Priscilla Presley

* Movie
* Real Life

**Priscilla Ann Presley** is an American businesswoman and actress. She is the ex-wife of the late American singer Elvis Presley, as well as the cofounder and former chairperson of Elvis Presley Enterprises (EPE), the company that turned Graceland into one of the top tourist attractions in the United States.

## Biography

Priscilla Ann Wagner was born at Brooklyn Naval Hospital in Brooklyn, New York on May 24, 1945. Her maternal grandfather, Albert Henry Iversen (1899–1971), was born in Egersund, Norway. He immigrated to the United States, where he married Lorraine Davis (1903–1984), who was of Scots-Irish and English descent. Their only daughter was Anna Lillian Iversen (1926–2021), whose legal name was later shortened to Ann. Ann gave birth to Priscilla when she was 19 years old.

Presley's biological father was US Navy pilot James Frederick Wagner (1921–1945), son of Kathryn (1901–1995) and Harold Wagner (1897–1958) of Cherrytree Township, Pennsylvania. At 23, he married Presley's mother Ann on August 10, 1944 after dating for more than three years. On November 4, 1945, Wagner died in a plane crash while en route to New London, Connecticut. He was twenty-four years old.

In 1948, Ann married United States Air Force officer Paul Beaulieu (1925–2018), from Québec, Canada. The couple raised Priscilla, along with half-siblings Donald (b. 1949), Michelle (b. 1954), Jeffrey (b. 1959) and twins Thomas (1962–2013) and Timothy Beaulieu (b. 1962). Priscilla took on the Beaulieu surname. Over the next few years, the growing family repeatedly relocated, as Beaulieu's Air Force career necessitated repeated relocation from Connecticut to New Mexico to Maine. Priscilla describes herself during this period as "a shy, pretty, little girl, unhappily accustomed to moving from base to base every two or three years". Presley would later recall how uneasy she felt about having to move so often, never knowing if she could ever make friends for life or if she would fit in with the people she would meet at the next place.

In 1956, the family settled in Del Valle, Texas, but soon Beaulieu was transferred to Wiesbaden, West Germany. Priscilla was "crushed" upon learning this news, as it occurred just after her junior high school years, and was upset about leaving her friends and connections behind.

## Relationships

* James Wagner - Father
* Anna Lillian Iversen - Mother
* Elvis Presley - Ex-Husband (married in 1967, divorced in 1973)
* Lisa Marie Presley - Daughter

## Personality

Priscilla Presley is often described as a woman of grace, elegance, and resilience. Possessing a quiet strength, she has navigated the spotlight with poise, particularly during her years as Elvis Presley's wife and beyond. Priscilla is known for her sharp intelligence and business acumen, successfully managing Elvis's estate and transforming Graceland into a thriving tourist destination. Her warmth and sincerity shine through in her interactions, endearing her to those around her. Priscilla's multifaceted personality encompasses not only her role as a former wife to a music icon but also her achievements as an actress, businesswoman, and philanthropist. Despite the challenges that fame brings, Priscilla Presley has maintained a dignified and timeless presence in the public eye.

## Physical description

Elvis exerts his control over Priscilla in part by making her change her look at his request, suggesting, for example, that she dye her brown hair black.

“He decided everything about her, everything about her look,” says Cliona Furley, who led Priscilla’s hair department.

Furley’s choices for Priscilla’s hair emphasized how she was still very young: “I put a bang on that wig because I wanted her to still be a young girl who’s in the beginning of her glam stage.” After all, Priscilla is still in school when she first moves to Graceland. As Priscilla is throttled toward womanhood, there are signals that she’s still just a girl who has been swept up in a whirlwind romance with an American hero who calls all the shots.

“He thought she looked plain without makeup,” says Jo Ann MacNeil, who oversaw Priscilla’s makeup department. “She never presented herself to him without makeup on. If she was in a little bit of makeup when she came down and he saw her and thought it wasn’t enough, he would send her back upstairs to put more on.” The film shows Priscilla going to bed picture perfect before waking up early to apply a full face, so Elvis never sees her in her natural state. In her research, MacNeil learned that Elvis never wanted to see her in the process of getting ready. “When she woke up, she had to come down, fully done, fully dressed, fully made up hair, done everything,” she says.

But Priscilla also highlights how she carved out her own distinctive style as rock ‘n roll royalty in the 1960s. Priscilla Presley is a style icon within her own right; her appearance while with Elvis was not divorced from all agency. The cat eye has stood the test of time. “It’s been worn by some of the most iconic people of the century,” says MacNeil, referencing Audrey Hepburn, Sophia Loren, Brigitte Bardot, and Amy Winehouse. Despite limitations enforced on her by Elvis, Priscilla still wielded her look as a tool—even a weapon—and made it her own.