The Tragic Real-Life Story Of The Presley Family

Elvis Presley's upbringing was not the kind you would expect for the future King of Rock and Roll. According to Mississippi History Now, the future "Jailhouse Rock" crooner was born on January 8, 1935, "in a two-room shotgun house in East Tupelo." At the time, the neighborhood was sometimes referred to as the "roughest town in north Mississippi."

Although they didn't have much, Elvis' parents, Gladys and Vernon Presley, still gave their son an abundance of love. "My love for my son began even before he was born," Elvis' father shared with Good Housekeeping in 1978 (via All That's Interesting). "At that time there was almost nobody poorer than my wife Gladys and me. But we were thrilled and excited when we learned that we were going to be parents," he added.

Unfortunately for the happy couple and their baby boy, bliss didn't last long. By the time Elvis was three, his family home, which had been built by Elvis' father, uncle, and paternal grandfather, was taken away after Vernon landed in prison "for altering a four-dollar check." Although Vernon was gone for eight months, Elvis was surely affected after he and his mother had to move in with extended family in Tupelo. According to one of his cousins, "his father's imprisonment was traumatic" for the future star.

Elvis Presley's mother, Gladys, gave birth to her son on January 8, 1935, shortly before dawn. According to Elvis Australia, earlier that morning, she delivered another boy, Jesse Garon, who was stillborn. As the outlet writes, by the time both mother and son returned home, "it was noticed by family members and friends that she was overprotective of her new born son," perhaps due to a paranoia that something awful would happen to him, as well. Although suffering such a loss can affect both mother and the remaining sibling, (via Mississippi History Now), Elvis and Gladys developed an incredibly strong bond. Gladys was seen as "a strong and supportive presence in [her son's] life," so you can imagine how traumatized the crooner was after she passed away at 46 due to a sudden heart attack.

Per People, the "Love Me Tender" singer had been drafted by the US Army five months earlier, but after Gladys fell ill, he was granted a seven-day leave to see her, two days before the heart attack claimed her. Of her passing, Elvis told the Associated Press (via People), "It broke my heart. She was always my best girl."

During Gladys' funeral on August 16, 1958, the AP reported that her son was "near hysteria" (via Elvis History Blog). Crying throughout the entire service, Elvis was later quoted as saying, "Oh God, everything I have is gone. I lived my life for you. I loved you so much."

While Elvis Presley's official death certificate claimed he died of a heart attack, the real truth is a lot messier. After the King's cause of death was released to the public, many pathologists criticized Tennessee's chief medical examiner Jerry Francisco, who issued the official death certificate. According to Town & Country, "Multiple doctors involved reportedly argued that the musician's cause of death should have been attributed to a toxic combination of pharmaceuticals."

As it turned out, like many other stars of his time, Elvis heavily abused a variety of prescription medications. In fact, when the toxicology report came back several weeks after Elvis' passing, his blood "reportedly contained high dosages of, among other things, the opiates Dilaudid, Percodan, and Demerol, as well as Quaaludes and codeine." Considering that the Presley family requested a private autopsy, the details surrounding Elvis' cause of death were sealed afterward.

It was only later that two other pathologists involved would admit to the "official" cause of death being a cover-up. As PBS so perfectly put it, "After all, how would it look if the rock star who President Richard Nixon awarded a special badge from the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs had died of a drug overdose?"

"I had a harsh introduction to death early on," Elvis Presley's daughter, Lisa Marie, mused on Larry King Weekend in 2002. Sure enough, the King's only child couldn't have put it better: She was only nine years old when her father died. From there, Elvis' longtime ex-girlfriend, Linda Thompson, recalls getting a call from the child. "[Lisa Marie] used to call me from time to time because we were very close," she recalled to Larry King. "She had this, you know, desperate tone in her voice [...] She said, 'My daddy's dead. My daddy's dead.'"

The tragedy of her father's death clearly affected Lisa Marie for years to come. She brushed off describing the night of Elvis' passing to Larry King, explaining, "I don't usually go into this, the night of the death thing and all that." While the starlet is known to keep the details of the fateful night under wraps, there's no denying she went on to battle her own demons well into adulthood.

In 2003, Lisa Marie admitted to Paper (via the Daily News), "[I used] cocaine, sedatives, pot and drinking — all at the same time. I just couldn't be sober." The years that followed didn't get any easier, as 2009 saw the death of her ex-husband, Michael Jackson, while in 2020, Lisa Marie's son, Benjamin Keough, heartbreakingly committed suicide at the age of 27.

Elvis and Priscilla Presley were together for a remarkable 18 years — having met in 1959 when the crooner was 24 and Priscilla a mere 14 years old. According to People, the King enjoyed his innocent romance — one that wasn't consummated until their marriage in 1967. As Priscilla told Barbara Walters in 1985, it was her "inexperience" that attracted the superstar: "When you're young [...] I listened to him and I did what he said."

Sure enough, as the starlet wrote in a piece penned for People, she was "molded" into being his perfect woman. "I wore the clothes, hairstyle and makeup of his careful choosing," Priscilla explained. Per Biography.com, the actress would go on to describe herself as Elvis' "living doll," with "her hair was dyed black like his, placed in an updo that matched his pompadour."

However, although she was suddenly surrounded by glitz and glam, Elvis and Priscilla grew apart due to his touring, growing pill addiction, and casual encounters with other women while on the road. As Priscilla told People in 1978, "He had to be happy. My problems were secondary. I want[ed] to grow." She asked for a divorce in 1972 and finalized it a year later at the age of 28. The pair remained friends, and as Priscilla recalled to Closer Weekly of his passing in 1977, "It's like the world stood still. I just couldn't believe my ears. Not him. It's still hard."

Elvis Presley wasn't exactly known to be stingy with his money. As Forbes notes, "Estimates place his lifetime earnings anywhere from $100 million up to one billion dollars." While you'd think the King would have set up his family for a life of opulence after his passing, that wasn't the case. 

According to the Los Angeles Times, his estate was worth $4.9 million, while "the cost of maintaining Graceland was about $480,000 a year — most of it going to taxes, insurance and 24-hour security for Elvis' gravesite." If that wasn't enough, most of the royalties from Elvis' songs went to RCA, not his estate. Bluntly put, without Elvis being alive to tour, make appearances, or star in movies, the family found themselves in trouble. Thankfully for the Presleys, the singer's ex-wife, Priscilla, stepped in, turning Graceland into a tourist attraction, and the property was worth over $75 million by 1989. 

Per Forbes, in 1993, Priscilla's daughter, Lisa Marie, turned 25, at which point she became eligible to directly inherit the money, per Elvis' will. Money woes plagued the starlet, however, and within ten years, she claimed $100 million was gone. Instead, she had a mere $14,000 in cash and owed millions in back taxes and credit card debt, according to Forbes. Yet again, Priscilla came to the rescue, selling her own Los Angeles mansion to help her daughter with her crippling debt.

Shortly after 21-year-old Priscilla Presley married her rockstar husband Elvis in 1967, she carefully built up her now-instantly recognizable look of perfectly teased hair and striking eye makeup. In fact, as she revealed in her biography "Elvis and Me" (via Showbiz CheatSheet), this look was more than just getting dolled up for the public — it was mandatory in her marriage.

After six years of marriage, Priscilla and Elvis finally divorced. It looks like that brought a change to the actress' beauty routine, too, as she suddenly swapped her dramatic makeup for more subtle, muted looks. Yet decades later, with Priscilla's "Dancing with the Stars" debut in 2008, eagle-eyed fans noticed a prominent visual change to the A-lister's looks — and it wasn't subtle. As Ok Magazine noted, her dancing chops got pushed aside in light of her physical appearance, leading her rep to release the following statement to Us Weekly: "Priscilla Presley was one of many documented victims of [Dr. Daniel Serrano]." As it turned out, Serrano was scamming multiple Hollywood stars with injectables he claimed were even more effective than Botox (via TMZ).

So, what was the toxin? Serrano was using non-FDA-approved silicone (a similar type used in Argentina to lubricate car parts), which can reportedly cause facial paralysis and various bumps on the face. The shamed doctor was imprisoned for his malpractice, while Priscilla, per her rep, proceeded with corrective work to fix the botched job.

June 2022 saw the release of the Elvis Presley biopic aptly titled "Elvis." The flick boasts a solid 80% on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics praising the Baz Luhrmann-directed film as a fascinating look into the music legend's life. Critics aside, Elvis' family members have also stood behind the movie. Priscilla shared a trailer on her Instagram page, revealing that she watched the flick and was overwhelmed with emotion. Priscilla's granddaughter Riley Keough shared similar thoughts, telling Variety that watching the film "was a very emotional experience."

Elvis' only daughter Lisa Marie also had high praise. Sadly, her positive feelings were overshadowed by an overwhelming sense of grief, as her son Benjamin Keough took his own life a mere two years prior (via TMZ). As she shared on her Instagram page, "It breaks my heart that my son isn't here to see it." Noting that she watched the film with Riley and her other daughter Harper (shared with ex-husband Michael Lockwood), Lisa Marie looked at the positive: she knew her grandchildren were bursting with pride.

While Lisa Marie explained that she is still grieving the loss of her son, Riley found some solace in channeling her emotions. Speaking to InStyle, Riley shared that she is now certified to work as a death doula (a person who assists in the dying process, similar to a midwife), as a means to help others overcome similar trauma.