Gladys Presley

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Gladys Presley, born Gladys Love Smith (April 25, 1912- August 14, 1958) was the mother of famous rock n' roll musician Elvis Presley.

[edit] Life

Not much is known about her early life. She was born in Pontotoc County, Mississippi. On June 17, 1933 she married Vernon Elvis Presley. On January 8, 1935 she gave birth to twin boys, Elvis Aron and Jesse Garon Presley. Jesse died at birth.

Elvis had a close relationship with his mother. Elvis bought his mother a house in Memphis at 1034 Audubon Street. He lived there briefly before he moved to Graceland. In 1958, after Elvis was drafted and sent to Fort Hood in Texas, Gladys and Vernon moved to Killeen, Texas to be near him. While in Texas, Gladys became increasingly ill and died of hepatitis at the age of 46.

Elvis and Vernon were distraught at her death. Her favorite gospel group, The Blackwood Brothers, sang at her funeral. She was buried at Forest Hill Cemetery in Memphis.

In 1977, Elvis was buried beside her there. After grave robbers attempted to steal Elvis' body, the family moved both graves to the Meditation Garden at Graceland. After his death in 1979, Vernon Presley was buried there also.

Elvis's first two recordings were done at Sun Records owned by Sam Phillips, under the guise of a birthday present for his mother. However, the recordings came six months apart, and Elvis was apparently shyly using the fact that he needed to give a present to his mother to audition for Sun Records.