Jean's Journal: Celebrity gossip

by Jean Farrell

I was very surprised to see that Priscilla Presley is on tour. She is now 80 years old. Apparently, she is doing this tour to advertise her forthcoming book called, ‘Softly, as I leave you.’

Priscilla will be in The National Concert Hall in Dublin on October 1, and there appears to be a keen interest in the event.

Before her appearance on stage, a 30-minute pre-show conversation with Priscilla is advertised. Costing €75, it includes an unsigned copy of her book and a selfie with her. This is already booked out.

By any standard, the woman had an interesting life. She was born in America. Her step-father was in the air-force, so they moved around a lot. She was living in Germany when Elvis was posted there, in 1959, as a GI.

Priscilla was 14 and Elvis was 24. They met regularly during the next 18 months and fell in love.

She travelled to America a few years later, aged 17. The romance continued. However, those were the years that Elvis was away a lot, in Hollywood. He was making movies with gorgeous women like Anne Margret, Ursula Andress and more.

They married in 1967. I recall her high hair-do! How we envied her! The marriage didn’t last very long. They divorced in 1973.

Priscilla gave birth to Lisa-Marie in 1968. Whilst she only had one daughter, Priscilla has four sons-in-law, one of whom was Michael Jackson. Sadly Lisa Marie died, aged 54, in 2023.

We next heard of Priscilla Presley when she appeared in Dallas, as Jenna Wade. We all recall Jock Ewing, Miss Ellie, J.R. (who could forget him!) Sue Ellen, Bobby (wasn’t he just lovely!) Pam, Lucy and Cliff. However, I don’t remember the more minor characters, like Jenna-Wade.

One night, as my mother was ironing a mountain of clothes, we were all watching 'Dallas'. We were naming out the fantastic things they had that we had never seen before, like beautiful style (with enormous shoulder pads,) a bar inside the house and a deck outside, in a gorgeous garden (we only had back-yards!).

Sue-Ellen was moaning about her sad life. I always remember my mother’s droll comment, “She has all the icing, but no cake.” How true this was. The more we lack inner peace, the more we seek external distractions.

Priscilla Presley is now a great-grandmother. I hope, at this point in her life, that she has found inner peace.

I’m moving on to another celebrity, who is also in her eighties, author Jilly Cooper. The reason that she is back in the news is that a television series, based on her books, has been made recently.

It is called 'Rivals' and apparently it is hugely popular, with a great lot of ‘bonking’ (don’t ask!) in it. One of the main actors is our own Aidan Turner, who starred in 'Poldark'. I say ‘our own’ because, as I‘m sure you know, Aidan is the grandson of Bridgie Turner, from Bonavalley.

I read an interesting article about Jilly Cooper lately. She seems to have been always full of fun. Her writing career began when she sat beside the editor of The Sunday Times magazine, at a dinner party. She amused him so much that he offered her a weekly column. On the strength of this income, and her husband’s income, they bought a gorgeous house.

All was well until their bank manager arrived, one day, to informed them that they must sell it immediately because they were bankrupt.

Jilly persuaded him to give her a chance to write a novel, which she had in her head. He agreed, reluctantly.

So, Jilly Cooper sat down at her old typewriter, in 1970, and typed out the entire story which she called, ‘Riders.’ She set off, on the bus, one day, carrying the entire manuscript. I’m quoting from the article now. ‘However, she got drunk and left it on the 22 bus to Fulham. Despite an appeal in The Evening Standard, it was never found.’

How awful. She had to sit down again at her typewriter and re-write the whole thing. That’s the bad news.

The good news is that her book ‘Riders’ was a huge success and she followed it with many more. Her stories ‘tell tales of mainly British upper-class families, as well as the show-jumping and polo crowd, in numerous different sexually charged scenarios, often laced with adultery, illegitimate children and scandal.’

Jilly Cooper was ‘flabbergasted’ by the success of the recent TV adaptation of her books. Now aged 88, she appears to be still full of fun.

Staying on the topic of celebrities, I’ll move on to ABBA. I have attended the stage show of ‘Mamma Mia’ many times and love it. Now there is a new show called, ‘Mamma Mia! The Party.’ It sounds wonderful and would be absolutely marvellous fun for a group of women to attend together.

The whole O2 in London is laid out like a Greek tavern. The ad says, “Join us on the island of Skopelos and take your seats at Nikos family-run taverna for an unforgettable night of dancing, dining and singing. As the sun sets, enjoy a delicious four-course Greek meal whilst the romantic and heart-warming story of ‘Mamma Mia’ unfolds all around you. Following the performance, filled with timeless Abba anthems, dance the night away at a glittering ABBA disco.’

If my fairy godmother arrived here, this minute, and granted me three wishes - I would ask to be 20 again and attend that show with fun friends!

My other two wishes would have to be more sensible!

jeanfarrell@live.ie