Beauty Queen
Choosing to take advantage of her good fortune, Thompson began competing in beauty pageants in order to raise money for her college degree. She became an instant sensation on the pageant circuit and went on to win other titles, including Miss Shelby County and Miss Liberty Bowl. She felt certain that she was on the correct career path because of these life-changing victories.
However, her fame as a beauty queen wouldn’t bring her the love of her life until she emerged as Miss Tennessee Universe at the age of 22: Elvis Presley. Her life was about to take a drastic turn when she met the “King of Rock and Roll”.
Miss Tennessee
At a movie theater, Thompson gotta know Elvis. Miss Tennessee was who I was. In 1972, Elvis was Elvis, and I was Miss Tennessee Universe. On Larry King Live, she recounted, “And I was invited to go to the Memphian Theater, which he rented out after midnight to screen films.” I received an invitation to attend a theater. In the Miss USA contest, Miss Rhode Island, Jeannie LaMay, was my roommate.
She made her home in Memphis. And she and I proceeded to the theater where we were formally presented to him,” Thompson went on. The King was ready to meet the two beauty queens, but only one of them would end up sharing his realm.
A Night at the Movies
“He was grumpy when he entered the theater. He then turned on a light and put it on my face. “Well, hi,” he sighed. He nuzzled into my neck as he sat next to me, she disclosed to the Daily Mail. She turned down his approaches because she believed he was still married. Elvis told her he was unmarried and had broken up six months prior.
“I don’t remember what movie we watched that night while hugging and kissing each other. Elvis’s lips were so soft that kissing him was like burying your lips in two delicious, soft marshmallows. She said, “He smelled so fresh, like the Neutrogena soap he used.” Thompson had no idea that their brief affair had only just begun.
Graceland
Soon after being divorced from Priscilla six months previously, Elvis and Thompson started dating in earnest. The day they met, he even extended an invitation for her to meet his family at Graceland. “I considered that to be quite significant. I was aware that something extraordinary was beginning,” she stated to Vintage Rock Magazine.
After they began dating, Thompson moved into the Memphis home and went with Elvis on all of his tours in less than a year. Everything looked great at first, but things were going to change.
Life With Elvis
Thompson never knew a life of glamor and glitz like the one she had with Elvis. She got along well with Elvis Presley’s group of friends, the self-described “Memphis mafia,” and she made every effort to further his career by going to all of his performances. Still, there were moments when everything felt cramped. The two lived a nocturnal existence, rising at nine o’clock at night, and spent their entire day together.
Although Thompson was aware of Elvis Prescription Drug Dependency from an early age, the rock singer refused to acknowledge he had a problem. She remained loyal to him, but things were going to get very bad.
Saving His Life
After taking a sleeping pill, he slept off and dove right into a bowl of chicken soup. He would have choked to death if I hadn’t pulled him out. She told the Daily Mail, “There were other times, but I’ll carry them to my grave. The toll of tending to Elvis in his fragile state started to mount.
“When we were sleeping, I would wake up all the time to see how he was doing. Thompson told Vintage Rock Magazine, “I was tired. It wasn’t just Elvis’s drug misuse, though, that was straining their union.
Rumors Fly
The media was always making assumptions, and Thompson thought Elvis was still seeing other women. This thing was so much rumored in the mainstream media. Knowing that he was still having extramarital affairs despite her lifelong commitment to him was heartbreaking for her.
They were his real mistress, she said to the Daily Mail. “I struggled to accept the other women as I was faithful, but I was so addicted to loving him that I lost myself and what I wanted,” she said. This incident shattered her life, but still, she was him because of the attraction and love.
Normal Life
Elvis and Thompson loved one another, but they never tied the knot. Elvis had even given her a pre-engagement ring the first Christmas they spent together, and they had talked about it. But Linda Thompson’s greatest want was a child, and she had no desire to bring a child into the hectic environment of constant concerts, prescription drugs, and public attention. Thompson came to the realization she desired a typical existence.
However, she genuinely loved Elvis, and he depended on her, so it was easier said than done. If he could survive without her, she pondered.
The Separation
“I realized it wasn’t my place to stay and keep him alive, even though I felt he may very likely die in my absence. I was also aware that I might discover him dead in any case, and it would break my heart if it occurred under my supervision. I gradually weaned myself away from him over the course of about a year, going on family holidays or getaways with Jeanne,” she revealed to Vintage Rock Magazine.
In 1976, the couple that had been together for over four and a half years separated in San Francisco. Elvis had Thompson take a plane back to Memphis so he could recuperate. It was impossible for her to realize that would be her final glimpse of him alive.
Moving On
Eight months later, Lisa Marie Presley, Elvis Presley’s small daughter from his marriage to Priscilla, called Thompson. The nine-year-old child told mom of Elvis’s passing and was saddened. “It was such a shock, no matter how much you anticipate someone is going to pass,” Thompson said in an interview with Vintage Rock Magazine.
But now that Elvis had passed away, she could at last begin to move on and live the life she had always desired. Even though she was just 27, she was eager to be married and have a family. She had no idea that the next person she would meet would radically upend her life.
Olympic Star
At a charity function, Thompson got to know Caitlyn Jenner, who was known as Bruce, two years after Elvis Presley passed away in 1979. A few years ago, in a strange turn of events, she saw the Olympic star for the first time while watching TV in bed with Elvis.
Thompson even declared, “I’m going to marry that guy someday,” after both of them expressed admiration for the athlete’s good looks, as she revealed to the Daily Mail. The prescient response from Elvis was, “Over my dead body.” It was about to prove they were both correct.
They Hit it Off
At a charity function, Thompson got to know Caitlyn Jenner, who was known as Bruce, two years after Elvis Presley passed away in 1979. A few years ago, in a strange turn of events, she saw the Olympic star for the first time while watching TV in bed with Elvis.
Thompson even declared, “I’m going to marry that guy someday,” after both of them expressed admiration for the athlete’s good looks, as she revealed to the Daily Mail. The prescient response from Elvis was, “Over my dead body.” It was about to prove they were both correct.
Life in the Limelight
Although the couple’s life with Jenner was not as chaotic as it had been with Elvis, they still had plenty of glamour and excitement. At the time, Jenner and Thompson were a well-known celebrity couple frequently spotted on the red carpet, attending charity events and touring the globe to further their careers as athletes and actresses, respectively.
“Jenner was a good, kind, caring, laid-back, romantic, and easygoing man. She told the Daily Mail, “I was so happy to have found such a remarkable partner to share my life with.” The next significant event for the pair was about to happen.
Wedding Bells
Thompson wed Jenner on Oahu’s Waikiki Beach in January 1981. Her ideal wedding location was brought to life by Elvis Presley’s Blue Hawaii. Even her favorite Elvis song played as she made her way down the aisle. Thompson believed she had at last met the one with whom she would be able to have a family and enjoy old age. Everything appeared ideal.
She was anticipating him to be her ideal companion, someone she would walk the red carpet with after an unexpected fantasy came true for her. She was unaware, though, that her boyfriend was concealing a secret that would destroy their relationship and ruin her own life.
Married Life
“My life’s happiest days were those.” In her book A Little Thing Called Life: On Loving Elvis Presley, Bruce Jenner, and Songs in Between, Thompson wrote, “I had a wonderful husband who was the most athletic, high-spirited, energetic, easygoing, manly man imaginable.” “Bruce and I lived on the beach, went jet skiing, taking morning walks on the sand with coffee, sailing on a Hobie Cat, playing tennis…
We seemed to have a really good life, in my opinion,” she wrote. She also expresses that she is living the most beautiful moment of her life with the most charming, caring, and loving husband.
Starting a Family
Jenner had two children from a previous marriage, but Thompson dreamed of having her own children. She gave birth to Brandon in June 1981, and Sam Brody (known as Brody) in August 1983. “I had two beautiful, healthy baby boys.
Life was just about as good as it gets,” she shared with the Daily Mail. Thompson loved being a mother and she couldn’t see how anything could disrupt her fairytale life. But something was about to come out of left field that would leave her questioning everything.
Revealing the Truth
“My happiness was complete until that day when Brody was 18 months old and Brandon was just about 3½,” she told ABC News. “My remarkable husband came to me one day and said, ‘I need to tell you something about myself,'” she recalled. At first, she assumed Jenner would confess to having an affair, but that was not the case at all.
He claimed to be a lady trapped in a man’s body and that he wished to change. She remembered to the Daily Mail, “I thought it was a passing phase, but after months of counseling, I realized it wasn’t.”
Her Reaction
At first, she saw the revelation as something that could be rectified. After seeing a gender dysphoria specialist for several months, the couple was able to come to the realization that Thompson would never fully recover from this condition. She said to ABC News that even though she was angry for herself, her “deeper compassion was for Bruce… for her to have felt so trapped in the wrong body.”
The thought that he had endured such a protracted and intense struggle crushed my heart. But something was about to happen to her that would put her comprehension to the test.
True Self
Jenner encouraged Thomopson to spend a weekend in New York one weekend. When Jenner answered the door wearing feminine attire and cosmetics, she was completely unprepared. She collapsed to the ground in horror. “I really apologize. She remembered Jenner telling her, “I just thought it was very important that you see who I authentically am.
It was the most shocking incident for her, and she saw her happy life drawing in front of her eyes. ” I don’t think it really dawned on me until then that Caitlyn felt that way about herself. She told ABC News, “And I had to honor that, respect that, and move on with my life.”
Questioning Everything
Despite her best efforts to be understanding and encouraging, she found it difficult to deal with Jenner’s personal identity issue. She said, “I questioned everything about myself,” to ET. “I started to doubt all I knew about life and life itself.
I wondered about my own femininity, my own sexuality, my own intelligence, my future plans, and what would become of my children. I doubted all of it.I was discovered. “It was an insane period of time,” she said.
Splitting Up
The couple separated in 1986 after six months of joint therapeutic attempts. Thompson supported Jenner’s desire to transition, but she chose to put her sons first because she had never anticipated being married to a woman. In order to accept her gender identity, Jenner started taking hormones and undergoing other physical modifications.
Thompson gave up her claim to alimony during their divorce, allowing Jenner to see Brandon and Brody. She pretended that their dad’s body was changing and kept it a secret from her sons. She found it more difficult to respond to their child’s inquiries regarding their father’s gender identity. Nobody could have foreseen the subsequent events.
New Family
However, Jenner chose to meet Kris Kardashian instead of continuing with the transition. After dating for five months, the couple was married in 1991 and had two children, Kendall and Kylie. Additionally, Jenner took on the role of stepparent to Kris’s children from her first marriage: Rob, Khloé, Kim, and Kourtney.
Naturally, the phenomenally popular reality TV series Keeping Up With the Kardashians taught us a lot about the lives of this well-known blended family, but what did Thompson think about her ex-husband starting a new family?
Thompson Was Relieved
Perhaps surprisingly, Linda Thompson was “delighted” about Jenner’s new relationship. “In my naivety and my ignorance, I didn’t know that she was still repressing who she was,” she told ET. “I thought, ‘Well, maybe she’s found a way to live with this and to move on.’
And again I’m thinking, in those days, I’m thinking ‘he.’ I was thinking maybe he has found a way to repress this further and to move on with his life and to find a partner in a new life,” she continued. However, she was hurt that Jenner stopped prioritizing their shared sons.
Sidelined
“He was a very absent father, which caused pain to both me and our boys, more than anything else. He was shown in The Kardashians as a nice father,” she said to the Daily Mail. Thompson never watched the show with her sons, maybe as a result of this.
According to Brandon Jenner, “I didn’t see my father more than half a dozen times between the ages of eight and 25,” which can be found in the collection of writings To Me, He Was Just Dad written by children of famous parents. “Family became a business for Dad after he met and married Kris, so I spent the most of my teenage years away from them. He writes, “I didn’t want to be a part of their dynamic.
Why Didn’t She Tell?
Since then, a lot of people have questioned why Thompson never told Kris Kardashian about Jenner’s secret or alerted her to the fact that her new spouse suffered from gender dysphoria. She disputes that, however, as it was not her place to “out” her ex and that, in addition, she was unaware that Jenner was still having issues with her gender identity following her marriage to Kardashian.
Thompson could not have known, though, that it would be nearly thirty years before she was forced to face this turbulent time in her history.
New Love
Linda Thompson fell in love again the same year Jenner wed Kris Kardashian and began a new life. Thompson first got to know well-known Canadian record producer, songwriter, and musician David Foster in 1991.
She believed she had met the ideal man to be her partner and her boys’ devoted stepfather because they both had a passion for music and lyrics. Her aim was that this would be the one relationship that never ends.
Song Writing Team
Thompson was able to devote more of her attention to music, one of her greatest abilities, during her engagement with Foster. The English major had always been a poet and had previously worked as a lyricist on a number of well-known projects. She reached new heights in her songwriting career with Foster.
The duo worked together on other songs, such as Whitney Houston’s rendition of “I Have Nothing” in The Bodyguard, which was nominated for an Academy Award. But even though Thompson and Foster got along well in the studio, things were not as perfect as they seemed.
The Princes of Malibu
In her autobiography, Linda Thompson said that Foster was possessive and envious, especially toward her connection with Elvis, and that she disliked Linda discussing her past relationships. He objected to Jenner visiting the lads at their house. The Princes of Malibu, a reality TV series that followed Brandon and Brody’s purportedly opulent lifestyle on Foster’s Malibu house, was also created by the family in 2005.
Foster’s determination to end the boys’ “freeloading” was the main focus of the presentation. However, there was a very compelling reason why the series ended so soon.
Going Separate Ways
The day after the episode debuted, on July 11, 2005, Linda Thompson filed for divorce from David Foster. It was the longest relationship either of them had ever had, lasting 14 years.
Foster went on to pursue two additional marriages: the first was to Katherine McPhee, an actress and singer-songwriter who was 35 years his junior, and the second was to Yolanda Hadid, the mother of supermodels Gigi and Bella Hadid. However, Thompson made the decision to go in a different direction.
Focusing on Herself
Thompson stayed unmarried following her breakup with Foster, choosing to live a more sedate life at her stunning Malibu house. She put her family and her interests first, encouraging her sons and taking pleasure in hiking, tennis, and beach time.
She wanted time to process her path after her three epic relationships. She had no idea that her life and the people she loved would come under scrutiny once more just ten years later.
Jenner’s Revelation
Jenner came out as a transgender woman in April 2015, and in July of the same year, she disclosed her new name, Caitlyn. She could now live as the person she had always been inside, and Thompson could start speaking out about the true reason their relationship ended.
Thompson and her sons might start to move past the hurt caused by their feelings of desertion and accept Jenner for who she really was.
Showing Support
During this trying time, Caitlyn Jenner was thrilled to have Thompson’s and her kids Brandon and Brody’s support. After declaring her separation from Kris Kardashian, she made a point of spending a lot of time in Malibu with her old family. Thompson and the boys were glad Jenner could be who she truly was. More than anything, I believe Caitlyn has found relief in being free to show herself for who she really is.
We also adore her. However, she was in a Bruce Jenner body when I first saw her. He was simply a remarkable individual. Currently it is,” Thompson said to ABC News.
Mixed Emotions
She told People, “I sometimes find it surreal to look into her beautifully brown eyes, perfectly made up, while remembering the masculine, gorgeous man who fathered my sons.” “That statement is just me being honest.
Though I have to admit, there are moments when I miss Bruce, I fully embrace, appreciate, and support Caitlyn,” she went on. Though she believes Caitlyn Jenner will be remembered for years to come as a leader for gender rights, her overriding emotion was one of love and support.
“A Little Thing Called Life”
Linda’s autobiographical book A Little Thing Called Life: On Loving Bruce Jenner, Elvis Presley, and Songs in Between was published in May 2016. Her remarkable life, including her multi-award-winning songwriting career, her epic relationships, and everything in between, is chronicled in the book. Both readers and other celebrities praised the book, which became a New York Times bestseller in the celebrity category.
Actress Brooke Shields wrote in a book review, “What amazes me about Linda goes far beyond her ridiculous talents for writing lyrics—it is that amidst the interesting, seemingly overwhelming, and unique life she’s led, she has remained the same beautiful human being she has always been.”
Blended Family
These days, Thompson is enjoying his life as a member of a large mixed family, sharing special occasions and delighting in each other’s companionship. While at Brody’s fiancée’s bridal shower, Thompson and Caitlyn shared pictures on Instagram to commemorate the occasion. Alright. Alright. This is something I never would have thought possible.
At our future daughter-in-law’s bridal shower, I was lusting after the father of my children, who was wearing a gorgeous blue Alice and Olivia trousers suit. Always with affection, generosity, and love…A TINY THING CALLED LIFE,” the user captioned the image.
Burt and Cassandra
Thompson also keeps in touch with Jenner’s half-siblings, the kids from her first marriage to Chrystie Scott. Thompson, who has never had a daughter of her own, views Cassandra, also known as Casey, as a daughter. Burt, Casey’s brother, has stayed out of the spotlight despite being a member of the larger Jenner-Kardashian family.
The owner of a dog boarding company and race car and truck has had a difficult past, having been homeless twice, but he is now settled with a stable partner and three children. After the change, Casey and Burt both report that their connection with Caitlyn has improved.
Glam Grandma
It’s evident from Thompson’s Instagram that her family is her top priority. She is a loving grandma to Brody’s daughter Honey Raye, who is the newest member of the family, as well as to Brandon’s two sons. She added, “We are just a little bit obsessed over here with our newest little ray of sunshine,” alongside a video of herself holding the infant in June 2023.
Raye, honey! Blessed are we with healthy children. And she is a fortunate young child to have come into a world where there is so much love for her. We appreciate all of your generosity, compassion, and well wishes for our newest member of the family.
Looking to the Future
Linda Thompson’s journey through relationships with icons such as David Foster, Elvis Presley, and Caitlyn Jenner is a remarkable testament to her flexibility and tenacity, and it is a part of her unique life story. Her candor regarding her experiences is a reflection of her commitment to self-discovery, art, and family. Thompson’s narrative serves as a beautiful reminder of the beauty in accepting change as she negotiates the challenges of blended families and changing identities in this new phase of her life.
Her positions as a mother, a grandmother, and a supporter of compassion demonstrate the complexity and genuineness that characterize a life well-lived. We wish her a bright future filled with love, music, and joy.
