24-year-old Elvis Presley started dating Priscilla Beaulieu when she was only 14 years old. Not only did he groom her to be his wife, but Elvis also groomed Priscilla to be who we came to know her in the public eye.
In her memoir Elvis and Me (affiliate link) Priscilla explained in detail the dizzying experience of going from being a normal teenage girl to a celebrated icon.
“When we met, I had just turned fourteen,” Priscilla writes. “The first six months I spent with him were filled with tenderness and affection. Blinded by love, I saw none of his fault for weaknesses. He was to become the passion of my life.”
“He taught me everything: how to dress, how to walk, how to apply makeup and wear my hair, how to behave, how to return love—his way,” she goes on. “Over the years he became my father, husband, and very nearly God. Now he was gone and I felt more alone and afraid than ever in my life.”
Early in their relationship Elvis completely transformed Priscilla during a trip to Vegas. Because there were strict rules while Priscilla stayed with him in California, this trip was out of the ordinary for them.
Elvis had Priscilla completely made over from head-to-toe into the style we remember her for. He took her shopping, and had her hair and makeup transformed. Priscilla was like a doll to Elvis, and he molded her: body and mind, into who he wanted her to be.
On this trip, he also introduced her to drugs. He gave her the mixture of amphetamines and sleeping pills that he took to get through his days. This completely different life and new look, along with the drugs, made Priscilla’s inhibitions drop and she instantly felt more assertive.
Her brain had only begun to develop into a adulthood, and it was being molded by an older man with the entire world’s eyes on him.
