Authors: Suzanne Finstad
Several people deserve special mention. Joel Gotler and Alan Nevins. My editor, Shaye Areheart, for her continuing enthusiasm and support. And the Harmony/Crown team, with special thanks to Dina Siciliano. Diana Dahlen, who appeared as if an angel to tirelessly search for names, people, and places, and to provide aid in countless other ways. My underpaid and overqualified transcriber/researchers: Marlene Noble, Cheryl Chan, and the heroic Melissa Blazek. Currie Grant, who generously gave of his research materials, asking nothing in return. Dixie Jayne Beck, who surpassed friendship to become an aide-decamp. My parents, Lesley and Bruce, for their time and insight. Kimberley Kates, Wendy Lebel, and Karen Hollander, for a window
into Priscilla and Scientology. Rick Stanley, Joe Esposito, Jerry Schilling, Michael Edwards, Jere Herzenberg, and Patti Parry, for help or insight beyond the ordinary.
My wish for Priscilla Presley is that she may, one day, free herself from the past—her true past and the imaginary past she created to perpetuate a myth that no longer needs to exist.
T
he following are some of the research sources I consulted or reviewed in the preparation of this biography. In the relatively infrequent instances where I have quoted directly from a secondary source, such as another book or magazine, the source is generally cited in the text. Otherwise, all quotes contained in the book come from personal interviews with the named subject.
Abadie, M. J.
Child Signs.
Stamford, Conn.: Longmeadow Press, 1994.
Bachrach, Judy, “When a Man Molds a Woman,”
Allure
, January 1996.
Bradshaw, Dr. John.
Family Secrets: What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You.
Audio from the PBS television series. Houston: Bradshaw cassettes, 1995.
Dobb, Edwin, “The Brutality of Beauty,”
Vogue
, February 1995.
Farley, Walter.
The Black Stallion.
New York: Random House, 1941.
Forward, Dr. Susan (with Craig Buck).
Toxic Parents: Over-
coming Their Hurtful Legacy and Reclaiming Your Life.
New York: Bantam, 1989.
Gandee, Charles, “Beauty’s Legacy,”
Vogue
, February 1995. McNamara, Mary, “Looking Truth in the Face,”
Los Angeles Times Book Review
, May 26, 1996.
Wertsch, Mary Edwards.
Military Brats: Legacies of Childhood Inside the Fortress.
New York: Harmony, 1991.
Applications of Marco Antonio Garcia and Joan Mavis Garcia
(petition for name change). Los Angeles County. Case #346816. 1980.
Bangor, Maine, School Department. Priscilla Ann Wagner’s school records, 1945.
Elvis Aaron Presley v. Priscilla Ann Presley
(divorce). Los Angeles County. Case #WED20795. 1973.
Estate of Elvis Aaron Presley.
Shelby County, Tenn. Case #A-655. 1977.
Francine Carroll v. Ronald M. Carroll
(divorce). Orange County, Calif. Case #D-215353. 1983.
Francine M. Stone v. Michael M. Stone
(divorce). Orange County, California. Case #D-57002. 1972.
In re Lisa Marie Presley, a minor.
Los Angeles County. Case #637551. 1978.
Irwin Fuchs v. Marco Garibaldi and Priscilla Presley.
Los Angeles County. Case #106429. 1986.
Joann Nilsen Garibalddi v. Marco Antonio Garibalddi
(annulment). Los Angeles County. Case #WED 41101. 1982.
National Archives at College Park, Md. Official deck logs, USS
Beaver
, 1946.
National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Mo. Military records, Joseph Paul Beaulieu Jr. and James Frederick Wagner.
Office Memorandum, Director of FBI. Official report on Laurenz Johannes Griessel-Landau. 1959–60.
Priscilla Presley v. Bob Anderson.
Los Angeles County. Case #43922. 1983.
Priscilla Presley v. Brazan Randi Brooks.
Los Angeles County. Case #121187. 1988.
Priscilla Presley v. Joe Esposito.
Los Angeles County. Case #126761. 1988.
Priscilla Presley v. John Doland, Charlotte Doland, and Lalo Gijon.
Los Angeles County. Case #C304226. 1979.
Priscilla Presley v. John O’Grady.
Los Angeles County. Case #320259. 1980.
Saint Paul’s United Church of Christ. Baptismal record, Priscilla Ann Wagner, August 19, 1945.
Andrews, Suzanna, “Making Elvis Pay,”
Working Woman
, September 1993.
“Ann Iversen Becomes Bride at Pensacola,”
New London (Conn.) Evening Day
, August 18, 1944.
“Ann L. Wagner, J. P. Beaulieu Jr., Exchange Vows,”
New London (Conn.) Evening Day
, September 16, 1948.
Armstrong, Lois, “A Mom Again,”
People
, February 15, 1988.
Armstrong, Lois, “A Mother’s Plea: ‘When Will It All End?’,”
People
, September 9, 1986.
Armstrong, Lois, “Priscilla Presley Finds a Vocation,”
People
, November 8, 1982.
Armstrong, Lois, and Robin Michel, “The Presleys’ Newest Star,”
People
, June 19, 1989.
Arthur, Allene, “Elvis in Palm Springs,”
Palm Springs Life
, August 1995.
Ashley, Barbara, “I’m Afraid of Losing Him!,”
Movie Mirror
, June 1970.
“Auf Wiedersehen, Elvis!,”
Film Journal
, Germany, March 1960.
Baker, Jackson, “The Keeper of the Kingdom,”
Memphis, Au
gust 1992.
Bangay, Joe, “Priscilla Presley: How Elvis Made Me Prisoner of Love,”
Star
, September 7, 1982.
Battelle, Phyllis, “Priscilla Presley: Her Struggle to Raise Elvis’ Daughter,”
Ladies’ Home Journal
, January 1984.
“Beauty Secrets,”
Harper’s Bazaar
, September 1986.
Beck, Marilyn,
Los Angeles Daily News
, May 14, 1987.
Behar, Richard, “The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power,”
Time
, May 6, 1991.
Benet, Lorenzo, “Harmon, Presley: The Kinship of Collaboration,”
Los Angeles Daily News
, November 3, 1985.
Blake, Carolyn, “The Girl Elvis Has Loved for Seven Years!,”
TV & Movie Screen
, November 1966.
Boston Herald
, March 15, 1985; December 24, 1986.
Brinton, Larry, The Associated Press, August 17, 1977.
Brisbane, Arthur S., “KC Man’s Keeper of Elvis’ Keys,”
Kansas City Times
, April 21, 1982.
Buck, Jerry, “Susan Walters Stars as Priscilla Presley in ‘Elvis and Me,’ ” The Associated Press, February 4, 1988.
Byron, Ellen, “Priscilla Presley Just Gets More Gorgeous,”
Redbook
, January 1987.
Calistro, Paddy, “Priscilla and the Jungle,”
Los Angeles Times
, February 20, 1981.
Calistro, Paddy, “The Ten Most Beautiful Women in Los Angeles,”
Los Angeles
, January 1986.
Caulfield, Deborah,
Los Angeles Times
, May 27, 1988.
“Celebrity Interview of the Month: Priscilla Presley,”
Celebrity
, Minor Issue 253.
Chicago Tribune
, February 8, 1988.
Daily Mail
, May 14, 1994.
Daily Variety (London)
, January 8, 1981; January 21, 1981; October 25, 1984; September 8, 1992.
Dan, Judith, “A Hot Time in the Old Gown Tonight,”
Los Angeles
, December 1980.
Dangaard, Colin, “Priscilla Looks Back on Life with Elvis,”
Memphis Commercial Appeal Mid-South Magazine
, November 24, 1974.
Darrach, Brad, Lois Armstrong, Eleanor Hoover, Karen G. Jackovich, and Jacqueline Savaiano, “Wedding Belle,”
People
, October 24, 1988.
Davidson, Bill, “It Was Michael Landon Against the Director,”
TV Guide
, March 19, 1983.
Davidson, Bill, “Priscilla Presley: Her Life Since Elvis,”
McCall’s
, March 1987.
Davidson, Bill, “The Second Time Around,”
McCall’s
, April 1988.
Dawson, William, “Lawyer Backs Court Action on Elvis Pact,”
Memphis Commercial Appeal
, October 5, 1980.
Deeb, Gary, “ABC Is Planning to Launch ‘Elvis’ Series,”
North America Syndicate
, February 26, 1989.
DeVries, Hilary, “The New Priscilla Presley,”
McCall’s
, January 1992.
Diamond, Sara, “Unhappy Together, Unable to Stay Apart,”
Movie Mirror
, June 1971.
Dunn, Ed, “Wella Corp. Hires Priscilla Presley,”
Memphis Press-Scimitar
, August 30, 1979.
Easton, Nina J., “Naked Truth Behind ‘Naked Gun,’ ”
Los Angeles Times
, December 2, 1988.
Eldorado, Dea, “Fall’s Big Picture,”
Los Angeles
, September 1984.
“Elvis Off for Home and His Date—with Relatives Here—Is Left Behind,”
New London (Conn.) Evening Day
, March 2, 1960.
“Elvis Presley’s Black Cook Tells,” Jet, October 20, 1986.
“Elvis: The Last Days,”
Us
, August 24, 1987.
Evans, Bill, “ ‘She’s Too Much,’ Says Elvis,”
Memphis Press-Scimitar
, February 5, 1968.
Fair, Elizabeth, “Ms. Presley Launches New Career,”
Memphis Commercial Appeal
, September 10, 1979.
“Farewell to Priscilla—Hello to U.S.A.,”
Life
, March 14, 1960.
Fidler, Jimmie, “Priscilla Lane Wed Secretly and Divorced,”
Los Angeles Times
, May 29, 1940.
Field, Michelle, “State of Grace,”
Chicago Tribune
, August 4, 1991.
“The Fifty Most Beautiful People in the World 1992,”
People
, May 4, 1992.
Fink, Mitchell, “The Insider: Mrs. Jackson’s Scar,”
People
, September 12, 1994.
Finke, Nikki, “Naked Truth Behind ‘Naked Gun’: Priscilla Presley Shows Off Her Laugh Lines,”
Los Angeles Times
, December 2, 1988.
Firstman, Richard C., “Elvis Frenzy: Baby Pix Signal Open Checkbook Time in Tab Valley,”
Newsday
, October 15, 1989.
Fit
, swimsuit pictorial: Priscilla Presley, June 1982.
Flander, Judy, “Mum’s the Word on Elvis,”
Washington Herald-Examiner
, October 11, 1980.
Fleming, Charles, “The Predator,”
Vanity Fair
, February 1996.
Gannett News Service
, taken from
USA Today
, November 6, 1990.
Glasgow Herald
, October 13, 1994.
Globe.
1967–97. [Numerous articles]
Gordon, Meryl, “Priscilla Presley Today,”
McCall’s
, October 1994.
Grant, Currie, “Elvis Secretly Engaged to 18-Year-Old,”
Photoplay
, January 1964.
Grant, James, “Elvis’ Baby: All Grown Up,”
Life
, December 1988.
Grant, James, “Priscilla Presley: Never Better than Now,”
McCall’s
, July 1989.
Green, Tom, “Elvis Rocks Tonight on Prime Time,”
USA Today
, February 6, 1990.
Green, Tom, “Priscilla Presley,”
Los Angeles
, June 1990.
Guttman, Monika, “Presley Meets the Pressure,”
USA Weekend
, March 27, 1994.
Hall, Jane, “The Gloves Are Off,”
Los Angeles Times
, June 11, 1995.
Hannah, Marilyn, “Elvis: Victim of a Strange Triangle,”
TV Picture Life
, March 1964.
Harmetz, Aljean, “ ‘Elvis’ Defies Convention,”
New York Times
, May 18, 1989.
Harper’s Bazaar
, May 1984.
Hart, Bob, “Elvis’ Teen-Age Sweetheart,”
Movie Mirror
, August 1963.
Hassell, Greg, “Rough Going at the Velvet Elvis,”
Houston Chronicle
, May 29, 1996.
Henry, Don, “Hectic Week Topped by Gals’ Pajama Party, Gabfest at Boys’ Dorm,”
The Overseas Family
, Frankfurt, Germany, April 1, 1960.
Hilburn, Robert, “Eternal Revenue,”
Los Angeles Times
, June 11, 1989.
Hockaday, Laura Rollins, “He Opened Graceland Mansion’s Gates,”
Kansas City Star
, September 7, 1982.
Holland, Jan, “Priscilla Presley,”
Venice
, March 1994.
Hopkirk, Peter, “Army Stops Presley Goodbye Kiss—Priscilla Is Hustled Away from Plane,”
London Daily Express
, March 3, 1960.
Hopper, Hedda, “New Comedy in Works,”
Memphis Press-Scimitar
, August 8, 1963.
Horowitz, Craig, “The Presley Inheritance,”
People
, March 1, 1993.
Iley, Chrissy, “Why Men Go to Priscilla’s Head,”
You
, August 22, 1993.
“Is Elvis’ Priscilla Area Woman’s Kin?,”
Titusville (Penn.) Herald
, March 16, 1960.
Italie, Hillel, “Is She Really That Clumsy?,” The Associated Press, December 19, 1988.
Jacobs, Jody, “A Bacchanal for Johann Sebastian,”
Los Angeles Times
, February 17, 1983.
Jerome, Jim, “My Daughter, Myself,”
Ladies’ Home Journal
, August 1996.
“Jimmy Wagner, Navy Pilot, Dies in Plane Crash,”
Titusville (Penn.) Herald
, November 5, 1945.
Johnson, Paul, “In Death, Elvis Is Bigger than Life,
Gannett News Service
, December 7, 1989.
Johnson, Robert E., “Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley,”
Jet
, August 22, 1994.
Jones, Jack, “Elvis Presley Ends Marriage with a Kiss and $1.5 Million,”
Los Angeles Times
, October 10, 1973.
Kaye, Elizabeth, “Life After Elvis,”
TV Guide
, September 20, 1980.
Kelly, Katy, “Lisa Marie’s Kingdom,”
USA Today
, February 4, 1993.
Kennedy, Caroline, “Graceland,”
Rolling Stone
, September 22, 1977.
Kershaw, Alex, “The King’s Ransom,”
The Independent, No
vember 17, 1991.
Kessler, Judy, cover profile of Priscilla Presley,
People
, December 14, 1978.
“Ladies Who Launch,”
Harper’s Bazaar
, May 1990.
Langley, Leonora, “Priscilla Presley: How to Live with a Legend,”
Woman’s Day
, November 27, 1990.
Ledford, Joey, United Press International, December 10, 1980.
Lee, Luaine, “Priscilla Presley Tells How She Outgrew Shadow of ‘The King,’ ”
Scripps-Howard News Service
, March 21, 1994.
Leiby, Richard, “Harmonic Conversion? Ex-Scientologists Speculate on Why Michael and Lisa Wed,”
The Washington Post
, August 4, 1994.
Lippert, Barbara, “Priscilla Sells an Elvis Souvenir Disguised as Perfume,”
AdWeek
, July 2, 1990.
“Lisa Marie Presley,” Us, February 13, 1984.
Littwin, Susan, “Will This Actor Capture the Dark Side of Elvis Too?,”
TV Guide
, January 30, 1988.
“Love in the Afternoon,”
Cosmopolitan
, August 1980.
Lurie, Rod, “Now They’re Playing Dirty,”
Los Angeles
, February 1992.
Lurie, Rod, “Priscilla Presley and Leslie Nielsen,”
Los Angeles
, July 1991.
Mann, May, “Priscilla Presley Talks About Her Life,”
Movie-land.
Marlowe, Lisa. “The Wedding Was a Farce,”
Daily Mirror (London)
, August 25, 1994.
McAllister, Bill, “Unglued Over Elvis,”
Washington Post
, January 8, 1993.
McDonald, Peter, “I’m So Sorry My Lisa Wed Jackson,”
Evening Standard (London)
, September 21, 1994.
Meisler, Andy, “The 10 Most Beautiful Women on Television,”
TV Guide
, December 15, 1984.
“Milestones,”
Time
, May 9, 1994.
Millar, John, “Granny Presley,”
Scottish Daily Record (Glasgow)
, May 17, 1994.
Montefiore, Simon Sebag. “A Cloistered Life,”
Psychology Today
, November/December 1993.
“Morgan Maxfield Dies in Plane Crash,”
The Kansas City Times
, September 5, 1981.
“Mrs. Presley’s Boutique,”
Parade
, July 7, 1974.
Murphy, Mary, “Cybill Shepherd: A Passion for Pillow Talk,”
TV Guide
, April 20, 1996.
Murphy, Ryan, “Cybill Shepherd: The
US
Interview,”
Us
, June 1995.
National Enquirer.
1967–97. [Numerous articles.]
“Navy Flier En Route Here to Visit Wife, Child Killed in Crash,”
New London (Conn.) Evening Day
, November 5, 1945.
Newcomb, Peter, “The New Aristocracy,”
Forbes
, October 3, 1988.
Newsday
, April 16, 1991.
New York Daily News
, March 25–26, 1984; “Is She the Devil in Disguise?,” November 19, 1986.
New York Post
, October 22, 1980; October 5, 1985.
New York Times
, February 10, 1991.
O’Hallaren, Bill, “The Ticklish Plight of Being Priscilla Presley,”
TV Guide
, March 17, 1984.
Orth, Maureen, “The Jackson Jive,”
Vanity Fair
, September 1995.
O’Sullivan, Kevin, “Wedded Blitz,”
Scottish Daily Record (Glasgow)
, December 4, 1994.
Pacha, Terry, “Elvis, Priscilla and Del Valle,”
The Red Wing
, Del Valle High School, March 1978.
Pawlosky, Mark, “Morgan Maxfield’s Estate Sued,”
The Kansas City Times
, February 4, 1982.
“People,”
USA Today
, September 16, 1983.
Petrucelli, Alan W., “Priscilla Presley: I Have to Shatter the Myths,”
For Women First
, April 18, 1994.
Presley, Priscilla, “Bringing Up Elvis’ Daughter,”
Ladies’ Home Journal
, June 1974.
Presley, Priscilla, “He Saved Me for So Long,”
People
, September 16, 1985.
Presley, Priscilla, “We Have Plenty of Time, Little One,”
People
, September 9, 1985.
Presley, Priscilla, “What My Life Is Like Without Elvis,”
Modern People
, 1979.
Presley, Priscilla Beaulieu, “Elvis and Me,”
Ladies’ Home Journal
, October 1985.
Presley, Priscilla Beaulieu, “I Don’t Think He Really Wanted to Live Beyond 40,”
TV Guide
, January 30, 1988.
Presley, Vernon (as told to Nancy Anderson), “Elvis: By His Father,”
Good Housekeeping
, January 1978.
“Presley’s Wife Dates Karate Champ,”
The National Tattler
, September 3, 1972.
“Presley’s Wife Visits Relative in Titusville,”
The Titusville (Penn.) Herald
, January 17, 1981.