The Way Priscilla Truly Felt When Elvis Left To Do A Movie With Ann-Margret

Nov 02, 2021 by apost team

Elvis Presley remains one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, even long after his death on Aug. 16, 1977. The talented star captured hearts across the world for his deep voice and reintroduced the world to the joys of rock and roll. 

A prominent heartthrob, Elvis was depicted as a smooth-talking ladies' man in his movies and it seems he wasn't too different off-screen. Despite his relationship and later marriage to Priscilla Presley, which catapulted her to fame, it's been reported and confirmed by Priscilla herself, that Elvis was a serial cheater.

One particular cheating incident that captivated the public at the time was the rumored relationship between Elvis and Ann-Margret, the famed Hollywood star of Swedish origin. The duo worked together on the movie "Viva Las Vegas," which was released in 1964. During the filming of the movie in 1963, there were rumors that the pair were an item, all while Priscilla was dating the rock star, prior to their 1967 marriage.

Then in 1985, Priscilla spoke out about the situation in her biography, "Elvis and Me." She opened up about having reservations about him going off to the film's shoot in Los Angeles without her, as she knew about previous affairs he'd had. In the end, she did go out and visit him before heading back to Memphis. Sadly, however, her suspicions were confirmed when it became public that Elvis and Ann-Margret were an item for a while, which the actress also stated in her own 1994 memoir, "Ann-Margret: My Story."

Writing candidly about her experience of the incident in her biography, Priscilla's story details what happened back in 1963.  

Elvis and Priscilla's love story began when the already famous rock star was 24-years-old and drafted into the Army. While stationed in Friedberg, Germany, he met Priscilla née Beaulieu at a party hosted by her stepfather — a US Air Force officer — in September of 1959, according to Biography. 

At the time, she was only 14-years-old, and since the star kept his relationship with her as private as he could, it did not cause much of a public uproar. After Elvis left Germany in 1960, they continued their relationship through letters, until 1962 when they convinced Priscilla's parents to let her move to Memphis and complete her high school from there. 

When she arrived in Memphis, she lived with Elvis Presley's stepmother and father while she attended high school but soon enough she had moved into his home in Graceland. It was reported that Elvis felt pressured to marry Priscilla in many ways, and they finally wed in 1967 in Las Vegas. 

But leading up to their marriage, the couple had both highs and lows, and infidelity was always a possibility around the corner. Dating the king of rock'n'roll wasn't easy and Priscilla knew about Elvis' previous infidelities, especially with his co-stars. This made her paranoid that he would cheat on her and unfortunately her fears weren't unfounded.

At the time, Elvis' relationship with Ann-Margret, his co-star from the 1964 film "Viva Las Vegas" was widely reported about. An actress and singer, she was touted as a female version of Elvis, so it's clear to see why everyone was expecting sparks to fly when they worked together. 

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This included Priscilla, who, according to her biography "Elvis and Me" felt uneasy about him leaving Memphis for Los Angeles to work on the movie. She wrote in her memoir:

“Cursing myself, I wondered why I couldn’t tell him what I heard. I’d been upset ever since I’d learned that his new leading lady was going to be Ann-Margret, the fastest-rising starlet in Hollywood.”

Priscilla also wrote about the fact that Ann-Margret was seen as a female Elvis, saying:

"Elvis was curious about her, pointing out that ‘imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.'"

Wishing to join him out in Los Angeles, Priscilla writes about being rebuffed by Elvis with constant excuses about problems on the set. She didn't know it at the time but later realized she "was living the way he wished — out of Hollywood society, the girl back home." She adds that she "assumed that he would be as faithful to [her] as [she] was to him."

Unfortunately, however, Elvis and Ann-Margret did date for a time, with the actress detailing their affair in her memoir, "Ann-Margret: My Story." However, she says it was doomed from the start due to his "commitments," which presumably means his engagement to Priscilla, as reported in an interview with the New York Times. Nevertheless, she says they discussed marriage and how she wished that they could stay together. But Elvis ended the affair after Ann-Margret had admitted to the press that they were "seeing each other," before he went on to marry Priscilla.

It must have been difficult for Priscilla to have her fears come true while Elvis went off to work with Ann-Margret. In the end, neither of the women ended up with him before he passed away before his time in 1977. 

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