The Biography

Born Gladys Love Smith on April 25, 1912, Gladys Presley grew up far away from the fame and fortune that her son would one day achieve. The daughter of a cotton farmer, she grew up in Mississippi. On one fateful day in the early 1930s, Gladys met Vernon Presley at church. Though she was four years older, they lied about their ages in order to get married in 1933. When it came time for her to give birth on January 8, 1935, tragedy struck. Gladys had twins, but the first boy, Jesse Garon Presley, was stillborn. Only the second boy, Elvis Aaron Presley, survived.