All Shook Up

This Day In Boomer History
ELVIS PRESLEY WEDS PRISCILLA BEAULIEU
May 1, 1967


Okay, so first the disclaimer: I was never a big fan of Elvis Presley. As an adult, I learned to appreciate the man and his catalog, and I am forever grateful to him for the influence he had on the career of one Bruce Springsteen. I own a total of one Elvis album, which I purchased for its novelty (and probably at a yard sale).

That aside, I imagine the wedding of Elvis and Priscilla after his well-publicized stint in the Army may have been met with wailing and gnashing of teeth from the older Boomer girls. I was too young to be interested in the King in 1967....especially in that way. But I can imagine he was one hot commodity, especially amongst the preteen set. I remember my own crushes on Paul McCartney and David Cassidy. I think we all have those crushes, before we're old enough to transfer our dreamy-eyed stares to the boy in the second row who runs faster than anyone else when we're playing kickball.

Again, I digress. What I do remember about this particular royal wedding is this: it was my first glimpse at Priscilla Beaulieu Presley. I remember their picture on the front page of The Evening Bulletin. The young couple with their dark eyes and dark hair, smiling right into the camera as they cut their wedding cake together. Another picture showed them headed off for their honeymoon. Priscilla was all black eyeliner, and her hair was piled on top of her head in a beehive that towered over the tiers of the cake.

I remember thinking she looked a little scary. But then, I never was a fashionista.

Anyway, I encountered Priscilla again decades later, when she appeared as Jenna Wade in that Boomer favorite, Dallas. And guess what? Under all that eyeliner and black hair, the former Mrs. Presley was quite a looker. I could see what attracted Elvis (though I still wasn't sure what she saw in him).

Elvis and Priscilla divorced in 1973, but remained friends until his death. Unfortunately, the real unhappy ending to this story is what happened to Priscilla's lovely face since that time. When she appeared on Dancing With The Stars a few seasons back, it was evident that Priscilla had a lot of work done, and it was of the "plastic surgery gone wrong" type. I felt sad just looking at her and remembering how lovely and happy she looked during the Dallas era.

I guess beauty doesn't last forever. Sorta like celebrity marriages.