The film focuses on the tormented love story between Prisclla and Elvis Presley Priscilla (2023) written and directed by Sofia Coppola and broadcast tonight on Rai Movie. The film is the film adaptation, by the director herself, of the 1985 memoirs Elvis and me (Elvis and Me) written by Priscilla Presley with Sandra Harmon, with Cailee Spaeny in the title role.
But the life of Prisclla, who, despite separating from the singer after a few years of marriage, always wanted to keep the surname Presley, is dotted with other successes and other sorrows. Let’s discover it together.
Born May 24, 1945 in Brooklyn, Priscilla Ann Wagner pshe lost her biological father when she was still a child. The mother remarries an air force officer and the family moves frequently, even moving in Germany. It was right here, in 1959, that he met Elvis Presleythen engaged in military service. Despite their young age, a relationship was born between the two which continued even after the singer’s return to the United States and which led Priscilla to move overseas.
The marriage came in 1967, in Las Vegas, and the following year their daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, was born. However, the relationship entered into crisis in the early Seventies and ended with divorce in 1973. Despite the separation, relations between the two remained relaxed.
After the end of the marriage, Priscilla embarks on an independent journey, trying to build its own public identity. He dedicated himself to acting, obtaining a certain notoriety thanks to his participation in the television series Dallas as Jenna Wade on the soap opera Dallas from 1983 to 1988, Bobby’s old flame, played by Patrick Duffy and to the films of the saga A blunt bullet.
As also highlighted by publications such as The New York Times, this phase marks her successful attempt to free herself from the image of “Elvis’ ex-wife”.
The decisive moment of her life, however, came after the death of Elvis Presley in 1977. As guardian of her daughter Lisa Marie, Priscilla found herself managing an estate in difficulty. He then decides to transform the Graceland residence into a museum open to the public, inaugurated in 1982. This choice proved to be fundamental: not only did it save the family’s economic situation, but it contributed to consolidating the myth of Elvis, making Graceland one of the most visited tourist destinations in the United States.
In the following years, Priscilla Presley continues to work as an actress and entrepreneur, maintaining a central role in managing the cultural legacy linked to Elvis. She also had a relationship with the producer Marco Garibaldi, from whom her son Navarone was born. Meanwhile, Elvis’ curse had also marked the life of their daughter Lisa Marie.
On an artistic level he had followed in his father’s footsteps by undertaking a musical career as a solo artist, releasing albums such as To Whom It May Concern (2003), Now What (2005) e Storm & Gracand (2012), in which he developed a style between rock and personal songwriting, often marked by autobiographical themes. Her private life was very stormy: she was married, among others, to the singer Michael Jackson and the actor Nicolas Cage, and had four children, including the model and actress Riley Keough. In 2020 he suddenly lost his son Benjamin Storm Keough who committed suicide at the age of 27. A loss that led her to retire to private life until her death on January 12, 2023 due to cardiac arrest. Priscilla Presley therefore remained the only reference figure for Elvis’ memory. On the occasion of the presentation of the film Priscilla at the Venice Film Festival he said of him: «Elvis was the love of my life but I could no longer share his lifestyle. Ours was a forever bond.”
