Colonel Tom Parker, manager of Elvis Presley, was born 113 years ago today.
Parker’s management of Presley defined the role of masterminding talent management, which involved every facet of the client's life and was seen as central to the success of Presley's career.
"The Colonel" displayed a ruthless devotion to his own financial gain at the expense of his client. While other managers took compensation in the range of 10 to 15 percent of earnings, Parker took as much as 50 percent toward the end of Presley's life. Presley said of Parker, "I don't think I'd have ever been very big if it wasn't for him. He's a very smart man."
As a boy, Parker worked as a barker at carnivals in the Netherlands where he was born, learning many of the skills that he would require in later life while working in the entertainment industry. At age 18, with enough money to sustain him for a short period, he entered America illegally by jumping ship from his employer's vessel. His trip was also motivated by his wanting to avoid criminal arrest on a murder case at home.
He enlisted in the United States Army, taking the name "Tom Parker" from the officer who interviewed him, to disguise the fact he was an illegal immigrant. Parker went AWOL and was charged with desertion. He was placed in solitary confinement, from which he emerged with a psychosis that led to two months in a mental hospital. He was discharged from the Army due to his mental condition.
In 1945, Parker became Eddy Arnold's full-time manager, signing a contract for 25 percent of the star's earnings. Over the next few years, he would help Arnold secure hit songs, television appearances and live tours.
In 1948, Parker received the rank of colonel in the Louisiana State Militia from Jimmie Davis, the governor of Louisiana and a former country singer, in return for work Parker did on Davis' election campaign. The rank was honorary since Louisiana had no organized militia, but Parker used the title throughout his life, becoming known simply as "the Colonel" to many acquaintances.
In early 1955, Parker became aware of a young singer named Elvis Presley. Presley had a singing style different from the current trend, and Parker was immediately interested in the future of this musical style. Elvis’ first manager was guitarist Scotty Moore, who was encouraged by Sun Records owner Sam Phillips to become his manager to protect Elvis from unscrupulous music promoters.
In November, 1954, Parker persuaded RCA to buy Presley out from Sun Records for $40,000, and on November 21 Presley's contract was officially transferred from Sun Records to RCA Victor. On March 26, 1956, Presley signed a contract with Parker that made him his exclusive representative.
With his first RCA Victor single, "Heartbreak Hotel" in 1956, Presley graduated from rumor to bona-fide recording star. Parker began 1956 with intentions of bringing his new star to the national stage. He arranged for Presley to appear on popular television shows such as The Milton Berle Show and The Ed Sullivan Show, securing fees that made him the highest paid star on television.
By the summer, Presley had become one of the most famous new faces of the year, causing excitement among the new teenage audience and outrage among some older audiences and religious groups.
On January 2, 1967, Parker renegotiated his managerial/agent contract with Presley, persuading him to increase Parker's share from 25 to 50 percent. When critics questioned this arrangement, Presley quipped "I could have signed with East Coast Entertainment where they take 70 percent!" Parker used the argument that Presley was his only client and he was thus earning only one fee.
In Elvis’s later life, Parker and Elvis grew apart and the singer would see very little of him. The two had become almost strangers to each other, and false reports in the media suggested that Presley's contract was up for sale.
Although Parker publicly denied these claims, he had been in talks with Peter Grant, manager of Led Zeppelin, about the possibility of him overseeing a European tour for Presley. As with all the talk about Presley touring overseas, Parker never followed through with the deal.
Presley fans have speculated that the reason Presley only once performed abroad, which would probably have been a highly lucrative proposition, may have been that Parker was worried that he would not have been able to acquire a U.S. passport and might even have been deported upon filing his application. In addition, applying for the citizenship required for a U.S. passport would probably have exposed his carefully concealed foreign birth.
Although Parker was a U.S. Army veteran and spouse of an American citizen, one of the basic tenets of U.S. immigration law is that absent some sort of amnesty program, there is no path to citizenship or even legal residency for those who entered the country illegally.
As Parker had not availed himself of the 1940 Alien Registration Act, and there was no amnesty program available to him afterwards, he was not eligible for U.S. citizenship through any means.
Throughout his entire career, Presley performed in only three venues outside the United States — all of them in Canada: Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver, during brief tours there in 1957. However, at the time of these concerts, crossing the U.S.-Canada border did not require a passport. Parker, however, stayed in Washington and didn’t leave the country.
When Presley died in August, 1977, one day before he was due to go out on tour, some accounts suggest Parker acted as if nothing had happened. Asked by a journalist what he would do now, Parker responded, "Why, I'll just go right on managing him!"
Almost immediately, before even visiting Graceland, he made his way to New York to meet with merchandising associates and RCA executives, instructing them to prepare for a huge demand in Presley products. Shortly afterward, he traveled to Memphis for Presley's funeral. Mourners recall being surprised at his wearing a Hawaiian shirt and baseball cap, smoking his trademark cigar and purposely avoiding the casket.
At the funeral, he persuaded Presley's father to sign over control of Presley's career in death to him. Following Presley's death, Parker set up a licensing operation with Factors Etc. Inc., to control Presley merchandise and keep a steady income supporting his estate. It was later revealed that Presley owned 22 percent of the company, Parker owned 56 percent and the final 22 percent was made up of various business associates.
In a lifetime that saw him earn in excess of $100 million, Parker's estate was barely worth $1 million when he died. Parker made his last public appearances in 1994. By this point, he was a sick man who could barely leave his own house.
On January 20, 1997, Parker's wife heard a crashing sound from the living room, and when she heard no response to her calls, she went in to find him slumped over in his chair. He had suffered a stroke. Parker died the following morning in Las Vegas at the age of 87. His death certificate listed his country of birth as the Netherlands and his citizenship as American.
His funeral was held at the Hilton Hotel and was attended by friends and former associates, including Eddy Arnold and Sam Phillips. Priscilla. Elvis’s wife, attended to represent the Elvis Presley Estate and gave a eulogy that, to many in the room, summed up Parker perfectly.
"Elvis and the Colonel made history together, and the world is richer, better and far more interesting because of their collaboration,” she said. “And now I need to locate my wallet, because I noticed there was no ticket booth on the way in here, but I'm sure that the Colonel must have arranged for some toll on the way out.”