De vrouw van Elvis Presley, Priscilla, ziet er op 74-jarige leeftijd nog steeds geweldig uit

Nov 26, 2020 by apost team

Priscilla Ann Presley is dit jaar 75 jaar oud geworden. De inwoonster van New York is vooral bekend als de ex-vrouw van de King of rock-'n-roll Elvis Presley, maar leeft al 43 jaar zonder hem. Lees verder om te zien hoe ze er nu uitziet.

"Ik wilde sterven." Dat waren de woorden van Priscilla Ann Presley nadat ze hoorde van de dood van haar ex-man, Elvis Presley. De twee waren al vier jaar gescheiden, maar Priscilla bleef zeggen dat hij "de liefde van [haar] leven" was. In een interview in 2016 zei Priscilla: "Ik ben niet van hem gescheiden omdat ik niet van hem hield. Hij was de liefde van mijn leven, maar ik moest de wereld leren kennen De scheiding werd afgerond op 9 oktober 1973. Elvis overleed op 16 augustus 1977.

Ze ontmoetten elkaar in Duitsland tijdens de diensttijd van Elvis in het Amerikaanse leger. Priscilla en haar gezin verhuisden naar Duitsland omdat haar vader daar werd gestationeerd door de luchtmacht.

apost.com

Hun relatie was controversieel: Priscilla was pas 14 jaar oud toen ze met Elvis begon te daten. Ook werd alom beweerd dat Elvis macht over haar als tiener uitoefende. Zo bemoeide hij zich met haar jurk en uiterlijk, zodat die zouden passen bij zijn eigen stijl. Toen ze nog getrouwd waren, woonde het stel in Memphis, Tennessee, in het huis dat bekend staat als "Graceland." Ze hebben samen één kind, Lisa-Marie Presley, die Priscilla op 23-jarige leeftijd ter wereld bracht. Begin 1972 verliet Priscilla Elvis vanwege de druk van zijn levensstijl.

Elvis is nooit meer dezelfde geweest nadat hij en Priscilla uit elkaar gingen. Toen Elvis 42 jaar oud werd, had hij meerdere gezondheidsproblemen die hem in 1977 het leven kostten. Later ontmoette Elvis Ginger Alden, die zich met hem verloofde. Ginger was degene die hem op de badkamervloer in zijn huis aantrof. Uit de autopsie bleek dat Elvis was overleden aan een hartstilstand. Hij had overgewicht en gebruikte nogal wat medicijnen.

Priscilla heeft nog een aantal relaties gehad sinds zij en Elvis uit elkaar zijn gegaan. Na de scheiding kwam ze direct in contact met Mike Stone, een karateleraar die zowel haar als Elvis les gaf, zoals te lezen valt in het boek Black Belt, maar de relatie werd kort daarna ontbonden. Ze had toen een relatie met een paar bekende mensen, zoals fotograaf Terry O'Neill en advocaat Robert Kardashian. De langste relatie van Priscilla tot nu toe was met Marco Garibaldi. In totaal waren ze 22 jaar samen. Garibaldi is volgens de Biografie een Italiaanse scenarioschrijver die computerprogrammeur werd. Ze hebben samen één zoon, Navarone Anthony Garibaldi, een 33-jarige muzikant.

The Mirror schreef in 2017 dat Priscilla met Tom Jones uitging, de bekende zanger. Het is onduidelijk of die twee nog iets hebben, maar over Priscilla, zei Tom: "We zijn al heel lang vrienden." "Ze is een mooie dame," voegde hij eraantoe. "We genieten samen van avondjes uit." Volgens het blad was Tom een goede vriend van Elvis en had hij tussen de jaren zestig en zeventig tijd met hem en Priscilla doorgebracht.

Het is voor iedereen een zwaar jaar geweest vanwege corona, en Priscilla heeft ook haar portie verdriet voor de kiezen gekregen toen eerder dit jaar haar kleinzoon Benjamin Keough zelfmoord pleegde. Priscilla schreef op Facebook over haar verdriet na de dood van Benjamin en zei:

"Dit zijn de donkerste dagen van het leven van mijn familie," aldus Priscilla. "De schok van het verlies van Ben is verwoestend geweest," vervolgde ze. "Nu is het proberen om alle stukjes weer op te rapen en de zoektocht naar het waarom heeft mijn ziel getroffen. Elke dag dat ik wakker word, bid ik dat het beter mag gaan."

Priscilla vertelde ook over de immense pijn die de rest van haar familie ervoer. "Ik denk aan mijn dochter en de pijn die ze doormaakt als een liefhebbende moeder," schreef ze over haar dochter, Lisa-Marie

"Bens vader Danny, die helemaal overstuur is, want Ben was zijn enige zoon. Riley, zo liefdevol en zo dicht bij hem; Harper en Finley, die heel erg van Ben hielden. Navarone, die zwaar worstelt met verlies en de dood."

Priscilla is al lang niet meer de ' levende pop' van Elvis, zoals ze het zelf omschreef. Voorbij zijn de dagen dat hij haar haar zwart liet verven, zoals het zijne, en en dat ze het zo moest opsteken dat het bij zijn kapsel paste. Maar het was wel wat haar tot een mode-icoon maakte. En om 75 jaar oud te zijn, ziet ze er helemaal niet zo slecht uit.

In recent years Priscilla Presley has found her footing in philanthropy and charitable work. An avid animal lover, especially of horses, in 2013 she spoke out against the Tennessee Ag-Gag Bill, writing about her and Elvis Presley’s love of horses and her worries that the bill would reduce protections for many farm animals, including horses. Just this last December she posted on her Instagram about stopping the abuse of horse soring. In her post, she urged fellow activists to write to their senators to get the law changed. She has also used her platform to advocate for the protection of dogs, wolves, lions, monkeys and other animals. It's always heartwarming to see a celebrity use their voice to do good, especially when it's for our furry friends who otherwise aren't able to speak up for themselves. 

Alongside her animal activism, Priscilla Presley is also an ambassador for the Dream Foundation. She's been involved with the foundation since 2003, which grants wishes to terminally ill adults and their families. Apparently, she learned of the organization, which is the only one of its kind that works with adults, after helping to grant some of the recipients' wishes to visit Graceland. 

Priscilla Presley was actually the co-executor of the entire Presley Estate before Lisa Marie came of age, assuming the role after the death of Elvis Presley’s father, Vernon Presley, in 1979. On her official website, it states how much of an influence Priscilla Presley has had on the estate, writing,

"She has since brought the Presley Estate from a burgeoning entity into a phenomenally successful organization consisting of the famous Graceland Mansion, a worldwide licensing program, merchandising, music publishing and television and video projects."

Interestingly, Priscilla Presley, along with her late daughter Lisa Presley, were only a few of the people allowed to enter the upstairs area of Elvis Presley’s Graceland mansion. Elvis Presley had a master suite on the second floor of the house, which was his private refuge, where only the closest of his friends would be allowed. It's also there, in his bathroom, where his body was found after his death. When Graceland was opened to the public in 1982, the second floor was closed off out of respect to Elvis Presley’s family and to avoid unsavory attention towards the location of his death.

In the decades that have passed, the upstairs has gained a lot of attention and a kind of myth around it. For example, there are rumors that the bedroom suite hasn't been changed since he died, with everything as it was when he passed. On top of that, no authentic high-quality photos have been released, while nobody is allowed to enter, except for Priscilla Presley and previously Lisa Marie, as well as the curator of Graceland. 

Notable people, including presidents and foreign dignitaries, have all tried to gain access but haven't been lucky. However, funnily enough, one notable but seemingly random celebrity has been there — Nicholas Cage, when he was married to Lisa Presley in the 2000s.

But beyond upholding her ex-husband's legacy and her charitable work, she's also managed to have an acting career of her own. She famously starred on the soap opera “Dallas” from 1983-1988, playing the role of Jenna Wade. She was also memorable in the “Naked Gun” movie series, which allowed her to show another side of her acting talents, this time focusing on comedy. In the 1990s, she also had small guest roles on “Melrose Place” and “Spin City.”

However, her acting career could have taken off much earlier had it not been for Elvis Presley. Supposedly he believed that "a woman's place was in the home looking after her man" — a fairly common belief at the time, but one that the rock star held on to, having no intention of letting his wife have a career of her own. Hollywood producer Hal B. Wallis, who was behind many of Elvis Presley’s early films, had been interested in signing Priscilla Presley to a contract, but it never came to be. She had been interested in dancing and modeling but kept her interests as minor hobbies rather than real career pursuits. She was even offered the role of one of the angels in “Charlie's Angels,” however, she turned it down as she didn't like the show.

Despite her life being very much influenced by her incredibly famous ex-husband, Priscilla Presley has managed to achieve a lot over the course of it. From eventually following her own dreams and acting, to her continued charitable work, she is both an inspiration in how she conducts herself as well as how incredible she looks at 78.

One little known fact about Priscilla Presley is that she was a contestant on ABC’s “Dancing With The Stars” back in 2008. For the show’s sixth season, she joined forces with Dutch-American ballroom dancer Louis Van Amstel.

The show’s sixth season included female contestants tennis champion Monica Seles, actress Shannon Elizabeth, Academy Award-winning actress Marlee Matlin, Tony-award winning actress Marissa Jaret Winokur and Olympic gold medalist Kristi Yamaguchi. Meanwhile, the men’s side featured football player Jason Taylor, South American actor Cristian de la Fuente, actor Steve Guttenberg, radio host Adam Carolla, pop singer Mario and magician Penn Jillette.

In an ABC interview before the show’s premiere, Priscilla Presley told reporters that she did have some previous dancing experience in ballet.

"I danced a little. I took jazz, which is completely different from ballroom dancing," Priscilla Presley told ABC. "There's a little dancing in all of us."

Naturally, Priscilla Presley’s partner and coach was excited to work with the star regardless of her experience.

"We met two days ago. We did a little bit of foxtrot. She's going to be a surprise," Louis Van Amstel said. "I'm so excited. I mean come on, it's Priscilla Presley."

Unfortunately, Priscilla Presley wasn’t able to overcome the sixth season’s tough competition, and she was eliminated during the fifth round. According to PEOPLE, she lost points and was eliminated due to her Viennese Waltz performance, which led to a score of only 22. The magazine further reports that when Tom Bergeron, the show’s host, told her the news, Presley hugged her partner and thanked the show for “an incredible life-changing experience.”

Interestingly enough, viewers who have seen Priscilla Presley’s appearances will notice that she never danced to any Elvis Presley songs. And it turns out that this was intentional. According to ABC, Priscilla Presley agreed to be on the show, but she also specifically requested not to have to dance to her late ex-husband’s music.

"I just don't really think that would be appropriate," she told ABC.

Since Priscilla Presley’s loss on the show, the 78-year-old has avoided the spotlight. Save for her Instagram account, where she has more than 200,000 followers, it’s difficult to find out what the star is up to. With that said, her IMDb page does give us some hints. For example, her most recent appearance was in a 2016 music video for Them Guns’ song “Muffins.” The music video, which heavily features the streets of Hollywood and the radio host Rodney Bingenheimer, follows the radio star as he drives to a bakery to pick up a muffin. As Bingenheimer leaves, he runs into none other than Priscilla Presley.

Although appearances like these are certainly interesting — especially for fans of the Presleys — we can also understand why Priscilla Presley wants to fly under the radar. Ever since she was a young woman, she’s been in the spotlight. And now, as she approaches 76, it’s no wonder that she wants a bit of peace and quiet.

Wat vond je het meest schokkende aan het verhaal van Priscilla? Vertel het ons in de reacties en deel het met alle rock 'n roll-fans in je leven.