The Life of Linda Thompson: The Woman Elvis Presley, Caitlyn Jenner, and David Foster Loved

Linda Thompson has made a name for herself with her dazzling songwriting abilities and as a regular on the TV show *Hee Haw*. While she's an award-winning lyricist, perhaps she's best known for her star-studded love life. Throughout her years in the spotlight, Thompson has dated many equally famous celebrities, including Elvis, Caitlyn Jenner, and David Foster. So, how did the country girl catch the eye of these stars? Let's dive deeper into Linda Thompson's rise to fame and the many high-profile relationships she’s had along the way.

A Star is Born

Linda Thompson was born on May 23, 1950, in Memphis, Tennessee to Margie and Sanford Abel Thompson. A talented student with dazzling good looks, she went to Kingsbury High School where she was crowned Homecoming Queen. After graduating from high school, Thompson enrolled at Memphis State University where she studied for four years, majoring in English and Drama. The stunning Southern Belle couldn't have known that a chance encounter with a star was about to change her life forever.

Beauty Queen

Deciding to capitalize on her blessings, Thompson started entering beauty pageants to help fund her college education. An immediate hit on the pageant circuit, she went on to win Miss Liberty Bowl, Miss Shelby County, and numerous other titles. But it wasn’t until she won Miss Tennessee Universe when she was 22 that her status as a beauty queen would lead her to meet the love of her life: Elvis Presley. Meeting the "King of Rock and Roll" was about to change her life forever.

Miss Tennessee

Thompson met Elvis at a movie theatre. “I was Miss Tennessee. I was Miss Tennessee Universe in 1972, and Elvis was Elvis. And I was invited to go to the Memphian Theater, which he rented out after midnight to screen films,” she recalled while on *Larry King Live*. “So, I was invited to go to the theater. And Miss Rhode Island, Jeannie LaMay, was my roommate in the Miss USA pageant. She was living in Memphis. And she and I went to the theater and were introduced to him properly,” Thompson continued. While the two beauty queens were about to meet the King, only one would go on to share his kingdom.

A Night at the Movies

"He came into the cinema very grumpy, then shone a light round and rested it on my face. 'Well, hello,' he purred.’ He sat next to me and nuzzled into my neck," she revealed to the *Daily Mail*. At the time she thought he was still married, so she ignored his advances. However, Elvis reassured her they had broken up six months ago and that he was single. “I can’t recall the film we saw as we spent the night kissing and cuddling. Kissing Elvis was like plunging your lips into two soft, sweet marshmallows—his lips were so soft. He smelled so fresh — of the Neutrogena soap he used,” she continued. Little did Thompson know that this was just the start of their whirlwind romance.

Graceland

Elvis divorced his former wife Priscilla six months earlier and it wasn’t long before he and Thompson began a serious relationship. He even invited her to Graceland to meet his family the day after they first met. “I thought that was pretty momentous. I knew it was the start of something magical,” she told *Vintage Rock Magazine*. Within just a year of them starting to date, Thompson moved into the Memphis mansion and accompanied Elvis on all of his tours. At first, everything seemed wonderful, but that was about to change.

Life With Elvis

Being with Elvis gave Thompson a life of glitz and glamor she’d never experienced before. She got on well with Elvis’s entourage, the so-called “Memphis mafia”, and did everything she could to support his career, attending every show. However, things were sometimes claustrophobic. The two were together 24 hours a day, leading a nocturnal lifestyle and getting up at 9 p.m. While Thompson recognized Elvis’s dependence on prescription drugs early on, the rock and roll star didn’t admit he had a problem. Even though she stuck by him, things were about to get a lot worse.

Saving His Life

“Once he fell asleep after taking a sleeping tablet and went head first into a bowl of chicken soup. I pulled him out as he would have choked to death. There were other occasions, but I’ll take them to my grave,” she told the *Daily Mail*. Caring for Elvis in his vulnerable state began to take its toll. “I would wake up constantly while we were sleeping to check on him. I was exhausted,” Thompson revealed to *Vintage Rock Magazine*. But, Elvis’s substance abuse wasn’t the only thing causing friction in the relationship.

Rumors Fly

Thompson suspected Elvis was still seeing other women, and the media was constantly speculating. It was devastating for her to know that even though she was dedicating her life to caring for him, he was still cheating on her. “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 while he was addicted to drugs — they were his true mistress,” she told the *Daily Mail*.

Normal Life

Although they adored each other, Elvis and Thompson never got married. They had discussed it and Elvis even gave her a pre-engagement ring the first Christmas they spent together. However, what Linda Thompson wanted most of all was a baby and she didn’t want to bring a child into the crazy world of non-stop shows, medication, and media attention. Thompson realized she wanted to lead a normal life. But it was easier said than done—she loved Elvis deeply and he relied on her. She wondered if he could live without her.

The Separation

“I thought that without my care he may very well die, but I knew it wasn’t my role in life to stay and keep him alive. I also knew that I may find him deceased anyway, and I would be devastated if it happened on my watch. It took me nearly a year to wean myself away from him in increments, taking vacations with my family or Jeanne,” she told *Vintage Rock Magazine*. The couple parted in San Francisco in 1976 after more than four and a half years together. Elvis encouraged Thompson to fly home to Memphis to rest. She couldn't have known that it would be the last time she would see him alive.

Moving On

Just eight months later, Thompson received a phone call from young Lisa Marie Presley, Elvis’s daughter from his marriage with Priscilla. The devastated nine-year-old girl informed her that Elvis died. “No matter how much you anticipate someone is going to pass, it was still such a shock,” Thompson told *Vintage Rock Magazine*. However, with Elvis’s passing, she could finally start to move on and pursue the life she wanted to lead. She was still only 27 and she was keen to settle down and start a family. Little did she know that the next partner she would meet would turn her life completely upside down.

Olympic Star

Two years after Elvis’s death in 1979, Thompson met Caitlyn Jenner (then known as Bruce) at a charity event. In a bizarre twist of fate, she first spotted the Olympic star while watching TV in bed with Elvis a few years earlier. As she shared with the *Daily Mail*, both had admired the athlete’s good looks, with Thompson even saying “I'm going to marry that guy someday.” “Over my dead body,” was Elvis’s prophetic reply. They were both about to be proved right.

They Hit it Off

The event was a charity tennis tournament benefiting the John Tracy Clinic for deaf children. It took place at the Playboy Mansion, Jenner’s temporary residence since his split from Chrystie Scott. Thompson was working as an actress on the variety show *Hee Haw* and her task was to present the awards at the tennis tournament in her role as a “Hee Haw Honey”. Jenner won the tournament, and sparks were flying as Linda presented the silver trophy. It wouldn’t be long before the two got serious.

Life in the Limelight

Life with Jenner was less turbulent than it had been with Elvis, but the couple got their share of glamor and excitement. A well-known celebrity couple at the time, they were regularly seen on red carpets, hosting charity fundraisers and traveling the world to pursue their careers, Jenner as an athlete and Thompson as an actress. "[Jenner was] an easygoing, down-to-earth, casual, romantic, good and loving man. I was extremely happy to have found such a remarkable partner with whom to share my life,” she told the *Daily Mail*. The couple was about to have their next big milestone.

Wedding Bells

In January 1981, Thompson married Jenner on Waikiki Beach in Oahu, Hawaii. It was her dream wedding destination, inspired by Elvis’s movie *Blue Hawaii*. She even walked down the aisle to her favorite Elvis song. Everything seemed perfect, and Thompson thought she had finally found a person with whom she could raise children and grow old. However, she didn’t know that her partner was hiding a secret that would tear their lives apart.

Married Life

“Those were the happiest days of my life. I had a wonderful husband, who was the most athletic, high-spirited, energetic, easygoing, manly man imaginable,” Thompson recalled in her book, *A Little Thing Called Life: On Loving Elvis Presley, Bruce Jenner, and Songs in Between*. “Bruce and I spent our days living at the beach, jet skiing, walking on the beach every morning with our coffee, sailing on a Hobie Cat, playing tennis… I thought we lived a pretty idyllic life,” she wrote.

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 continued. She initially thought Jenner was going to admit to having an affair, but it wasn't that at all. “He said he was a woman in a man’s body and wanted to transition. I thought it was a passing phase, but after months of counseling, I realized it wasn’t,” she recalled to the *Daily Mail*.

Her Reaction

Her initial reaction was to view the revelation as something that could be fixed. The couple sought therapy from a gender dysphoria specialist, and after a few months, Thompson was finally able to reach the understanding that this wasn’t something that was going to go away. Although she was upset for herself, she recalled to *ABC News* that her “deeper compassion was for Bruce ... for her to have felt so trapped in the wrong body. It broke my heart to think that he, that he had struggled so long and so hard.” However, she was about experience something that would test her understanding.

True Self

One weekend, Jenner invited Thomopson to spend the weekend in New York. She was totally unprepared when Jenner answered the door in feminine clothes and makeup. In shock, she fell to the ground. “‘I’m so sorry. I just thought it was very important that you see who I authentically am,’” she recalled Jenner saying to her. “Not until that moment, I guess, did it sink into my psyche that that truly was who Caitlyn felt that she was. And I had to respect that and honor that and move on with my life,” she told *ABC News.*

Questioning Everything

Although she worked hard to be accepting and supportive, Jenner’s personal identity crisis wasn’t easy for her to cope with. "I questioned everything about myself," she told *ET*. "I questioned everything about life and what I knew of life. I questioned my own femininity, my own s--uality, my own intelligence, where I was going to go in the future with my life, and what would happen to my children. I questioned everything…I was unearthed. It was a crazy time," she continued.

Splitting Up

After trying therapy together for six months, the couple split up in 1986. Although Thompson supported Jenner’s decision to transition, she never imagined being married to a woman and decided to focus on her sons. Jenner began to take hormones and make other physical changes to realize her gender identity. After their divorce, Thompson waived her right to alimony and allowed Jenner to visit Brandon and Brody. She didn’t tell her sons what was happening, making excuses for why their dad’s body was changing. No one could have predicted what happened next.

New Family

But rather than move forward with the transition, Jenner met Kris Kardashian. The two married in 1991 after five months of dating and went on to have two daughters—Kylie and Kendall. Jenner also became a step-parent to Kris’s children from her previous marriage—Kourtney, Kim, Khloé, and Rob. Of course, we all know a lot about the lives of this ultra-famous blended family from the ground-breakingly successful reality TV series *Keeping Up With the Kardashians*, but how did Thompson feel about the fact that her former spouse had gone on to have 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 very much an absent dad and that hurt me and, more importantly, hurt our boys… he was portrayed as a good dad in *The Kardashians*,” she told the *Daily Mail*. Perhaps, because of this, Thompson and her sons never watched the show. "I didn't see my father more than half a dozen times between the ages eight and 25," Brandon Jenner shared in *To Me, He Was Just Dad*, a collection of essays by children of famous parents. “After Dad met and married Kris, family became a business for him, and I stayed away for most of my teenage years. I didn't want to be a part of their dynamic,” he wrote.

Why Didn’t She Tell?

Many people since have questioned why Thompson never revealed Jenner’s secret or warned Kris Kardashian that her new spouse had experienced gender dysphoria. But she maintains that it wasn’t her place to "out" her ex, and plus, she had no idea that Jenner was still struggling with her gender identity after the marriage to Kardashian. However, Thompson couldn't have known that it would be almost 30 years before she had to confront this tumultuous period from her past.

New Love

The same year that Jenner married Kris Kardashian and started a new life, Linda Thompson also found a new love. In 1991, Thompson met renowned Canadian musician, composer, and record producer, David Foster. Sharing a love of music and lyrics, she thought she found the perfect man to be her partner and a loving stepfather to her boys. She hoped this relationship would be the one to last forever.

Song Writing Team

It was during her relationship with Foster that Thompson was able to focus more on one of her greatest talents: songwriting. The English major had always been a poet and had already done several high-profile collaborations as a lyricist. Alongside Foster, she took her songwriting career to new heights. The couple collaborated on several songs, including “I Have Nothing”, performed by Whitney Houston in *The Bodyguard* which was nominated for an Academy Award. However, despite their compatibility in the studio, all was not as rosy as it seemed for Thompson and Foster.

The Princes of Malibu

Linda Thompson described Foster as jealous and controlling, particularly when it came to her relationship with Elvis, and didn’t like Linda to talk about her exes, in her book. He didn’t like Jenner to come to their home and visit the boys. And in 2005, the family decided to make the reality TV show *The Princes of Malibu*, which followed Brandon and Brody’s supposedly spoiled lifestyle in Foster’s Malibu estate. The show centered on Foster’s desire to stop the boys "freeloading". But the series was short-lived for a very good reason.

Going Separate Ways

Linda Thompson filed for divorce from David Foster on July 11, 2005, the day after the show premiered. They had been together for 14 years—the longest relationship that either of them had ever had. Foster went on to pursue two more marriages, first to Yolanda Hadid, mother of supermodels Gigi and Bella Hadid, and second to Katherine McPhee, a singer-songwriter and actress 35 years his junior. Thompson on the other hand, decided to take a different route.

Focusing on Herself

After her split from Foster, Thompson remained single, preferring to lead a quieter life in her beautiful Malibu home. She focused on her hobbies and her family, supporting her sons, enjoying tennis, hiking, and time at the beach. After her three epic relationships, she needed some time to reflect on her journey. She couldn’t have known that a decade later, her life and loves were going to be thrown into the spotlight all over again.

Jenner’s Revelation

In April 2015, Jenner came out as a trans woman and revealed her new name, Caitlyn, in July of that year. Finally, she could live as the person she’d always been inside, and Thompson could begin to talk publicly about the real reason behind the breakdown of their relationship. Thompson and her sons could begin to repair the hurt from the feelings of abandonment and come to terms with the reality of Jenner’s true self.

Showing Support

Caitlyn Jenner was delighted to have the support of Thompson and her sons Brandon and Brody during this intense moment. She spent a lot of time with her former family in Malibu after announcing her split from Kris Kardashian. Thompson and the boys were happy for Jenner that she could finally be herself. “I think, more than anything, it’s been a relief for Caitlyn to be able to emerge as her true self. And we love her ... But when I first met her, she was in a Bruce Jenner body. He was just an incredible person. Still is,” Thompson told *ABC News*.

Mixed Emotions

“I sometimes find it surreal to look into her perfectly made-up, beautiful brown eyes, while remembering the masculine, gorgeous man who fathered my sons,” she revealed to *People*. “That admission is just me being real. I completely accept, respect, and support Caitlyn, but I must admit, I sometimes miss Bruce,” she continued. However, her abiding feeling was one of love and support and she hopes Caitlyn Jenner will be recognized for years to come as a trailblazer for trans rights.

"A Little Thing Called Life"

In May 2016, Linda released her tell-all book *A Little Thing Called Life: On Loving Elvis Presley, Bruce Jenner, and Songs in Between*. The book chronicles her extraordinary life, including her award-winning songwriting career, her epic romances, and everything in between. The book was a *New York Times* bestseller in the celebrity category, and well-received by readers and fellow celebrities alike. “What amazes me about Linda goes far beyond her ridiculous talents for writing lyrics—it is that amidst the interesting and seemingly overwhelming and unique life she's led, she has remained the same beautiful human being she has always been,” actress Brooke Shields said in a review of the book.

Blended Family

These days, Thompson is embracing life as part of a big blended family, spending holidays together and finding joy in each other’s company. Thompson and Caitlyn were together at Brody’s fiancee's bridal shower and she posted on Instagram in celebration of the day. “Well. Okay. Here’s something I never could have imagined. My coveting the beautiful blue Alice and Olivia pants suit worn by the father of my children at our future daughter-in-law’s bridal shower. Always with love, kindness & goodwill…A LITTLE THING CALLED LIFE,” she wrote in the caption.

Burt and Cassandra

Thompson also remains in contact with Jenner’s children from her first marriage to Chrystie Scott, the half-siblings of her sons. Cassandra, known as Casey, is like a daughter to Thompson, who never had a daughter of her own. Casey’s brother Burt is also part of the extended Jenner-Kardashian clan, but has avoided the limelight. The car and truck racer and dog boarding business owner has had a turbulent life, experiencing homelessness twice, but now is settled with a steady partner and three kids. Both Casey and Burt say their relationship with Caitlyn has been better since the transition.

Glam Grandma

From Thompson’s Instagram, it’s clear to see that the most important thing to her is family. She's a dedicated grandmother to Brandon’s two sons and Brody’s daughter Honey Raye—the newest addition to the family. In June 2023, she posted a video of her rocking the baby and wrote, “We are just a little bit obsessed over here with our newest little ray of sunshine… Honey Raye! We are so blessed with healthy babies… And she is a lucky little girl to have entered a world full of so much love for her… thank you all for your kindness, your gentle hearts, and your best wishes for our new family member.”

Looking to the Future

In the tapestry of her extraordinary life, Linda Thompson's journey through relationships with icons like Elvis Presley, Caitlyn Jenner, and David Foster highlights her amazing resilience and adaptability. Her openness about her experiences reflects her dedication to family, art, and self-discovery. As she navigates the complexities of blended families and evolving identities in this next chapter of her life, Thompson's story reminds us of the beauty in embracing change. Her role as a mother, grandmother, and advocate for compassion showcases the depth and authenticity that define a life well-lived. We hope that her future is full of music, love, and happiness.