There are several women who might lay claim to being the most important person in Elvis Presley’s life. Here are the main contenders.
Gladys Presley, Elvis’ Mother
Elvis and his mother had a strange and intense relationship that bordered on the obsessive. He was clearly devoted to her and, according to Memphis Press-Scimitar, described her as “the most wonderful mother anyone could have.” Elvis would call home every night, and they had developed their own language and pet names. Elvis felt that his parents weren’t very capable and that he needed to look after them. He sometimes referred to them as his babies.
His first action when he received his first large royalties check was to buy his mother a pink Cadillac. He also bought the family a home, Gracelands, and lived there with them and his maternal grandmother, Minnie.
When Elvis was called to the hospital on the night his mother died, witnesses heard his heart-wrenching howl as he entered the ward. Gladys’s body was laid out at the family home and Elvispresleynews.com records that Elvis would wrap his arms around the corpse. At the funeral, he flung himself on the coffin and had to be restrained. For days, he carried his mother’s night gown around and slept with it.
Priscilla Presley
The girl who was to become Elvis Presley’s wife for a brief period was born Priscilla Beaulieu. Elvis met her in Germany when he was on military service there in 1959. Her father was also posted there. Priscilla was just 13 when Elvis noticed her.
In 1961 he approached her father, asking if the girl could finish her schooling in the US, living at Gracelands, under his father Vernon’s supervision. Out of this rather odd arrangement came a marriage. Priscilla was 21 when they married in 1967; Elvis was 32.
Their daughter, Lisa Marie, was born on February 1, 1968. In 1972 the couple separated and in 1973 Elvis sought a divorce. Elvis, according to Ask.com: Marriage, blamed his life on the road, while Priscilla broadened the problem to include being subjugated and life being only about Elvis.
The Other Girls in Elvis’ Life
So many conflicting claims about Elvis’ sex life have been made, including, says Elvispresleynews.com, the claim that he was homosexual, was morbidly afraid of the sex act, and that he was hooked on prostitutes. Thus, it is hard to get close to the truth.
Elvispresleynews.com reveals that here are, however, several women who have spoken openly about their relationships with him, including actress Cybill Shepherd. He also seemed to turn screen romances into real-life affairs with his co-stars, even while married to Priscilla. Those named include Juliet Prowse, Ann-Margret, Connie Stevens and Natalie Woods.
June Jaunico
Unlike various starlets keen to claim Presley had bedded them, his first love, June Juanico, denies having sex with Presley in their three-year romance at the start of Presley’s career.
There was talk of marriage, and his mother approved of her – a crucial factor – but June discovered that Elvis was partying in Germany and not being faithful, so was not prepared to wait around for him.
Ginger Alden
The last woman in Presley’s life was Ginger Alden, a young beauty who was the sick man’s live-in girlfriend, and some say, basically his nurse. ElvisAustralia.com reports that Ginger was to marry Elvis in five months, at the time of his death. It was Ginger who discovered his body.
Most sources come to the conclusion that Elvis’ mother, Gladys was the only really important woman in his life. However, it could also be said that the millions of screaming female fans controlled Presley’s life: like so many mega-stars, fame destroyed him.
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