“Michael was also interesting to hang out with. The better I got to know him, the more elusive he seemed. One moment, in a little-boy voice, he would curse the head of Sony Music. ‘That Tommy Mottola is a mean person,’ he’d say, sounding like a six-year-old. In the studio, he’d be a pro, a regular guy, and we really connected. (He struck me as Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly rolled into one). And with Lisa Marie Presley, whom he was dating at the time, he would be somebody else entirely.
Interestingly enough, my then-wife Linda had once dated Elvis, so she and Lisa Marie actually knew each other fairly well. You might say for a brief period Linda had played the role of Lisa’s step mom.
Anyway, the kids were visiting from Los Angeles - three of my daughters and Linda’s two sons - and one night they decided they wanted to go to the movies. We were staying at the Plaza Hotel, and Michael rented me a magnificent suite - on a low floor - that must have had six bedrooms. It was a palace, a lot better than the Zen-like concrete bunker at the Delano.
“‘I can’t go to the movies,’ Michael said. We all knew what he meant: He couldn’t go out in public without creating a shitstorm among the paparazzi. And one of the kids said, ‘We can dress you up and disguise you.’
“And that’s what they did. They got in an elevator and went down to his suite and dressed him up in their own clothes. They put a scarf on him, and some jeans, and they tucked his hair under a cap and turned it to the side, gangster-style. Michael wasn’t wild about hiding the curl, though; he wanted it right out there on his forehead, for the whole world to see. The kids told him he had to hide the curl because it was a dead giveaway, but he was adamant. ‘No, no, I’ve got to have my curl out,’ he said. I thought that was very telling. He didn’t want to be seen, but he kind of wanted to be seen - which I guess is often the issue if you’re famous.
“Then they argued about what movie to see. My kids voted for Speed; Michael was more interested in Little Big League. Hmmm.
“We had the valet bring the van around, and we piled in without incident. There were some paparazzi out front, but they must have looked at us and figured we were nobodies. And it was very interesting, because Michael and Lisa Marie got separated when everyone scrambled into the van, and it was clear that he wanted her to sit next to him. On the way to the movie theater, he turned to her and said, ‘Lisa, here. Come here. Sit here.’ He said it just like a regular man, not in that little-boy voice of his. It was like, You’re going to sit with me, woman, and she did. I was very impressed, but I was also confused. I mean, who was this guy?
“Maybe she brought out the testosterone in him. I don’t know. But I do know this: she loved him. And that relationship became one of the biggest tabloid nightmares of all time.”
Interestingly enough, my then-wife Linda had once dated Elvis, so she and Lisa Marie actually knew each other fairly well. You might say for a brief period Linda had played the role of Lisa’s step mom.
Anyway, the kids were visiting from Los Angeles - three of my daughters and Linda’s two sons - and one night they decided they wanted to go to the movies. We were staying at the Plaza Hotel, and Michael rented me a magnificent suite - on a low floor - that must have had six bedrooms. It was a palace, a lot better than the Zen-like concrete bunker at the Delano.
“‘I can’t go to the movies,’ Michael said. We all knew what he meant: He couldn’t go out in public without creating a shitstorm among the paparazzi. And one of the kids said, ‘We can dress you up and disguise you.’
“And that’s what they did. They got in an elevator and went down to his suite and dressed him up in their own clothes. They put a scarf on him, and some jeans, and they tucked his hair under a cap and turned it to the side, gangster-style. Michael wasn’t wild about hiding the curl, though; he wanted it right out there on his forehead, for the whole world to see. The kids told him he had to hide the curl because it was a dead giveaway, but he was adamant. ‘No, no, I’ve got to have my curl out,’ he said. I thought that was very telling. He didn’t want to be seen, but he kind of wanted to be seen - which I guess is often the issue if you’re famous.
“Then they argued about what movie to see. My kids voted for Speed; Michael was more interested in Little Big League. Hmmm.
“We had the valet bring the van around, and we piled in without incident. There were some paparazzi out front, but they must have looked at us and figured we were nobodies. And it was very interesting, because Michael and Lisa Marie got separated when everyone scrambled into the van, and it was clear that he wanted her to sit next to him. On the way to the movie theater, he turned to her and said, ‘Lisa, here. Come here. Sit here.’ He said it just like a regular man, not in that little-boy voice of his. It was like, You’re going to sit with me, woman, and she did. I was very impressed, but I was also confused. I mean, who was this guy?
“Maybe she brought out the testosterone in him. I don’t know. But I do know this: she loved him. And that relationship became one of the biggest tabloid nightmares of all time.”
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