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- Elvis Presley’s Dating History Includes So Many Famous Women
Elvis Presley’s Dating History Includes So Many Famous Women
Elvis Presley became an instant heartthrob when he rose to fame in the 1950s. Fans couldn’t help but swoon over his sultry voice, natural on-stage charisma, and good looks. He even won over the hearts of so many women in Hollywood. In fact, he was known to be such a womanizer that several of his relationships overlapped.
Most notably, Elvis was in a 14-year relationship with Priscilla Presley, who was the only woman the singer ever married. The couple tied the knot in May 1967 and welcomed their daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, in February 1968, before getting divorced in October 1973. Elvis and Priscilla’s relationship has been at the center of many projects about the rock star, including the 2022 film “Elvis,” as well as the new movie “Priscilla.”
Priscilla got the chance to watch the latest biopic about her and her ex-husband at the Venice Film Festival on Sept. 4. During a press conference that day, the star admitted it was “very difficult” to watch the film, which was based on her 1985 memoir, “Elvis and Me,” per Insider. Over the course of their relationship, Elvis and Priscilla faced many hurdles, including infidelity, which was one of the factors that led to their divorce. After deciding to go their separate ways, Elvis later found love with fiancée Ginger Alden before he died of a heart attack in 1977.
If you want to know who else Elvis dated, scroll through the slideshow to see his dating history.
June Juanico (1955-1956)
Early in his career, Elvis dated one of his fans named June Juanico. He met her while performing in her hometown of Biloxi, MS, in 1955. They began dating soon afterward, however, their relationship only lasted a year since Elvis’s rising popularity reportedly started coming between them. “[His manager] Colonel Tom Parker wanted him linked with actresses and Vegas showgirls. Of course, Elvis liked legs that went on for days, and he brought one of those showgirls home for Christmas in ’56,” Juanico once said in an interview, according to Elvis Australia. “That did it for me. I decided to marry someone else.”
Natalie Wood (1956)
In 1956, Elvis briefly dated Natalie Wood. The actor made the first move by asking her “Rebel Without a Cause” costar Dennis Hopper to help set her up with the singer. While talking to Closer Weekly in December 2018, Natalie’s sister, Lana Wood, said Elvis won her sister over with their extravagant first dates, like renting out a movie theater just for the two of them. “That’s not what she was used to,” Lana said.
However, their relationship went downhill once Natalie met Elvis’s parents, Vernon and Gladys Presley. His mother apparently didn’t like that Natalie wore a “flimsy nightgown around the house.” Meanwhile, the actor seemingly felt uncomfortable with Elvis’s relationship with his mother. “They were very affectionate, and it bothered Natalie. She called and asked our mom to make up a story about why she had to come home,” Lana recalled. The pair broke up shortly afterward.
Rita Moreno (1950s)
Rita Moreno was once involved in a love triangle between Elvis and Marlon Brando. Moreno and the “On the Waterfront” actor dated on and off between 1954 and 1962, and she’s been open about their tumultuous relationship over the years. While making an appearance on “The View” in December 2021, Moreno revealed that she once found lingerie at Brando’s house, which left her “heartbroken” and “angry.”
Shortly after the incident, Elvis’s manager called Moreno and said the singer was interested in meeting her. “‘Elvis spotted you at the 20th Century Fox commissary, and he liked what he saw,'” Moreno recalled Parker telling her over the phone. “‘He would like very much to meet you. Would you like to meet him?’ And I thought of those panties, and I said, ‘Yes, I would!'”
After accepting the star’s invitation, Moreno said, she dated Elvis “several times” despite finding him “boring.” “He was sweet, but he was a country boy,” Moreno said. In the end, her plan to make Brando jealous worked. “He started to throw chairs. He was so angry,” she said. “It was wonderful.”
Anita Wood (1957-1962)
Anita Wood began dating Elvis after she caught his eye on the TV series “Top 10 Dance Party.” They continued to date when Elvis began his military service in Germany in 1958 and even after he met Priscilla. Although Elvis initially told Anita that she didn’t have to worry about Priscilla, she would later learn that their relationship was more serious than he led on. In fact, Anita once overheard Elvis talking to his father about struggling to choose between her and Priscilla.
The conversation made Anita realize she had to end things with Elvis no matter how much she loved him. “I said, ‘I’m gonna make that decision for you. I heard what you said and I’m leaving,'” Anita recalled telling Elvis, according to Elvis Australia. “That was probably the most difficult decision that I’ve ever made in my life. After having dated someone like Elvis for five years, and as close as we were for this to end. And when I left, I knew there would be no going back.”
Priscilla Presley (1959-1973)
Elvis met Priscilla in 1959 while he was stationed in Germany. He was 24, while she was just 14 at the time. While talking to The Mirror in December 2014, Priscilla said she first laid eyes on Elvis at a party, where she watched him sign autographs for fans throughout the night. “I remember when I set eyes on him, he was just so kind, so authentic,” she recalled. “I just thought how he was the real deal, Elvis wasn’t putting on any pretense, he never did. What you saw with him is what you got.” Despite her parents initially turning him away, they eventually warmed up to the star and allowed him to “court” their daughter.
When he left Germany in 1960, Elvis continued to stay in touch with Priscilla. They reunited years later when Priscilla visited Elvis in Los Angeles in 1962. Since Priscilla wanted to be closer to Elvis, her parents allowed her to move into his Graceland home in Memphis, TN, in 1963, on the condition they would eventually marry. Elvis put those plans into action by proposing to Priscilla just before Christmas in 1966. The couple tied the knot the following year and welcomed their first and only child together, Lisa Marie Presley, in February 1968.
While Elvis and Priscilla’s marriage appeared perfect on the surface, the couple experienced problems behind the scenes. Priscilla told Closer Weekly in November 2017 that Elvis continued his usual “lifestyle” of being a womanizer despite getting married. Although she tried to ignore it, she knew “there was some finagling going on.” Priscilla admitted she was unfaithful to Elvis, too. His drug use and temper also caused a rift between them. In 1972, Elvis and Priscilla officially split, and their divorce was finalized the following year.
Connie Stevens (1960s)
One of Elvis’s many girlfriends was Connie Stevens. According to The Mirror, Elvis asked out the actor after seeing her on the detective series “Hawaiian Eye,” which aired from 1959 to 1963. Despite his image as a womanizer, Stevens couldn’t help but fall for the singer. “I knew this was a fellow who could break your heart. He was just so beautiful,” she said in Alanna Nash’s 2010 book, “Baby, Let’s Play House.”
The pair dated for two years. “He was one of the loves of my life,” Stevens said. “I could have spent a lifetime with him, but I knew it was never to be.”
Anne Helm (1961)
While he was dating Priscilla, Elvis had an affair with his “Follow That Dream” costar Anne Helm, who played his love interest in the film. At the time, Elvis denied that he was anything more than friends with the actor. Helm also kept their relationship a secret for years until after his death. “We did have a romance, it was quite wonderful,” she admitted, according to Elvis Australia.
Helm said she enjoyed having Elvis “all to myself” when they were filming their movie at Crystal River in Florida. However, once filming wrapped, Helm found it “difficult” to spend quality time with the singer with so “many women around him.” She also said she knew Elvis and Priscilla were rumored to be getting married, but despite this, Helm couldn’t help but continue spending time with him. “I really fell for Elvis. I mean, who wouldn’t?” Helm said.
Ann-Margret (1964)
Elvis also had an affair with his “Viva Las Vegas” costar Ann-Margret. She wrote about their relationship in her 1994 memoir, “Ann-Margret: My Story.” In her book, she described her romance with the heartthrob as “very intense.” “We both felt a current, an electricity that went straight through us,” she wrote, according to The New York Times. “It would become a force we couldn’t control.”
The couple appeared very smitten with each other as they even discussed marriage. However, Ann-Margret didn’t think they would make it down the aisle due to Elvis’s “commitments,” seemingly referencing his relationship with Priscilla. Just like she predicted, Elvis and Ann-Margret ended up breaking up in 1964, and he went on to marry the “Dallas” actor three years later.
Barbara Leigh (1970-1972)
Elvis’s infidelity continued throughout his marriage to Priscilla. In 1970, he began a relationship with actor Barbara Leigh behind his wife’s back. According to Elvis Australia, Leigh said she and the singer were careful not to be caught together in public in order to avoid “a huge scandal.” Keeping up their affair was also hard since both of them were so busy with their careers. Not to mention, Leigh was just one of several women competing for Elvis’s attention. “I never believed that I was the only girlfriend, and I accepted Elvis for the time we spent together,” Leigh told the outlet. “I was lucky enough to share with him and I never asked him any questions, and he did likewise.”
In the end, it all proved to be too much for the couple. “Our schedules became more and more difficult to align, and gradually, after he met Linda Thompson in 1972, it was pretty much over,” Leigh revealed. “We remained friends but drifted apart romantically.”
Cybill Shepherd (1972)
In 1972, Elvis had a whirlwind relationship with Cybill Shepherd. In an August 2012 interview with Sway’s Universe, the actor revealed she got in touch with Elvis after someone on his team reached out to her. “Somebody called and said, ‘Elvis wants to go out with you,’ and I said, ‘Have Elvis call me himself,'” she recalled.
After he called Shepherd personally, the pair agreed to meet, however, the “Moonlighting” star didn’t go alone. She brought one of her friends along so she could get a good read on him first before beginning a relationship with him. “We started dating and he’s a really wonderful, sexy, incredible guy,” she said. While she loved being with Elvis, Shepherd ultimately decided to break things off due to his drug use.
Peggy Lipton (Early 1970s)
During the early 1970s, Elvis had a short-lived romance with “Twin Peaks” star Peggy Lipton. She spoke about their relationship in her 2005 autobiography, “Breathing Out.” According to The Mirror, Lipton said Elvis “kissed like a god,” but their love life lacked further intimacy. “It just didn’t happen for him. We tried a few more times and nothing ever happened, so I just let it go,” she wrote in her book.
Linda Thompson (1972-1976)
Linda Thompson was one of the last women Elvis dated before he died. The pair got into a relationship shortly after meeting in Memphis in 1972. In an August 2016 interview with Entertainment Tonight, the actor revealed she had always been an Elvis fan and imagined them getting married one day.
After they began dating, Thompson said she lost her virginity to the rock star. She wanted to settle down with him, however, his infidelity and drug use broke them apart. “I didn’t think that lifestyle would be conducive to family life,” she told ET. “I had to make a decision. It was a tough one and I felt depleted once I left.” Elvis and Thompson separated in 1976 just months before his death.
Sheila Ryan (1973-1975)
According to Elvis Australia, the rock star began dating actor Sheila Ryan in 1973 after meeting each other in Las Vegas. The pair were together while Elvis was also in a relationship with Thompson. “He was seeing her and then I came along and then it was sort of like a horserace,” Ryan said about competing for Elvis’s attention. Ryan and Elvis broke up sometime before 1976, which was the year she married James Caan.
Mindi Miller (1975-1976)
In 1975, Elvis became smitten with model and actor Mindi Miller. While talking to the Spa Guy in September 2021, Miller said she met Elvis after he invited her to attend a “party” at his house. When she arrived, Miller realized there was no party and Elvis only said that as an excuse to go on a date with her. The two hit it off instantly. “We found that we had an awful lot in common and the entire night we never stopped talking,” Miller said of their first date.
After spending their second date driving around Beverly Hills, Elvis wanted to continue seeing Miller, however, she had to go back home to Italy. Since Elvis wanted to make Miller his girlfriend, the couple continued seeing each other for a short time until 1976.
Ginger Alden (1976-1977)
The last person Elvis was in a relationship with was actor Ginger Alden. According to the Daily Mail, the pair began dating in November 1976 after Elvis invited Alden’s sister Terry, who was Miss Tennessee, over to his home along with her and their other sister Rosemary. Elvis and Alden instantly hit it off, and they got engaged just two months later. Unfortunately, the couple never made it down the aisle as Elvis died of a heart attack in August 1977 at 42 years old.