16 August 2023 , 12:43
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The traumatic words of the late Lisa Marie Presley after she discovered her father, Elvis, was dead have been recalled on the anniversary of the singer's death.
American songwriter, former actress, model and ex-wife of Caitlyn Jenner Linda Thompson dated Elvis for four years between 1972 and 1976. While the pair parted ways after 73-year-old Linda wanted a more normal life, the duo remained close friends until the King of Rock n Roll passed away at the age of 42 in 1977.
Elvis died of a heart attack at his home in Memphis where he was staying with his daughter Lisa Marie, who was nine at the time of the Blue Suede Shoes singers death. MARCA reports that Linda was the first person Lisa Marie called when she saw her father lying dead at their home.
The model - who was married to Caitlyn Jenner between 1981 and 1986 - recalled the breathless girl screaming into the phone: “My daddy's dead! He's drowned in the carpet” Lisa Marie had kissed her father goodnight just hours before he collapsed and died and was awoken when she heard her friend Ginger Alden trying to help the singer.
Lisa Marie Presley was a young girl when her father tragically died (WireImage)Radar Online previously reported Lisa Marie recalling that fateful night, saying: "I don't like to talk about it. It was 4 a.m. I was supposed to be asleep, actually. He found me.” Lisa Marie, who was at the home with her mother Priscilla Presley, now 78, and was devastated when she saw her father face down and dead.
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She recalled: "His body was in the house for three days and there was something strangely comforting about that, which made it not necessarily real to me.”
Tragically, Lisa Marie herself passed away earlier this year - just as a Hollywood biopic of her father’s life, directed by Baz Luhrmann, was sweeping awards shows. The star was just 54 when she died of a cardiac arrest - her death eerily mirroring that of her father.
Linda Thompson has cast her mind back to the tragic day of Elvis's death (Getty Images)
Elvis died of a heart attack in 1977 (Bettmann Archive)Her mother, Priscilla, broke the news, writing in a statement: "It is with a heavy heart that I must share the devastating news that my beautiful daughter Lisa Marie has left us. She was the most passionate strong and loving woman I have ever known. We ask for privacy as we try to deal with this profound loss. Thank you for the love and prayers. At this time there will be no further comment."
Lisa Marie is survived by three of her children, which includes Hollywood actress Riley Keough who she shared with ex-husband Danny Keough who she was married to between 1988 and 1994. Her son, Benjamin Keough, committed suicide in July 2020 at the age of 27.
In 2008, Lisa Marie welcomed twin daughters Finley and Harper with then-husband Michael Lockwood, though the two divorced in 2016. And she had previously been married to Michael Jackson from 1994 until 1996 and Nicholas Cage from 2002 until 2004.