Priscilla Presley Turns 80: 7 Surprising Facts About the Woman Who Is More than Just Elvis’s Bride
Priscilla Beaulieu, who celebrates her 80th birthday on May 23, was a beautiful Army brat barely into her teens when she met a handsome American soldier at a party at his West German home. The girl knew exactly who her host was — the world’s most famous G.I., Elvis Presley, whose records were in her collection. Eight years later, Priscilla Beaulieu would become Mrs. Priscilla Presley.
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The marriage was famously tumultuous and only lasted six years, but neither Elvis nor Priscilla ever married again. And though Priscilla has endured her share of personal tragedy — including the death of her parents in a plane crash, the loss of her and Elvis’s only child, Lisa Marie, and Lisa Marie’s son, Benjamin, and major family and financial travails — she perseveres. Presley is the midst of intimate tour dates and recently published a new memoir, “Softly, As I Leave You: Life After Elvis.” Plus, she will be making an upcoming appearance at the Hollywood Show in Burbank, June 6-7, 2025.
To honor Priscilla Beaulieu Presley’s 80th birthday on May 24, here are 6 fascinating and fun facts you might not know about this resilient beauty.
1 Her dad bought her first Elvis album when she was 11
In an essay for People magazine, Priscilla wrote that her Air Force Captain stepdad presented her with the record, saying, “I don’t know what this Elvis guy is all about […] but he must be something special. I stood in line with half the armed forces at the PX to get this for you. Everybody wants it.”
2 Priscilla never stopped loving Elvis
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Priscilla described their divorce as amicable — they left the courtroom holding hands — and Priscilla devoted a large part of her life afterward to protecting Elvis’ reputation and making sure the world knew him as more than just a troubled rock star.
Her lifelong respect for Elvis even led his father, Vernon Presley, to name Priscilla — by then a savvy business woman — executor of Elvis’ estate.
3 Priscilla helped make Graceland a financial success
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After Elvis died in 1977, his famed estate, Graceland, was hemorrhaging cash. Named co-executor of his estate by Elvis’ dad, Vernon, Priscilla made the game-changing decision to open the estate to the public. In 1982, Graceland welcomed its first visitors, and it quickly became one of the most visited private homes in America, second only to the White House. Priscilla handed over her duties as Graceland trustee to daughter Lisa Marie in 1998 and settled into an advisory position.Today, Graceland is the cornerstone of a multi-million-dollar empire.
4 Depeche Mode’s 1989 hit “Personal Jesus” was inspired by Priscilla’s 1985 autobiography, “Elvis & Me”
Hard to imagine that The King could inspire a synth-rock tune that references the Lord. But he did.
Songwriter Martin Gore told Spin magazine that, “It’s a song about being a Jesus for somebody else, someone to give you hope and care. It’s about how Elvis Presley was her man and her mentor and how often that happens in love relationships; how everybody’s heart is like a god in some way. We play these god-like parts for people, but no one is perfect, and that’s not a very balanced view of someone, is it?”
5 Priscilla Could Have Been a Bond Girl
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Presley was offered the role of oil heiress Stacey Sutton in 1985’s A View to a Kill, but turned it down. At the time, the talented actress, was playing Jenna Wade, a love interest of Bobby Ewing, on the wildly popular nighttime soap, The official story was that she turned down Bond to stay faithful to Dallas. But years later, Presley revealed the truth at a fan event in San Francisco.
“Dallas didn’t prevent me from appearing,” Presley said, “I didn’t take the part because I was unhappy with the idea of becoming a Bond Girl. I declined, because I didn’t want to be known for being a Bond Girl. Once you’re in the movie industry, that would set you up to be in films, and so I declined, on my own.”
6 She Didn’t Date Tom Jones
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After the iconic Welsh pop star lost his wife of six decades in 2016, he and Presley were rumored to be an item. It seemed to make sense. He was an enduring sex symbol with swiveling hips and an eye for beautiful women. She loved masculine, high-profile men.
Alas, it was only a rumor. The pair, who had known each other since Priscilla’s early days with Elvis, are part of the same social circle and sometimes go to dinner, with each other or in a group.
“She’s a very dear friend of mine, Priscilla,” Jones told Hello! magazine. “I met her in the ’60s, and she’s been a friend of mine ever since. But there is nothing romantic, no.”
7 The Zucker brothers cast her in their Naked Gun movies for a very specific reason
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For years, Presley was known for her glamorous, fashion-forward image, solidified by her 5-year turn as Jenna Wade on Dallas. So she seemed an unlikely pick for the 1988 celeb-packed slapstick comedy The Naked Gun (and its sequels) from Airplane! creators Jim Abrahams and the Zucker brothers.
Ironically, her lack of comic experience won her the role after Bo Derek dropped out when her husband protested. The filmmakers wanted someone who wouldn’t play for laughs as Frank Drebin’s sexy, earnest, slightly dim love interest, Jane Spencer.
“She was very nervous,” David Zucker told Yahoo Entertainment of their first meet-up. “She said, ‘I can’t be funny! I don’t know how to be funny!’ … I told her, ‘Don’t worry — you don’t need to be funny. Just be the actress from Dallas and let the lines do the work.’ She was great. I never had to direct her!”
Remind 