Priscilla Presley

Girls are willing to admit it -- we're still fascinated by the woman who married the King.

Here's a recent newspaper interview: on Bream, Star Tribune Published June 2, 2003

Lisa Marie Presley released her first album in April. Elvis Presley's 529th posthumous album will be in stores July 1. And now Priscilla Presley is stepping into the musical arena, too. Sort of.

She's developing a Broadway musical about her life.

"Pretty much everyone knows Elvis' story, but nobody really knows how it all began for me and what I went through," said the world's most famous ex-wife. "There are ups and downs. But it's very uplifting."

The script isn't finished, but Presley promises new music and maybe some Elvis favorites. To drum up interest for the musical, Presley has taken to the speaking circuit, with an appearance tonight at Orchestra Hall as part of a Star Tribune-sponsored lecture series.

Why is a notoriously shy businesswoman -- she is president of Elvis Presley Enterprises, creator of four perfumes and producer of a forthcoming remake of the Peter Sellers movie "The Party" -- making speeches?

"It's not one of my favorite things," she said last week from Los Angeles. "But people are very supportive. And it's not just Elvis fans. It's women who belong to book clubs and are interested in lecture series."

She'll talk about her life, her interests and what she's learned on her journey. She might talk about her 35-year-old daughter, whom she saw sing onstage for the first time two weeks ago at VH1's "Divas Duets" in Las Vegas with Whitney Houston, Celine Dion and others.

"It was a very poignant moment for me, especially going back to Vegas and seeing my daughter onstage," Presley said. "That's something I never thought I'd see. Obviously it's taken her a while to break into music. It was as if [I was] seeing her dad again and her dad's love of music and seeing her love of music and her having such a great time up there.

"And it was her time. It was a great moment. In fact, I have a tape of the show and I've watched it over and over again."

Protecting his legacy

Presley, 58, sees that part of her mission in life is to protect Elvis' legacy. That led her to write her 1987 book "Elvis and Me," which she viewed as a response to acclaimed author Albert Goldman's vicious tome "Elvis." She didn't want Lisa to read Goldman's screed "and think that's what her father was."

The ex-wife doesn't read all the Elvis books, but she has a favorite: Peter Guralnick's ungossipy "Last Train to Memphis."

"He really captured the whole mood, the whole time and the whole event of Elvis," she said. "I think he said it beautifully."

While she can't control what authors write about the King, she is the president and chairwoman of the board of Elvis Enterprises and thus oversees the marketing of his image. What's the cheesiest Elvis souvenir proposal she's heard?

"Hopefully it hasn't been from our team," she said with a hearty laugh. "I just read where his hair from a barber sold for quite a fortune -- over $100,000. That was pretty amazing. If I had known that he was doing that during that time, gee, I should have done that. I say that in jest."

She's not hands-on with everything Elvis. RCA handles the recordings, though she's conversant about that area, including next month's four-disc set, "Close Up," of 89 previously unreleased tracks. She was surprised that last year's "Elvis: 30 No. 1 Hits" sold a whopping 3 million copies in the United States because all those songs had been available before.

Elvis' career has been even more lucrative in death. "Oh my gosh, time and time over," Presley said of the posthumous money he's generated. "He's as popular now as he was then -- even more so, to be honest with you."

Her own life

Of course, she has her own projects. She's been working on the Broadway musical and "The Party" at the same time.

"Believe me, this behind-the-scenes is a lot more work than I ever, ever did being in front of the camera," she said before heading to another Hollywood meeting. "You have so many different people you're working with and different personalities and different egos."

Her team for "The Party" includes Darrin Starr, creator/writer of TV's "Sex in the City," and Jay Roach, director of the Austin Powers movies.

Presley has no acting plans, although her résumé includes five years on TV's "Dallas," three "Naked Gun" movies and, more recently, appearances on TV's "Spin City" and "Touched by an Angel."

She has another child, Navarone, 16, with her longtime companion, Marco Garibaldi. She sees Lisa's kids, ages 13 and 11, as often as she can. The grandchildren have a sense of who Elvis was, she said, and they watch his movies and listen to his music. She rarely does, however.

"I'd have to be emotionally ready to do that. That's hard," she said, though she added that she will watch an Elvis flick if she discovers one while channel-surfing.

Presley goes to Graceland two or three times a year. The Stax Museum, which opened in Memphis on May 1, should help music-oriented tourism in the city, she said, and that means Graceland as well. In the past few years, she helped create a restaurant there (Elvis Presley's Memphis) and a boutique hotel (Heartbreak Hotel).

What's more challenging: dealing with Elvis when he was alive or dealing with Elvis' estate?

"The challenge with the estate is to keep the quality in and keep his legacy so it's always respected. The challenge of being with him was, gosh, keeping him on the straight and narrow. I think dealing with the estate is easier." She burst into laughter.

Learning to deal with the business was a challenge. There was no school for her; she observed others, including Elvis' longtime manager Col. Tom Parker, and learned by trial and error, she said. "I learned a lot from the Colonel of what not to do."

Those sandwiches

Presley seemed willing to take on all kinds of questions -- about Elvis or not. Yes, she's seen many Elvis impersonators and appreciates that the good ones help continue his legacy. No, she hasn't met Yoko Ono, that other famous rock wife, but wouldn't mind talking to her because there are not many people who've lived their kind of life and "come out at least halfway sane."

No discussion of Elvis would be complete without the ultimate cheesy question: Did Priscilla ever eat those notorious fried banana-and-peanut-butter sandwiches?

"Absolutely. Not only did I eat them, I made them many, many times."

Are they really that good?

"Ah, yes. In the South, that's not an unusual diet. I guess it's been made to be somewhat of a joke. But they really are delicious, especially if you love peanut butter and especially if you love bananas."

When was the last time she had one?

"Three or four years ago in Memphis. But they were not as good as mine."

Would she share her recipe at her lecture?

"I don't think that will happen," she said, laughing.


		Site with Personal Priscilla Pictures Including photos Priscilla herself tore up				Priscilla in bikini shots Elvis liked to take poloroids of Priscilla in sexy poses. This site doesn't have the poloroids, but it's got lots of photos of Elvis's ex-wife in bikinis.


		Priscilla profile She's a swinging chick of the 60's				Priscilla's Current Biography


		Recent interview with PP				Priscilla Tours Graceland with Larry King