 During the film, Parker claims Presley became the highest-paid actor in Hollywood after promising a star he would help him achieve it. In reality, Presley was set to be earning $1 million per movie in 1965. According to the Los Angeles Times, while other notable actors like Cleopatra star Elizabeth Taylor and future Godfather star Marlon Brando were making the same or much more for their films, leaving this bit in Elvis as another one of Parker's exaggerations. Did Gladys Presley fall down the stairs at Graceland? Gladys Presley was a nervous woman who feared greatly for her son's safety once fame hit. She died in 1958 of a heart attack due to hepatitis acute and severe, which can be caused by alcohol abuse. In the film, we see Gladys downing vodka, along with beer bottles prominently displayed in Graceland, where Elvis' parents have lunch. It was no secret that Gladys took diet pills to look slimmer in photos with her son, and his entourage remembers her drinking beer. Falling down drunk, I never saw that, says Barbara Hearn Smith, who spent a lot of one on one time with Gladys.