Mindi Miller was a working actress when she met Elvis in early 1975. She was interested in karate (she performed all her own movie stunts), exploring spirituality and the Bible and so they had a lot in common.
Mindi Miller and Elvis bonded over their common interests and soon afterwards he asked her to go on tour with him in April 1975.
She stayed friends with Elvis through the years - along with members of the 'Memphis Mafia' - and attended his funeral.
EIN's Sanja Meegin recently caught up with Mindi Miller to talk about her close friendship with Elvis over the years ...
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Mindi Miller was an actress when she met Elvis in early 1975. She was interested in karate (she performed all her own movie stunts), exploring spirituality and the Bible and so they had a lot in common.
Mindi Miller and Elvis bonded over their common interests and soon afterwards he asked her to go on tour with him in April 1975.
She stayed friends with Elvis through the years (along with members of the 'Memphis Mafia') and attended his funeral.
EIN's Sanja Meegin recently talked with Mindi Miller about her life with Elvis and what it was like to be one of his last serious girlfriends..
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EIN interview with Mindi Miller - April 2017.
EIN: What did you think of Elvis Presley before you met him? Did you know him from his sixties movies, the Comeback Special or perhaps Aloha?
Mindi Miller: I did. I of course knew of him when I first saw him on the Ed Sullivan show. I think I was about six years old, five or six years old, and of course we had never seen anything like that in our life and we were just overwhelmed in my household to see this incredible man and of course we were extremely disappointed to not be able to see him below the waist! I saw his Aloha Special and I saw the 68 Comeback Special and I watched everything that he did but I can't say I was the kind of fan that devoted my bedroom to him or put up pictures on the walls of him or made scrapbooks of him.
I really loved him but the 60s for me we're more about the Beatles and surfing because I was living in Los Angeles California and it was more about the Beach boys and Troy Donahue and surfing. And as much as I loved Elvis as an entertainer, I think at that time I was too young to actually have a crush on him - or look at him in any other kind of way other than an incredible entertainer.
EIN: So how did you actually meet Elvis?
Mindi Miller: Actually before I ever met him I never ever had a thought of meeting him or really thinking I have to meet this guy he's incredible. I just didn't think that way and I think especially because I grew up in the entertainment business from such a young age of 12 years old and I had seen and met so many actors and entertainers already that it was not that big of a thing for me. So I did not really think of meeting these kinds of people. |
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The first time that I ever saw Elvis in person was when I was driving one afternoon with a girlfriend of mine and we were crossing over Sunset Boulevard in my car, and ahead of us coming in the opposite direction toward me, was this beautiful black Stutz Blackhawk car and it was something that you've never seen before. It was the most incredible car I've ever seen. I look to see who was driving it and I turned to my girlfriend and I said "oh my god that's Elvis Presley" and he was really a figure to be seen even driving the car with his full head of jet black hair and his big sunglasses on.
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And you know, he always had his neck covered. As his car was coming toward my car we passed each other and I looked directly at him. He did not look at me, he kept looking straight ahead but it was like an absolute bolt of lightning and I kid you not - it was like lightning striking you, and it just took me aback to a point where I could not even move I had to pull the car over and I said "Carol I just got the strangest premonition". And something hit me and told me immediately right then and there that not only was I going to meet this man but I was going to know him and know him well. I didn't know why and I did not know how but I couldn't get it out of my head for quite a while and then I let it go and then 2 1/2 to probably three years later I met him through a mutual friend that knew the guys in the MM and who knew me and he invited me to a party and that was at Elvis' house.
EIN: His house in LA?
Mindi Miller: Yes. It was the Monovale house in Bel Air - it was either Bel Air or Holmby Hills. I had told my friend that I was moving back to Europe because I had been living in Rome, Italy and I said I really don't feel like going to a Hollywood party. I'm not interested - I'm only here for the week to close my apartment up and to sell my car and get the rest of my clothes and go back to Italy where I was living. So he kept on me every day calling me and calling me and calling me until finally he said look the party is at Elvis Presley's house and you really should come.
He never told me that I was to meet Elvis Presley or that Elvis would be there or that he was looking for a new girlfriend or anything, he just said there's a party at his house and you should come. So immediately I thought back to the two-and-a-half or so years back and that premonition that I had had about seeing him in the car and right away I thought something is telling me to go. So I said to my friend that I would go and he told me the time the day etc. and I drove to his house. I got to the house and there was no party. As I say to people, I was the party and I didn't know it!
EIN: So when you met him was Elvis dressed up in all his finery so as to impress you?
Mindi Miller: So yes that was the strangest thing - I went into a room which was a very large room and all the Memphis Mafia were sitting there and they were sitting around the sides of the room with nobody else. Each had his own chair and they started interviewing me! They had me sit on the couch, Elvis was nowhere in sight, there was no party. I couldn't imagine what I was in for and so they started asking me all these questions about where I was from what I was doing and what kind of family did I have, was I spiritual or religious and basically it turned out to be a big interview!
After about an hour it seemed of the questioning - a few of the guys walked out of the room and the other guys kept talking to me and I'm assuming now when I think back - that the other guys that left the room went to get Elvis and probably said to him "she's OK you can meet her" - she passes the test so to speak! So as I was talking to the other guys I literally without turning my head or looking to the side on my right side, feel this huge, huge presence. And again it was the same kind of feeling that I had when we passed in the car which is like that thunderbolt of lightning the just hits you and knocks you over. It's completely unexplainable and I felt this energy and I turned to my right and I looked and there standing in the doorway was Elvis.
And he was not the Elvis that you would imagine - he was not dressed up and he did not have his stage wear on of course. He had on a blue sweatsuit with white stripes down the side of the arms and he had the little white tennis hat on which looked very much the same as the one he wore in Hawaii in March 1977. That's exactly what he looked like the day that I met him. He was not dressed up, he was very ordinary. He just looked like a guy that was lounging in his house, relaxing with his buddies. And that's the Elvis that I met - not dressed in a way that he would have been even going out for dinner or to the movies or something like that - no jeans, no T-shirt, no sweater, not one of his big blouse shirts or anything like that- just very normal, very average.
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EIN: So did you stay the night, what did you talk about, did he say he was seeing other girls?
Mindi Miller: I stayed that night all through the night until 7 o'clock the next morning. He put on a karate exhibit for me with Sonny and Red West and he had the guys call The Bodhi Tree -and they got me all the spiritual books and brought them over in the middle of the night from the store because he realized I was very spiritual and that would have that in common.
After we spoke, he sang me the new song he had just recorded called "T.R.O.U.B.L.E" -which is still one of my favorite songs to this day - and we talked about everything and anything under the sun and found out we had so, so much in common.
And I thought well this has been great meeting Elvis Presley and I'm going home. And when I said to him "Elvis I need to go" he said "well you're coming back tonight aren't you?" and I said "well if you want me to". He said "I do. Give the guys your address and I will pick you up tonight".
That first night he offered me a new car - as he had seen when I drove up that mine wasn't in great shape - and jewelry and I told him that I did not know him that we were not dating that we were not boyfriend and girlfriend and that I could not except those gifts. I think he liked that because he realized that if I was going to like him or see him any further, that it was for him and not what he could do for me or what he could give me. I drove home with all my new spiritual books and as soon as I got in the door of my apartment which was probably about 7.30am or a little after 7 AM that next morning the phone was ringing and I picked up the phone and it was Elvis and he said "hi honey I just want to make sure you got home OK" and I said "oh that's so sweet of you - yes I just walked in the door" and then we proceeded to talk for at least two more hours!
EIN: So when did you see him again after that first night? Did he say he wanted to see you again right away?
Mindi Miller: The next night was our second date and he picked me up in a big beautiful long stretch limo. He was standing up in the very back of the limo through the sunroof with one of his beautiful black thick heavy coats on with a rifle in his hands! The rifle with sticking straight up in the air and he's coming down the street as if he's in some movie - it was unbelievable!
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I was looking out of my bedroom window waiting for him, and as I saw him coming down the street I was in absolute shock because you don't see Elvis Presley every day driving down your street let alone knowing that he's coming to pick you up for your date standing through a sunroof with this huge rifle in his arms. It was quite a sight to see I must say!
EIN: Did you realise immediately that Elvis wanted to have a serious relationship with you?
Mindi Miller: I had no idea that he would ever want to see me again. It was never even in my thoughts because I had come back to Los Angeles to let go of my apartment, pack the rest of my clothes, sell my car and go back to Italy the next day. I was living in Rome at the time doing film work and modelling, so it never entered my mind that I would be staying here. I thought OK - we will have a couple of dates I guess and I'll be on my way and he'll be on his way. By the end of the second date which was the next day, as the date finished I said Elvis "it's really been a treat meeting you and I really enjoyed our last couple of days together and it's time for me to go home".
We had done some more really fun things in Los Angeles that night and then had gone back to his house again, the same house where I had met him, and spent time there. He said "look - I want to see you again".
And I said "well I need to go home and pack as I will be leaving to go back to live in Europe in a couple of days".
He looked at me incredulously and he said "no you can't go back you have to stay here" and I looked at him and I said "I'm a bit confused - what is it that you're saying to me?" and he said "I don't want you to go. I want you to stay here in America and be my girlfriend".
I said "Elvis - I have a life in Europe now and I've been there for the last year and a half and I can't just stop everything - my work and my business is there. I can't just stay here in the hopes that you want to see me".
Mindi Miller in seventies TV series 'Switch' with costars Robert Wagner & Sharon Gless
He went on to say "it won't be like that - I'm leaving for a tour in a couple of weeks and I want you to be with me and you'll come to Memphis - you'll come and stay at Graceland. We will see each other on tours and in Memphis and when I'm in LA and it won't be a once-in-a-while relationship."
So I said 'let me think about this overnight and let you know' and he said 'well just know that I don't want you to go, I want you to stay here' and he held my hands and he sat me down and he look straight in my eyes and he said "please I'm asking you to stay for me" and I looked back at him and I said "Elvis if I stay here - I'm only staying for one reason and that's to be with you. I have no other reason to be here other than to be with you".
He then responded "what is it that you need to do to stay here?" and I said "I need to get the rest of my clothes back from Europe, close at my apartment in Europe, sign out with my agencies in Rome and then tell my apartment manager that I'm keeping my apartment etc. etc."
EIN: Were you working on the CBS TV series 'Switch' with Robert Wagner at the time you knew Elvis?
Mindi Miller: Yes, that was done at Universal Studios - it aired from 1974 through to 1977. In fact they had to let me off the show for a week to attend Elvis'
funeral. Of course it was a big deal for Robert Wagner because he was married to
Natalie Wood and Natalie had dated Elvis - so they were in complete
shock when I told them privately that I had been dating Elvis because I
had not revealed that to anyone before.
EIN: So what did he do to convince you? How long did your relationship last?
Mindi Miller: The very next day I got a call from Elvis and the guys and they were saying to meet Joan Kardashian (Joe Esposito's former wife) at a specific place because she had an envelope for me. I was to meet her and have her give me this envelope. So I met Joni the next day and I opened the envelope and there was about $5000 cash in there and Joni told me that Elvis wanted me to use that money to keep my apartment, to send for my clothes and do whatever I needed to do to get myself situated here back in Los Angeles. And to get my car fixed because Elvis saw that my car was kind of bashed in which is why he had offered to give me a new car and I told him no!
He then had to leave that day and I think he went back to Memphis and he called me and he said look honey I have to leave now but you stay here, I will be in touch with you over the next week or to get yourself ready and you'll be flying out to meet me on my next tour which was to start in Florida and I'm going to send for you.
So that's how our relationship started. The guys had told me that he had broken up with his then girlfriend, who I was not aware of, and that he had been looking for a new girlfriend. So I did not know anything about the other girls. |
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I had heard about Linda Thompson but then I thought, well perhaps they have broken up so I never questioned him about that as I did not feel that it was my place to do so.
I met him in March 1975 we dated on and off over the period of 1975 and 1976 I did not see him exclusively as it turns out of course - we all now know that he never saw anyone exclusively and that there were always other ladies.
EIN: At that time in 1975 Elvis seemed to be getting his act together after his emotional roller-coaster of 1974. Did you think Elvis was in a happy place at the time?
Mindi Miller: I did I never saw him upset or angry or anything. I saw him as a very happy man, very much in control. One of the guys had said to me that Elvis was really happy to meet me and they felt that I was giving him a new lease on life and that he was very excited - which really made me feel good because I thought well if I can be that for somebody and especially someone like Elvis - it was a complete joy for me.
I thought with all the things that we had in common from fire arms, karate, horses, Hawaii, spirituality, the Bible, religion etc. I thought these things could carry us in a relationship based on mutual interests.
EIN: So when you were with Elvis was he still into karate?
Mindi Miller: Well that first night he put on a karate exhibition for me with Sonny and Red West in his house - that was the first night that I met him he had asked me what my interests were and I told him that I had been taking karate and he loved that because he said that was his number one sport besides football.
I did not know that he was into karate at all, but I had been taking karate because I did a lot of stunt work in my films and so I was used to doing tumbling, falls, fire arms, hand to hand combat and more.
I was doing the style of karate called Shotokan. Elvis was doing the style of karate called Kenpo - and he wanted me to take classes in Kenpo with Ed Parker in Ed Parkers dojo at his school here in Los Angeles - which I started to do.
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EIN: Did you go to any of his recording sessions or see him play music around the house?
Mindi Miller: I never went to any of his recording sessions. Either I was working and I could not make it or he was out of town and I was in Los Angeles. He did sit down at the piano and play and sing and of course it was always the gospel songs which he loved so very much.
What many people may not realize is that in many ways Elvis was a better piano player then he was a guitar player and he loved the piano. He tried out all kinds of instruments because he was just so musically inclined and he tried the drums and many other instruments as well and he was just so gifted in that way.
And wherever we were whether we were at his house in Memphis or Palm Springs or LA or when we were in Vegas or Denver or anywhere that we were on tour - he would always be humming or singing or tapping his foot or tapping his hands on something. It's not that he could not sit still, but he was always hearing music in his mind.
EIN: As far as your films and stunt work – tell us a bit about your film “Amazons” and why you changed your name to “Ty Randolph” for a short time?
Mindi Miller: I did "Amazons" not because it was a great film (obviously if anyone has seen it!) it was a B-movie - very tongue-in-cheek done by Roger Corman who had discovered a lot of stars including Jack Nicholson. He was the man who gave people their start and I wanted to do it because I wanted to see Argentina and do my own stunt work and have the opportunity to ride the horses and do hand to hand combat do my karate, my sword fighting, my numbchucks and be kind of what you call a 'bad ass chick' if you'll pardon the expression (LOL).
We did it in the jungles in the Amazon of Argentina and I spent probably a good three months down there.
Because Roger Corman gave so many actors their start, I thought that it would be a good opportunity to get myself out there but my manager at the time said Mindi Miller is too simplistic of a name for you - you need something else. So we chose Ty Randolph but I did not stay with the name very long as I had done a lot of work under my real name so we decided to go back to that.
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EIN: You also did another film that was the complete opposite to Amazons called “Sacred Ground” which was a family Christian-oriented film. Can you tell us a bit about that?
Mindi Miller: Yes that was the film that was done up in Rocky point in Medford Oregon. It was a family film and a real story about the chief Paute Indian named Edison Chiloquin. It was one of the first leading roles I ever had and it was really a joy to work on. As it turns out, Jack Elam who was a big western character actor at the time had worked with my father David Kashner, who was a big character actor and stuntman in Hollywood known then as the ‘bullwhip man of Hollywood’.
As it turned out, Jack did not know that my father had a daughter, which was me. And I did not know that Jack knew my father - so at the end of the film I found out that I was adopted at birth and called Jack and his wife Jennifer and they were the first people to send me a picture of my father. They also told me me all about him, so that film in my life was a true true blessing
We filmed for 2 1/2 months in the snow in the most beautiful wilderness forest you can imagine. I got to ride the horses all the time and had beautiful leather dresses and leather fringe jackets made for me by the Paiute Indians there. I learned so much from them and I really, really enjoyed doing that film. It was indeed 180° turn around from Amazons.
EIN: Elvis was known as a night-owl. Did you end up staying up all night as well? Did you ever see him take the pills?
Mindi Miller: I also was a night owl and never got to sleep early and I also slept in late from the time. I was a child so we had that in common also which was great because we could be on the same time clock together and it was wonderful because in the wee hours of the morning when everybody else was sleeping we would stay up in the bedroom and read and talk and watch TV and talk about spirituality and life and life after death and the planet and how we got here and what our purpose on this planet, why we we're born, what did God want for humanity etc. etc.
Elvis was an incredibly deep, deep, thinker and so was I, so we got along so well on these subjects because these were the subjects I always studied before I ever met him so again we had that in common.
The only pills I ever saw him take in my presence was sleeping pills he offered me a sleeping pill and said "here honey if you need to sleep and you can't this might help you" but I said "no thank you Elvis I don't need it".
One time he was a bit insistent because he said we really do need to sleep we've been up all night and I took the pill put it under my tongue and then when we went to bed I took it out and put it under my pillow. I wanted to watch him and make sure that he was OK when he was sleeping and I was told by the guys that if he got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom or anything else to make sure that I watched him and that he did not slip and fall because he would be groggy from the sleeping pill. So I did not take a sleeping pill because I wanted to be there for him and make sure that he would be OK.
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EIN: So the first time you got to go on tour with Elvis was in Florida 1975? What do you remember thinking when you first saw him performing on stage? How many shows did you see?
Mindi Miller: I don't know how many shows I saw - I never counted. I was so in the moment of just being with him and enjoying his company that everything else was so surreal to me. I was really into Elvis Presley as the man and the human being and as a boyfriend that I dated - I did not look up on him as someone that I was with because he was an incredible entertainer and again that is because I grew up in Hollywood and I have been so used to it by the time I met him. So for me to see people come off the stage or off of a film or a concert - for me it was the understanding that it was their job but it was only a job so the human being meant a lot more to me than the entertainer.
But when I saw him on stage I thought this is perhaps for me the most incredible entertainer that I had ever seen. I had seen him before in concert before I had ever met him, but seeing him and now knowing him were two different things. Now I got the birds-eye view - the backstage view of what really went into his shows and he was enormously talented.
He really, really was and I had so much more respect for him once I started to know him because I realized how difficult the shows were on him.
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EIN: Elvis sang T.R.O.U.B.L.E on stage throughout his Spring tours in 1975 all the way to his Las Vegas August 1975 season. Did he ever dedicate it to you?
Mindi Miller: Not that I remember, but he did not know that it had become my favorite song. I'm sure if I had told him that - being the type of man that he was - he may have dedicated that song to me. But I never told him that it was one of my favorite songs, I had always kept that to myself.
EIN: Did you spend much time at Graceland? Did you ever meet Lisa?
Mindi Miller: The first time I went to Graceland was after a tour and I did not meet Lisa or get to know her until we came back to Graceland. The first thing he did after we got home, was go into the Jungle Room and relax for a little while, had some food and then took me up to Lisa's bedroom which was just across the way from Elvis's bedroom. I remember him taking me up there because he wanted me to see her and meet her but she was sleeping so he picked her up in his arms and he held her and brought her to me from her big round white bed and I gave her a kiss on the cheek and I said 'Elvis she is a beautiful little girl and you have much to be proud of' and he turned to me and whispered in my ear as Lisa was still sleeping "she is my heart".
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EIN: Graceland would have been decorated all red in 1975. What decor do you think looked better?
Mindi Miller: Honestly because I have not been back to the house since the funeral I don't know if the house looks better now because I have not been inside it. I have honestly had no desire to go back to the house to see it because from the pictures that I see it has been all changed. The only rooms that look the same to me is the Jungle Room and the Kitchen, and perhaps a bit of the Music Room. Of course the upstairs I remember very well but I have not been up there either so I do not know what has been changed upstairs.
The house has been redecorated from what I've seen and it's not the same house that I remember. I liked the red it was very different for me being from Southern California but it was a very southern style house in the day. Because I have not seen the way it has been redecorated I cannot say honestly which I prefer but I will say this very honestly - I wish that the house would have been allowed to stay the way it was when Elvis was alive.
After speaking with so many of Elvis' fans, I think it would've been very nice for them to be able to see the way it was exactly how he lived in it at the time of his passing. The house they are seeing now is not the house in the way that he lived in it when he passed away. I would've like to have them see it how it was at that time.
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EIN: Ok - now the painful questions -sorry in advance- When and how did it end? Did Elvis and you keep in touch after your main affair ended?
Mindi Miller: The last time I saw Elvis was in November, the end of November 1976 and I spoke to him in 1977 shortly after his birthday. He called me personally on the phone - that time none of the guys called me and said "Elvis wants to talk to you"..... he called me himself which he did from time to time with some people. I wished him a happy belated birthday and asked him how he was doing and if he was happy in his life. I thanked him for all the wonderful things that he had done for me and for the quality time that I had been able to spend with him.
I told him that I learned a lot from him and that I would always hold him dear in my heart. We never spoke after that, and then I went to his funeral in August 1977 for those three days.
EIN: Was there an actual break up? Or did you just see each other less and less until you didn't see each other at all?
Mindi Miller: Elvis was not typical in any of his relationships with any of his girlfriends. He did not like confrontation and he never wanted to hurt anybody's feelings - but there was something very personal between us and I know why it ended. However I'm not at liberty to say. He would tend to see the girlfriends less and less and then just not see her again, and sometimes it would just fade away he never wanted to hurt anyone's feelings that's for sure.
EIN: Do you still have any jewelry Elvis gave you?
Mindi Miller: I do and I cherish them. I don't have a lot - that wasn't my thing. I was not privy to a lot of the jewelry that some other people got but that's not what is important to me and it never has been. The importance of him to me was his spirituality and more than anything I love the books that he gave me and the things that he taught me, where he underlined things and wrote in the books.
For me it was never about the gifts whether it was the car or clothes or jewelry or money or trips - it always was then, and still is to this day, about the human being, the man, the soul, the Spirit. He himself was the gift for me personally. It wasn't about what he gave me or even what he did for me it was about who he was and how exceptional of a man that he was. I did not care if I got the TCB or not, I did not care if I got tons of jewelry or not, I did not care if he bought me a car after car or not.
All I cared about was him and that's all that ever was important then and now.
EIN: Does Elvis ever visit you in your dreams?
Mindi Miller: Yes he has visited me many, many times and we used to speak a lot about how he would visit the people that he cared about once he passed on. I have posted many things about his visits with me - one very recently about a music box. An Easter music box that turned on by itself in a store and no one was around and it was playing 'Love Me Tender'. Everywhere else I went for the rest of the day - as soon as I would walk into a store his music would be on. I do have some incredible stories that happened to me and I have shared them with the fans in my postings.
The guys have also had things happen to them that they have spoken about, some of the guys have been with me when certain things happened. Dreaming is an astral projection which is another thing that we studied and that we were very curious about and spoke about. He also believed as to why there are seven stages of the soul ascending after we leave this planet and what we do here and how we treat others will have a lot to do with how our soul ascends after the physical body passes away.
So yes he visits me in many different ways in my dreams and he shows me certain things all the time to show he is visiting and that he still around.
EIN: Do you stay in touch with any of Elvis' friends, it was a shock hearing of Joe Esposito and Marty Lacker's death recently. Did you speak to them over the years?
Mindi Miller: OK I became very good friends with Al Strada. He was Elvis's wardrobe man and also had different positions when and where and how Elvis needed him. He was one of the most loving and charming gentleman I've ever met I always say that Al was my hero not just because he had such respect for Elvis - but because he is the one that got me through the day of the funeral at Forest Hills. He was kind and always respectful and after Elvis's passing he sent me things in the mail that he thought I might like concerning Elvis - little poems and sayings and those sorts of things. I will always treasure them. I have the ultimate respect for him because he has never spoken about Elvis - he has never written a tell all book about Elvis and he has chosen to stay extremely quiet and I respect that so much.
I became friends with Charlie Hodge after Elvis's passing. Charlie wanted to move to Los Angeles and he was looking for an apartment so I found him an apartment in my building in West Hollywood and he moved in right underneath me. We became close friends and we spoke and we talked and it was really a comfort to me to know that he was there and I felt like a part of Elvis was with me for the time that he lived in my building.
I was also very, very close friends with Joe Esposito. After I met Joe, I became very close to him and he would invite me to his apartment in Beverly Hills and make the most wonderful Italian dishes. We would all go to the movies and we would do all kinds of fun things together and I am so saddened by his passing just a few short months ago. He was one of the most authentic genuine, loving, caring, funny men that I've ever met. |
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He had the most wonderful sense of humor and when he and Elvis would laugh together and chuckle it was such a delight and you could not help but laugh yourself. I miss Joe very, very much.
After he married, moved out of Los Angeles with his new bride and I did not see him for a while. We were not in touch those years. After he moved to Las Vegas I saw him there and I just have the best memories of him.
I would also like to mention Larry Geller, because I have so much respect and love for him. He was so good to Elvis in the times that Elvis really needed the spiritual guidance - when life would get to him and he would be so tired. I really respect Larry so much and love the fact that he has written some great spiritual books.
EIN: What did you think when you heard that Elvis had died? How did you find out, who told you?
Mindi Miller: Well, when the phone call came, the only word that was said on the other end was “Mindi…..” and I knew by the tone of this person’s voice, that Elvis had passed. I said “he’s gone isn’t he?”. I was stunned and dropped to the floor with the phone still in my hand. I couldn’t move.
Joe Esposito called me about 30 minutes later and told me to quickly pack and get to the airport at LAX, as the Lisa Marie would be waiting to fly people back to Graceland. A short while after that, whilst I was still packing, Joe called again and informed me that Priscilla was not allowing anyone on the plane other than the immediate family.
So once we were at LAX, American Airlines were bumping people off planes to get on other people going to the funeral to Memphis. I was in such shock I didn’t even remember what I packed or anything. It all became such a blur to me and I do not even remember the plane flight there.
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EIN: What has Mindi Miller been doing since 1977 - having Elvis Presley as a previous partner must be a little challenging for any future relationship?
Mindi Miller: It has been extremely challenging and no one that I have ever met before, during or after, has been able to come close to this iconoclastic man. He was given so many gifts from God and he used them all so well.
I know that it's not fair for me or any of us to compare him with another man it's not fair to the other man. If they know that I dated Elvis - they already get insecure and say 'well I can't beat that or I can't top that or how do I compete with that' and my answer is you 'don't compete with it you just be your own wonderful self'.
In the years ensuing since 1977, I have chosen never to marry for different reasons. I have continued to do my acting and my modeling and my hosting and I now have a business called Your Best Skin Aesthetics. I do YouTube shows and I do consultations and speaking engagements and I raise women up of a certain age that perhaps have gone thru very bad divorce divorces in their life or losses. I try to help them and show them and teach them that they can be the best that they can be in any realm that they want to pursue. I teach them about hair and make up and exercise and living well and honoring and loving themselves.
I show them that they don't have to depend on anyone but themselves if they don't want to and I really enjoy doing that with women as I see too much jealousy and pettiness and competition in women and it does not need to be there. I speak to them about anti-aging and how to eat and how to be healthy through mind body and spirit.
So my business is just not a skin care - I am licensed as I am a paramedical clinical aesthetician and have worked with plastic surgeons and doctors and dermatologists and it's a business that I thoroughly enjoy because I love helping people become the best that they can be. |
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I’m also still doing some acting and hosting my You Tube shows. I continue to make personal appearances in the hope of raising up Elvis’ legacy in the proper way. I want to be able to show people that we need to remember him not the way he passed, but for who he was and what he did. He lived a brilliant life and had an amazing career. It’s not that he needs me, or anyone else, to do that, but I simply want the fans to know who the real Elvis Presley was – how he would want them to know him.
EIN: Mindi, thank you so very much for taking the time to chat with me. We very much appreciate it and I'm looking forward to meeting you in person for your first Elvis Week in Memphis this coming August. I'm sure it will be an incredibly emotional time for you, particularly seeing you have not been back there for 40 years.
Mindi Miller: My pleasure, and I'm very much looking forward to meeting the fans!
Go HERE to find out more about Mindi Miller & Your Best Skin Aesthetics.
And find out even more about Mindi Miller here - bookings and personal appearances
Interview by Sanja Meegin.
-Copyright EIN April 2017 -
EIN Website content © Copyright the Elvis Information Network.
Click here to comment on this interview
EIN received some marvelous feedback about Sanja's recent interview with Mindi Miller - below are just a few of the best comments
Mira S M
Wow great in-depth interview! I didnt realize how close they were. I always thought it was a little mean/selfish of him (even though I love him!) to convince her to stay in LA but reading this interview I see that he really did want to spend a lot of time with her and they did . Ahhh how romantic!!! And she speaks so well of him. Very nice!
Sue T
Best interview I have read in ages. New tales from a previous relatively unknown girlfriend. I had only heard of her name before, Well done EIN.
Barry S
Great interview - good work Sanja for finding new stories about Elvis and his life in the 70s. Mindi Millers insights about her times with elvis were a great read.
JoAnn W A
AWESOME INTERVIEW
Shirley R
I hadn't realized they were that close for that long..sounds like a wonderful relationship, having so many things in common.. that must've been a first in his book. She sounds like a very common sense person. Am again reminded from the interview just how selfish Priscilla really is not to share the jet with others... and how she just took it over.. sickening... some things never change.
Melany G
A great find, I wish I was going to Elvis week this year to meet her. Mindi Miller was obviously good for Elvis and they both liked the same kind o things. He should have stuck with her rather than go to Gingerbread who was way to young.
Steve P
Thank you Sanja for such a detailed and long interview. Mindi Miller stories helped show that Elvis was healthier and happier in 1975 than we are led to believe by those others.
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