 years old, it has been noted that she made an impression on him. Thereafter, they were frequently together until his departure from West Germany in March 1960. There were rumors about Elvis’ relationship with Nancy Sinatra that made Priscilla believe they would never meet again.

When Elvis returned to the US, Priscilla managed to stay in touch with him by phone. They didn’t see each other again until the summer of 1962 when her parents agreed to her visit Elvis for two weeks. This visit was under the condition that Elvis would pay for a first-class round trip and arrange for her to be chaperoned at all times. Elvis agreed to all these terms and Priscilla flew to Los Angeles.

Elvis took Priscilla to Los Vegas instead of Los Angeles, during this visit a member of his staff would mail a postcard from Los Angeles to her parents in order to through them off the scent. While they were in Las Vegas, Priscilla tried to adjust to his lifestyle by taking amphetamines and sleeping pills.

In 1963, Priscilla’s parents let her move to Memphis under the conditions, she would attend an all-girls Catholic school, she would live with Elvis’ stepfather and stepmother in a separate house, and that after she graduated they would marry.

4. Her Marriage to Elvis

Designation of Graceland Mansion as a National Historic Landmark 2006.jpg Photo by Department of the Interior. National Business Center. Administrative Operations Directorate. Division of Employee and Public Services. Creative Communications Branch. Photographic Services. (2000 – ) (Most Re –

In 1966, Elvis proposed to Priscilla after his manager Colonel Parker reminded him about his RCA within his record contract. The couple got married on May 7, 1967, at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas. The wedding was widely publicized and featured very few guests and only lasted eight minutes. It was followed by a quick press conference and a $10,000 breakfast reception which was attended by friends, family, and business associates from MGM, RCA, and the William Morris Agency.

Soon after the couple came back from their honeymoon in Palm Springs, Priscilla found out she was pregnant. At first, she was upset that it would destroy the closeness she had finally found with Elvis. At one point, she considered abortion and even discussed it with Elvis but the couple decided they couldn’t live with themselves if they went through with it.

Their only child, Lisa Maries was born exactly nine months after their wedding on February 1, 1968.

5. Her Divorce

Elvis and Priscilla separated on February 24, 1973, and filed for legal separation on July 26 of the same year. Elvis filed for divorce on his 38th birthday on January 8, 1973. It has been noted that Elvis was so bitter to was the affair Priscilla had with Mike stone that a physician was unable to calm him even with large doses of medicine.

Even after the divorce, the couple agreed to share custody of their daughter and Priscilla was awarded an outright cash payment of $725,000 as well as spousal support, child support, 5% of Elvis’new publishing companies, and half the income from the sale of their Beverly Hills home. Priscilla and Elvis remained close and left the courthouse on the day of their divorce hand in hand.

6. Her Affair With Mike Stone

Priscilla began taking karate lessons as a way to pass the time she spent alone and take interest in Elvis’ interests. Priscilla began taking lessons from Mike Stone, a karate instructor she met in 1972 backstage at one of Elvis’concerts. She soon began having an affair with him, in her book, she notes that her relationship with Mike had now developed into an affair. 

Even though she had an affair with Mike Stone, she notes in her book that she still loved Elvis greatly and that the over the next few months she has to make a crucial decision regarding her destiny. Elvis’ actions towards Priscilla after he found out about the affair caused their relationship to be even more strained than it already was.

7. Her Acting Career

Even though Elvis didn’t want Priscilla to pursue any sort of career, she had hobbies like dancing and modeling. When the time was right and her divorce from Elvis was settled, she decided to take up acting. One of her first major opportunities was when she was offered a role as one of the angels on Charlie’s Angels. Priscilla turned down the role because she didn’t like the show. 

After that, she was offered another opportunity where she made her television debut as co-host of Those Amazing Animals in 1980. She later got her first chance to act professionally on a season 2 episode of The Fall Guy in 1983. Priscilla was then offered a role in the television film Love Is Forever. Although she was treated well by the cast and crew, she found her co-star Michael London difficult to work with onset. 

After the film aired, she landed a role on the soap opera Dallas where she played Jenna Wade. It has been noted that she was actually the third actress to play the role of Jenna and played it the longest. She left the show in 1988 after five years.

8. Her Involvement In Scientology.

Priscilla helped inaugurate the Narcon Stonehawk Rehabilitation Center in Albion, Michigan. Narconon is based on principles developed by L. Ron Hubbard, a science fiction writer, who is also the founder of Scientology. In 2017, there were reports that she had left the church but was immediately shut down by Priscilla herself.

It was further reported that she had in fact distanced herself from the church but didn’t leave the religion. 

9. Her Relationships After Elvis

In 1978, Priscilla had a six-year intermittent live-in relationship with model Michael Edward, this was until he began developing feeling for her teenage daughter Lisa. During their relationship, Lisa was aged 10 to 16. Her longest relationship was with a Brazillian screenwriter, and computer programmer Marco Antonio Garcia also known as Marco Garibaldi with whom she lived with for 22 years.

Their son Navarone Garibaldi was born on March 1, 1987. It has been noted that Priscilla was starring in the soap opera Dallas during the time of her pregnancy, during this time, the pregnancy was just added to the storyline of her character. They ended their relationship in 2006, and Priscilla requested Marco not to write a book about her.

10. Her Honors 

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In 1998, Priscilla was conferred the degree of Doctor of Humanities by Rhodes College. On April 27, 2012, she was named godmother of the largest steamboat ever built, American Queen which was christened at its home port in Memphis. Her latest honor is on July 22, 2022, The Theatre Memphis honored her contributions to Memphis art and tourism with a gala, Honoring Priscilla Presley: The Artist, The Woman. The gala featured more than a dozen speakers and a live musical tribute.

Read more about other American filmmakers here.