Priscilla Presley on Larry King Live - January 8, 2009
Priscilla Presley with Max and Bandit
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'Elvis in Hollywood' (charting the rock 'n' roll icon's rise on the big screen, featuring scripts and memorabilia); 'Elvis Lives: The King and Pop Culture' (an interactive video presentation with music and trivia); And new additions to the Elvis Presley Automobile Museum, including both of his Rolls Royce sedans, his 6-door Mercedes Benz limo, and the 16 ft ski boat he named after his mother.
Priscilla Presley Comments
Today on Elvis' birthday and the 70th anniversary of Graceland being built, it's a bittersweet time to remember the life and joy we had at Graceland while Elvis was alive. Riding horses, racing with the golf carts, the home cooked southern meals and all of the gatherings with family and friends made it a playful, fun and loving time. We always celebrated Christmas and, of course, his birthday. This was a very special time of year. You'll note the Christmas decorations are still up. It was Elvis' tradition to keep them up through his birthday.
Above, Graceland celebrated Elvis' birthday yesterday during an Elvis Presley Day Ceremony on the front lawn. Priscilla Presley spoke during the proclamation ceremony and cut the first piece of Elvis' birthday cake.
It's so heartwarming to see that after all these years, Graceland is still a living, breathing and magical place to visit. We've just adopted our second abused and neglected horse in two years continuing the love Elvis, Lisa and I shared for animals. Bandit is one of four horses that now call Graceland home. He's a 10 month old colt who has gained 35 lbs in his first month at Graceland. Max, who we adopted last year has gained 300 lbs. and has gone from an emaciated creature to a robust happy and loving horse. They join Sun's Reflection (27 yrs old) and Candy (TN Walking Horse).
Graceland was never without this kind of love and life and hopefully never will be.
New exhibits are also constantly being added. New focus on various parts of Elvis' life and career are continually being developed and displayed with never before seen artifacts and more. In addition to the new 70th anniversary display, we'll be adding other exhibits throughout the year including 'Elvis in Hollywood', 'Elvis Lives, The King of Pop Culture', and some very exciting changes to the Automobile Museum.
Elvis continues to break records to this day and would have been happiest celebrating at Graceland. It's an enchanting place and one we all still call home. It's more than a museum documenting Elvis, his impact on the world and a time capsule of the '50s, '60s and '70s. It's a home and worldwide landmark. Lisa and I continue to be involved to make sure his legacy and the personal Graceland he loved so much will endure.
FOR MORE INFORMATION - please visit www.elvis.com.au
Elvis' 74th Birthday; Aired January 8, 2009 - 21:00 ET
This Is A Rush Transcript. This Copy May Not Be In Its Final Form And May Be Updated.
Larry King: Tonight, live from Graceland on Elvis's 74th birthday, Priscilla Presley. She reveals some of the King's private treasures never seen until now. Plus, her personal sorrow -- Priscilla grieves for her friends, the Travoltas, on the day young Jett is laid to rest.
Larry King: She'll break it all down and help you climb out of the mess. Suze Orman now on LARRY KING LIVE.
Larry King: You're looking live at Graceland, home of Elvis Presley, on this, his 74th birthday.
Helping us celebrate is Priscilla Presley, who's invited us all inside for the occasion.
Hi, Priscilla.
It's great to see you and good to have you back with us again.
Priscilla Presley: Larry, thank you.
It's my pleasure.
Larry King: What's happening at Graceland?
How are they celebrating this tonight?
Priscilla Presley: Well, they celebrated this afternoon with the cake cutting event, which we had many, many people here to -- to participate in that. And then we have some new exhibits that we're opening up. And they were touring to see that. So there's always something going on.
We've got, actually, a lot of exciting things to be shown now. So, you know, we're always doing things different. We always have a great surprise for people each year that we try to keep, you know, the interest and -- which we are -- the interest level up.
Larry King: Yes.
Priscilla Presley: And they're all here to visit that.
Larry King: We'll talk a lot more about that later and all the fantastic things you do in Memphis.
But it's also a very sad time for you and some good friends of yours with the loss of the Travolta family.
Have you spoken to them?
Priscilla Presley: No, I haven't, Larry. And I don't really think anyone really has. They -- everyone, I believe, is just allowing them their time together, which I think we all should, and supporting them and with all the love that we have. I mean, obviously, this is the hardest time for anyone who's lost a child and anyone who has a child. So I think they're doing the right thing in the fact that they are together. And there's been a lot of support from family and friends. This is very difficult -- a very difficult time.
Larry King: The loving in that family that we've been seeing all week, that's very real, isn't it?
Priscilla Presley: Very real. I mean, I can't imagine -- John and Kelly have been the most doting parents. Twenty-four hours they've -- this child has really been nurtured and loved and cared for. And again, you know, my heart, along with all of us, you know, is with them this day. It's very difficult.
Larry King: Lots of talk about a blog that was posted by your daughter, Lisa Marie. She's heartbroken for the Travoltas. She's also angry at those she says who are using Jett's death as an opportunity to attack or blame Scientology. What do you think about Lisa Marie's blog, because she really seems riled up? Do you concur?
Priscilla Presley: I do. I absolutely do. Yes, I agree with her. She read it to me. And I said, I think it's fabulous. And I think that it's made an impact. And I feel that many people agree. From what I understand, she's getting a lot of support from that blog.
Larry King: You have suffered loss, obviously, in your life.
How did you cope?
Priscilla Presley: Well, I mean, Larry, when you lose someone, I mean really you should -- how do you cope?
I mean it's a loss. It's a great loss. I mean, I don't -- you know, I don't feel, first of all, that we should all, you know, let them -- let them be together. And let them, you know, be supported by their family and friends. That's how you cope. I mean you -- you have to go through a period and it's a whole process.
You know, I think it's time -- time that will, you know, eventually heal. It does, thank God. But I don't think it ever goes away. I think that you -- you know, when you lose a loved one, it's -- you know, it's always a surprise and a shock and very difficult to get over.
But I think, you know, in John's case -- and Kelly's -- it is international and national.
Larry King: Yes, of course.
Priscilla Presley: It's everyone is on them and trying to get -- trying to get feedback when they should just be left alone and let them decide when they want to come out.
Larry King: Back to Elvis.
Is it hard to believe that he would have been 74?
Priscilla Presley: No. I mean, yes. I'm sorry. It's -- I can't what I mean no, is it's hard to believe that he's 74. It's hard to believe that -- it's hard to imagine that he is 74 in the fact that he always seemed so young in spirit. You know, he loved -- he loved life, he loved adventure.
You know, he'd take us on his journeys with his adventures. And he, you know, it's hard to believe that he's -- the number 74 is just -- it doesn't seem to be attached to him.
Larry King: Isn't it weird, though, to celebrate a birthday, as we do every year, for someone no longer with us? And they make a whole celebration of it at Graceland?
Priscilla Presley: Well, I think, you know, our part is -- is to keep that memory alive. And I think that all the fans have done a great job in supporting him.
You know, this is really a celebration -- you know, we try to look at it as a celebration of his life. And he gave us so much, you know, to use, to do, to expose and to bring people here. I mean he was a pretty incredible man, as you know. You were here. You visited. You went to the museum. You saw everything that's here.
Larry King: Yes. It's unbelievable.
Priscilla Presley: So it's really a celebration.
Larry King: Our guest is Priscilla Presley. By the way, she's in...
Priscilla Presley: You have to come.
Larry King: She's in the living room at Graceland.
We'll be continuing with Priscilla and a lot more, on this 74th birthday of Elvis Presley.
Priscilla's got two new granddaughters. We're going to ask her about them next.
Larry King: Well, there's a live shot of Graceland on this night of his 74th birthday in Memphis, Tennessee.
You were a gorgeous couple, by the way, Priscilla, if I might say that.
Priscilla Presley: Oh, thank you very much.
Did you see the lights at Graceland at night here?
Larry King: Unbelievable.
Priscilla Presley: Are you seeing that?
Larry King: We just showed them. Gorgeous.
Priscilla Presley: Beautiful.
Larry King: If Elvis was still with us...
Priscilla Presley: Yes, it is beautiful. That's how it was...
Larry King: If Elvis were still with us, he'd be celebrating Lisa Marie's twin daughters. She had them in October. Tell us about them.
What are your granddaughters like?
Priscilla Presley: They're absolutely beautiful. I mean, they're like little living dolls. One looks just like Lisa and the other looks just like Michael. And, boy, they're hard to keep away from, I have to tell you. They bring a tear to your eye. They're just beautiful. Absolutely.
And they're incredible parents -- doting parents. I don't think they leave these children alone for second. And if they do, they are right back with them again. And it's a wonderful addition to the family. And I'm sure there will be many great Christmas that we'll be able to celebrate with them, maybe even here at Graceland again.
I don't know. I don't know. You never know. It's just great times. I'm sure they'll be here riding the go-carts, just like the family does when they come. It will be great.
Larry King: Elvis had a twin.
The brother who was stillborn, right?
Priscilla Presley: Yes, he was. Yes.
Larry King: So Lisa Marie might have picked up one of the genes to have twins?
Priscilla Presley: Yes, absolutely. And I have twin brothers, also. I have twin brothers in my family.
Larry King: All right, the last time you were with us...
Priscilla Presley: I bet you don't know that, did you?
Larry King: No, I did not know that.
(Laughter)
Priscilla Presley: Yes. So...
Larry King: The last...
(Laughter)
Larry King: The last time -- are they older or younger?
Priscilla Presley: They're younger. They're younger.
Larry King: The last time you were with us, since you were with us, in August of 2007, you competed on 'Dancing with the Stars'. What was that like?
Priscilla Presley: Let's just say it's nice sitting here looking back at the experience instead of experiencing it.
(Laughter)
Priscilla Presley: It was probably the most difficult thing I've ever done in my life. The challenge was incredible. I think just the mere fact that you know you're dancing in front of 23 million people and it's live -- and that I made it through without making a crucial mistake. That's satisfying right there.
But I met some great people. I really enjoyed the experience. Someone asked me the other day, would I do it again? Maybe in a few years. Maybe -- maybe I could take Cloris Leachman's place at her age.
(Laughter)
Priscilla Presley: I don't know. She did a pretty good job.
Larry King: What was it like to do a split?
Priscilla Presley: Oh, my goodness. Well, that was a -- that was a lot of rehearsing. That was about one day of five hours.
(Laughter)
Priscilla Presley: Actually, I had a great -- I had a great instructor and a partner, instructor, teacher, trainer -- everything. I mean he -- he was wonderful. And he trained me to do that. And it wasn't as difficult as I thought, because he actually prepared me and -- you know, for that. So it wasn't -- it wasn't that bad.
Larry King: Any accidents?
Priscilla Presley: I'm not that old yet.
Larry King: Any accidents?
Priscilla Presley: I had bruises all over me. No, bruises. Lots of bruises on my wrists from being held, from all the spins and the turns and the, you know, different steps that we would do. I had bruises all over my knees. I wore knee pads every day. It was quite an experience. It was fun.
You need to get on there, Larry.
You need to do that.
Larry King: Yes, yes. They asked me to do it...
Priscilla Presley: Have you thought about it?
Larry King: ...and I passed.
What do you think Elvis would have...
Priscilla Presley: They did ask you?
Larry King: Yes, they did.
What do you think Elvis would have thought of you doing it?
Priscilla Presley: Oh, my gosh. I mean, I'm sure he'd be very supportive and he'd watch. I think that he probably would have thought, you know, what am I, crazy?
I don't know. It was...
(Laughter)
Priscilla Presley: It's -- you know, I've never done anything like that before -- ever. And it was the first time I've ever performed in front of a live audience. So it was very risky, very challenging. Yes, I think he'd...
Larry King: But worth it?
Priscilla Presley: ...he'd applaud me.
Larry King: I'm sure he would have.
Priscilla Presley: I understand how he feels now.
Larry King: OK. Feels about what?
Priscilla Presley: I understand much more now when an entertainer gets stage fright. I truly understand what that means, which I really didn't before. And now it all totally makes sense to me.
Larry King: Priscilla has an exclusive commentary on our blog about life with Elvis. It's a must read. And you can read it by going to CNN.com/larryking and click on blog.
Larry King: After watching that, Priscilla, if we could take a step back, what was his attraction?
Priscilla Presley: Oh.
What was there not to be attracted to?
I mean he was the -- he was a package deal. He had everything. But I think, you know, Elvis -- I mean he was -- he just had everything. He was not only gorgeous, he was not only a wonderful entertainer, but he had -- he had a great heart. He had a great soul.
I mean he -- he was very humble and came from humble beginnings. And he appreciated, you know, so much in life. But he really seemed to always, you know, treat people wonderful, always had time for them. He was a great teacher, a great teacher in life and with people.
I don't really know where he -- you know, you had to -- from the humble beginnings he had to have learned and been around a lot of, I don't know, pain and just appreciation of family.
Larry King: Yes.
Priscilla Presley: He had -- he had a lot to give.
Larry King: Well put.
Priscilla Presley: He really did.
Larry King: Priscilla will show you some things you have never seen until now, next on LARRY KING LIVE.
DAVID THEALL, LARRY KING LIVE PRODUCER: Larry, we have taken the blog on the road. And we are blogging tonight from Graceland -- from the famous TV Room in the basement of Graceland.
You're talking to Priscilla Presley upstairs, right above us. We're in the -- in the famous TV Room. You'll remember, I know that you've spent some time in this room with us -- Elvis's three TVs. When he heard that President Johnson had three TVs, Elvis said he wanted to have three TVs. So that was placed there. This room was redecorated in the motif that you currently see in 1974.
Larry, we've also got something that we're going to be showing you tonight. One of the things is, of course, that Priscilla Presley was very kind to give us an exclusive -- a commentary exclusive for your blog tonight, in which she talks about life here at Graceland, about Elvis' -- what would have been Elvis's 74th birthday and about the two new additions to Graceland, which are two new horses that they have adopted from abusive conditions. And Priscilla was very kind to take us through the barn and we spent some time with the horses today with our cameras. That video also will be online -- CNN.com/larryking, as is Priscilla's commentary -- exclusive commentary.
I have the gloves on, Larry, because we also have a blog special tonight. This -- 1970 was the year that you have to keep in mind for this watch. It was a gift to Elvis to find out what this watch -- why it was given to Elvis, the meaning behind it to Elvis Presley and to the Elvis archives, you have to go online, because the Elvis -- the Graceland archivist has been kind enough to give us the description -- cnn.com/larryking, click on the live blog link. You'll see Priscilla's exclusive and you'll find out the details of why this watch was so special to Elvis Presley.
Larry King: Thanks, David.
That's called, in the business, a tease.
Standing now stop -- right by the stairway, as we return with Priscilla. And we understand, Priscilla, you have some Elvis artifacts you want to share with us that we've not seen before. What can you tell us?
Priscilla Presley: Well, I'm standing here at the stairs that go up to Elvis' room. We have three guitars here -- the first one being the oldest of the collection. It's a Gibson J200. And it's one that Elvis played all the time and loved very much, an acoustic guitar.
And then I'm going to come in here to the dining room. Actually, you -- you saw this the time you were here a year-and-a-half ago, when I told you about -- we were talking about dinner here at the table. And in our new exhibit, we have the actual deed to Graceland that we have now displayed.
Vernon kept -- Vernon Presley kept everything. So this is part of that collection.
We have the down payment to the house and actually $30,000 down payment to Graceland. That's pretty special. And the actual keys -- the very first keys to Graceland that Elvis used.
So we have, in this collection, an amazing assortment of memorabilia from the first time Elvis saw Graceland, where he stood upstairs, a picture of him where he stood in the master bedroom looking at it. And it's, of course, empty. And then thinking about what he wanted to do for drapes and how he wanted to decorate it. We have that actual picture.
We have so many things that are history, as far as Graceland is concerned, built in 1939 -- photos before and after, when he bought it and after he bought it. So I mean it's very new and I think never before seen.
Larry King: Great.
Priscilla Presley: We also have a new exhibit for Elvis in Hollywood with memorabilia and an interactive exhibit where you can actually, as far as the time track when he was born, all the way to now and his influence, you know, on pop culture. It's pretty amazing.
So we always have, like I said earlier, new things.
And, also, remember the tree that I told you about?
Remember, the Christmas tree?
Larry King: Yes.
Priscilla Presley: I said that -- what the boys would do. This is what that Christmas tree looked like and this is the way it was decorated. And I told you the guys, when I asked them to come and decorate and they balled up tin foil and threw it at the tree. You'll notice a few of them are thrown here.
So, just to give you that look of what it looked like.
Larry King: Are you -- are you the curator?
Priscilla Presley: Am I the curator?
No, we have an incredible curator here. And Angie. And she's standing right over there looking and making sure everything is said right.
Larry King: Who...
Priscilla Presley: So, she's amazing.
Larry King: Who signed that check for the down payment on the house?
Priscilla Presley: Just Vernon Presley. So you'll be able to see all of that when we get into the -- get into that exhibit. You should come back and visit with us.
Larry King: Boy.
So there's lots of things in storage that you take out and then bring in?
Priscilla Presley: Absolutely. You know, Vernon actually signed this one and so did -- so did Elvis.
Larry King: What's that, the deed?
Priscilla Presley: So that's good, too. All -- that's the deed. Pretty simple back then.
Can you imagine how simple?
It's was only two pages. You buy a house now and it's like, what, a hundred?
Larry King: One could only gather what that...
Priscilla Presley: (INAUDIBLE).
Larry King: ...what that would be worth, the deeds to Graceland signed by Elvis.
Priscilla Presley: Oh, and all the other things we have back there, too. It's -- we have a lot. It's really worth seeing. These are priceless, priceless things. I mean to have all of this and we have the prices, we have the statements and the bills of all the furniture that we have. This is all original furniture. This is, you know, nothing that was new here.
Larry King: Yes.
Priscilla Presley: And we have all the bills for it.
Larry King: And by the way...
Priscilla Presley: Everything -- the lamps, the couch...
Larry King: Graceland is the second most visited private residence in the United States.
What's the first?
Priscilla Presley: That's right.
You know what the first is?
Larry King: What?
Priscilla Presley: Do you know?
Larry King: The White House, I think.
Priscilla Presley: The White House.
Larry King: Yes, yes, yes, yes.
(Laughter)
Larry King: But I'm -- I tell you what we've become as a society, it's close.
(Laughter)
Priscilla Presley: It's close?
Larry King: Hey, you know, we may have been wrong, which is unheard of, because we have almost never been wrong. But I would guess that Graceland is the number one private residence visited in America, because the White House is a government residence. It is loaned out to whoever the president is. But Graceland is a true private residence. So we declare Graceland number one.
Priscilla Presley: I can go for that.
Larry King: Go for it. It's got to be. What's with the two horses, Priscilla?
Priscilla Presley: Well, the two horses are rescue horses. Starting actually a year ago, when we heard about these horses that were a family back in Maine, and it came to my attention about -- you know, they needed help. They needed to be adopted. And I have became very good friends, actually, with the girl who took this family of horses in. Carol Terisebeen (ph). Hello, Carol.
And she and I started talking, and we wanted to take one of the horses and bring him here to Graceland, which we did. He was supposed to be introduced to the fans for Elvis' birthday last year. But on the 15-hour drive, he got sick and he stopped at the vet and had to stay there for a week.
So he's been here at Graceland for a year now. And since then, he's gained 300 pounds, believe it or not.
Larry King: Wow.
Priscilla Presley: He came to us basically very thin, very in need of love and nurture. And here at Graceland I think he's doing very, very well. Once you see him, he looks like an absolute show horse. And we're very proud of him. That's Max. And then, just recently, we adopted a 10-month-old abused and neglected horse. He's a blue eyed quarter horse. And we are now introducing him to all the fans who have come by today to see the horses and to get familiar with them. So it's something -- we have Graceland here. Lisa absolutely said, my gosh, this would be great. We want to keep the tradition of Graceland to keep the horses, have the horses. This is something that Elvis loved, you know, having around.
He loved watching the animals. As you know, I told you the story last time I met with you that this was a part of his life. So we're keeping that tradition here and hopefully they'll be here forever.
Larry King: Thanks for a wonderful night, Priscilla. Happy birthday to Elvis and congratulations to all you do and to everybody at Graceland. Priscilla, thank you so much.
Priscilla Presley: Thank you, Larry. It's a pleasure.
The following highlights are some of the details on the four different exhibits for the 2009 calendar:
• Graceland’s 70th Anniversary Celebration/VIP Tour Exhibit – open January 2009: The colonial style mansion was built in 1939 by a prominent Memphis family that later sold the historic home and surrounding 13 acres to Elvis Presley in 1957. The 70th Anniversary exhibit, included as part of the VIP Tour package, features the original architectural drawings of Graceland, a signed check from Elvis for the down payment ($102,000) on the home, the deed to Graceland and a video presentation that includes memories from those who lived there, including the first family to call Graceland home.
• Elvis in Hollywood – slated for March 2009: With 31 films to his name and box office smashes such as Love Me Tender and Jailhouse Rock, this new exhibit focuses on Elvis’ years in Tinsel Town and his success on the big screen. The exhibit tells the story of how Elvis transitioned from singer to on screen star and how he took Hollywood by storm to become its highest paid actor. Also part of the exhibit will be memorabilia from his career on the silver screen including his wardrobe (from Viva Las Vegas, Charro and Jailhouse Rock), personal scripts (featuring his own handwritten notes), rare behind the scenes photos, personal copies of his own feature films, original movie and a variety of other Elvis movie memorabilia.
• Elvis Lives: The King and Pop Culture – slated for March 2009: This interactive exhibit showcases Elvis in action as he entertains crowds in a stunning video presentation. Visitors can also retrace Elvis’ impact on pop culture by taking a trip down an Elvis time line, test their knowledge at an Elvis trivia kiosk and explore Elvis’ music through listening stations that features classics from the King of Rock ‘N’ Roll. Also included is a display of Elvis collectibles from the 50s to some of today’s must have memorabilia.
• Elvis Presley Automobile Museum – slated for March 2009: This Graceland exhibit celebrates new additions with a special display featuring both of Elvis' Rolls Royce sedans and his 6-door Mercedes Benz limousine featured in the movie Elvis on Tour.
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