Has anyone every heard of this Swedish woman, Lisa Johansen, who claimed to be the real Lisa Marie Presley? It's a pretty wacky story. She used to have her own website, which apparently has since been pulled. She wrote a book called I, Lisa Marie, for which she was paid a $200,000 advance and was supposed to undergo DNA testing. She refused the DNA tests, DUH, which would have proved her case and sold millions of copies of her book. Gee, I wonder why she wouldn't get tested? Especially since she was offering half of Elvis's estate (including Graceland) to anyone who could help prove that she was indeed the King's daughter. Seems like a no-brainer to me.
Anyway, she's been sued by the real Lisa Marie. I guess that's why her website is down.
Johansen's story sounds plausible enough: After Elvis died in 1977, Priscilla Presley acted on her fears that someone might try to kidnap the King's lone benefactor. So, she took Lisa Marie, then nine, to Sweden, where she was brought up. According to the book, Johansen was then replaced by the woman we now know as Lisa Marie.
"Trusted family members and friends convince [Johansen] it is for her own safety," according to Johansen's Website, "that she must assume a new identity until she comes of an age to take her rightful place as the sole heir of a huge estate."
I particularly like the "forensic" evidence that was offered by her:
The biggest piece of "forensic" evidence purportedly comes from a skull and face analysis of Lisa Marie Presley and of Elvis and Priscilla's daughter, as seen in photos at age nine. Johansen claims Lisa Marie's forehead as an adult is 13 percent smaller than that of the child in the photos.
"Since the skull doesn't shrink as you grow older--the reports indicate a switch," her Website deduces. "The little Lisa Marie, who spent her childhood years in Graceland, had disappeared!"
I was on her site and I saw the pictures of her and read her story. She does look a bit like the real Lisa Marie, I'll give her that. But, being that Lisa Marie is the absolute spitting image of her dad, it's a ridiculous claim that she's an imposter! It's pretty amusing though. I wish her site was still available just so you guys could read the rantings of a truly delusional individual.
Has anyone else seen it?
You can read almost all of the text that was on her site, but unfortunately most of the images have been lost (the wayback machine tends not to archive images). All that remains is one very indistinct picture of her that was used in a sidebar:
Yes, I thought it was pretty bizarre. I found it one time when I was looking up the real Lisa Marie. I couldn't believe what I was reading. You can see from that little picture that you found that there is some resemblance, but there's no comparison. I mean, if you put them side by side and asked which one was the daughter of the King, I don't think you'd have a problem picking out the real one.
Very creative imagination though. I guess after years of people telling her she looked like Lisa Marie she decided to try and capitalize on it. Either that or she really is out of her mind and believes it! I wonder which. She's got a whole history worked out. It's quite amusing. She seems to believe it.
They didn't say if she had to give back the $200,000 advance. I imagine she did. I wonder what became of her... Maybe somebody will pretend to be her oneday.
Correction, I said that Johansen was sued by the real Lisa Marie, I was mistaken, she was sued by her own publisher for failure to take a DNA test.
I believe that Pricilla & Lisa Marie have totally ignored this woman.
Alex is there a way for me to edit the original post?
"Johansen's story sounds plausible enough: After Elvis died in 1977, Priscilla Presley acted on her fears that someone might try to kidnap the King's lone benefactor. So, she took Lisa Marie, then nine, to Sweden, where she was brought up. According to the book, Johansen was then replaced by the woman we now know as Lisa Marie."
That sounded PLAUSIBLE to eonline.com?? They have a low threshold of plausibility, I guess. Sounds pretty off-the-wall to me.
By the way, I am typing this in a room at the Riviera hotel in Las Vegas. A few hours ago, I passed a guy who looked a lot like Elvis in the casino. Now, *some* may say he is an Elvis impersonator who works in a local show, but I know the REAL truth. ELVIS himself has been working as an Elvis impersonator for decades now--the perfect disguise, no? Should I submit this story to eonline.com?
Did you ever see the movie "Bubba Ho-Tep"? http://imdb.com/title/tt0281686/
That's just what it's about. The real Elvis is now living in a nursing home and has actually been living as an Elvis impersonator for years. It's a really weird movie. "Based on the Bram Stoker Award nominee short story by cult author Joe R. Lansdale, Bubba Ho-tep tells the "true" story of what really did become of Elvis Presley. We find Elvis (Bruce Campbell) as an elderly resident in an East Texas rest home, who switched identities with an Elvis impersonator years before his "death", then missed his chance to switch back. Elvis teams up with Jack (Ossie Davis), a fellow nursing home resident who thinks that he is actually President John F. Kennedy, and the two valiant old codgers sally forth to battle an evil Egyptian entity who has chosen their long-term care facility as his happy hunting grounds."
Anyway, I digress.
I was thinking, wouldn't Lisa Johansen have had a better chance convincing people if she had just said that Elvis was her father because he had had a fling with her mother, rather than trying to convince people she was actually Lisa Marie? That is at least plausable. You're right, that is so funny that eonline says her story is "plausable" That's too funny!
crazed
in palm bch
Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2005 | 09:36 PM
I found this info a long time ago by looking up LMP. I found pics of this fake, there used 2 b more of these pics, some were with her kids. I especially remember a pic with her sitting on a chest of drawers. I cannot believe that someone would go to this length to get publicity, very strange.
LMP fan
in Fl
Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2005 | 03:33 PM
This Lisa Johansen is obviously a scam artist. If Priscilla found a "look alike" of Lisa Marie, as Lisa Johansen says, y would Priscilla "allow" "Lisa Marie" 2 marry Michael Jackson? Also, y would Priscilla have "allowed" the antics of "Lisa Marie" in her teen yrs?? Wouldn't Priscilla have said, "Now that u are 'Lisa Marie', u must act appropriately." I think that would fall under NOT marrying Michael Jackson! PLEASE people!!! This woman is a scam artist!!!!! I challenge her 2 take a DNA test! DNA test people, DNA test!!!
Lisa J. is a scam artist, and if others think that this story is "plausable" or even possible, you are as far gone as this crazy lady is! No one I beleive at the momemt knows LJ whereabouts, her and her "husband" are on the run and are wanted by authorities for scams all over europe and australia.
I have read the book. Looking at the photographs, she certainly does resemble Elvis. And if this is a hoax, she has gone to extreme lengths to pull it off. If she is a fake, why doesn't Priscilla or "Lisa Marie" sue her to get this stopped? It isn't the best kind of publicity for the Presley family.
I suppose that in some of her "poses" you could say she resembles Elvis a little. Now think of all the celebrity look-alike contests you've seen... Further, I can tell you that one of the reasons you may think she looks like him is tat she has spent years practicing her poses - just as the Elvis impersonators do. I'm sure you'll notice she looks nothing like him in most of her photos in the book. In fact, she is almost like a chameleon, her appearance changes so often. If you have seen her pictures from when she was in grade school, junior high and high school in Sweden, she looks nothing like Elvis or Priscilla, but does look like the spitting image of her birth mother, Marena Nickula.
I guess one could say she's gone to extreme lenghts, however, the monetary gain she received along the way was quite extensive, which after all is the reason for a scam. The $200,000 she received for the book wasn't all she received. Several people that she fooled gave her hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years. For people like Sari and Torrey, it was easier than working and they had worked out everything in advance for the day they would be caught. For a while, they just sat back and ordered others to do for them, while they reaped the benefits. Why would Priscilla or Lisa spend their time, energy, and money challenging her? They know she's a fraud, so why bother? Sari and Torrey would have loved the attention if that had happened, and would have made even more money from being given attention. Graceland gave the appropriate response when they stated they viewed Lisa Johansen in the same way they view people who claim that Elvis was abducted by aliens...is alive and well and living in Kansas, and so on ...
Maegan
in Tampa, FL - USA Member
Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2005 | 03:46 AM
Ooohh...I could be a real life version of Bubba Ho Tep.
After all the link posted by K.D. says she got plastic surgery. That would surely help her looking like the King. All imposters' hoxes are elaborate and seem to have some grounds to support it. That just makes them creative, not true!
I have been to Lisa Johansen's website before it was taken down. I think she was absolutely mental!!! Everytime Lisa Johansen updated her site all she said was "Lisa did NOT record To Whom It May Concern.", "Lisa did not marry Michael Jackson." Blah. Blah. Blah. Is that all she can say? She said the opposite of what Lisa does or says. I am glad that Lisa Marie sued her and made her take down her site. Lisa Johansen is NOT the Kings daughter!!!
I have met Lisa Marie Presley and she is defenitly the splitting image of her father!!! There is no way that Lisa Johansen is any way shape or form, an offspring of Elvis Presley.
LMP is much more gorgeous anyway!!!
LMP_0108
in Texas
Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2005 | 04:17 PM
I just read the correction that LMP did not sue her, but that it was her publicist. Go publicist!!!
Jin
Posted: Fri Jul 15, 2005 | 07:15 PM
Obviously, this woman has some problems of her own going on upstairs. I'll tell you, Alot of people tell me that I look alot like Elvis and/or Lisa Marie. I'm not related to either of them.
Nor would I ever try to convince anyone otherwise. I've seen impersonators who look just like the celebrities they portray. I've never had surgery in my life and I know that if this broad did have surgery, the Dr. should have done a better job. She looks nothing like Elvis or Priscilla. Maybe if she had taken a DNA test and it was proven that she was related to Elvis, then maybe I would believe that she was a "Love Child" from one of Elvis' MANY affairs. Highly Unlikely, but It's possible, but it seems to me that this woman is just looking for a Slice of the Elvis Estate, Company and his legacy. This woman was either brought up to believe this BS or she is just crazy enough to try to get into the number one position of the "Best Kept Secrets of Hollywood."
banana
in tx
Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2005 | 01:37 AM
i just finished this book. i picked it up in a thrift shop in austin tx. this lady has serious mental disorders.to bad people like this reproduce!
