The film showcases the relationship between ‘The King’ and his manager, and a new generation of fans who can't get enough Elvis content have been fascinated by what they’ve learned about the man who shaped Elvis and made him one of the biggest stars of all time. It’s certainly an interesting story.
It's interesting that Elvis's ex-wife, Priscilla, speaking on the subject of how the star would have reacted to the biopic, has staunchly defended Parker, slamming some of the stories doing the rounds after the film's release.
Thomas Andrew Parker’s association with Presley made him a very rich man, even though his gambling habit saw him losing most of his fortune. Audiences grew accustomed to seeing him at the singer’s side, an apparently distinguished Colonel who had been born in Huntingdon, West Virginia, around 1900.
Elvis Fans Are Suspicious Of Colonel Parker
As Elvis grew in stature, inevitably people became interested in those that made up his inner circle. That included his manager.
And the information that was dug up about the Colonel didn’t paint a pretty picture.
In Parker’s version of his life story, he had run away from home to join a circus, where he worked with elephants and horses. In actuality, he worked the carnival circuit, presenting acts like Colonel Tom Parker and His Dancing Chickens, which saw the fowls jumping because they were on a hot plate hidden under sawdust. He also ran a palm-reading booth.
So Who Was Colonel Parker Really?
Among others, he was an illegal immigrant, who had never been naturalized as an American. Although he told stories about having worked as a sailor on Holland America Cruise Line, he was more likely on board as a stowaway.
In reality, Elvis’s manager was Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk. Born in June 1909, in Breda in The Netherlands, he was the seventh child of a delivery driver and his wife. At the age of 18, he simply disappeared without a trace, He hadn’t taken his identity papers, clothes, or any money.
It was only in 1960 that Parker’s sister, Nel Dankers-van Kuijk, realized he was still very much alive and was working as the manager of one of the most famous people in the world. Reading an article about Elvis, she recognized the singer’s manager as her long-lost brother. Despite his family trying to re-establish contact with him, he resisted all attempts.
After his time on the carnivals, Parker had changed course. By the late 1930s, he was working as a music promoter, managing crooner Gene Austin, and country singers Minnie Pearl, Hank Snow, and Tommy Sands.
Under Parker’s exclusive management, another country singer, Eddy Arnold became a superstar with his own radio show, bookings in Las Vegas, and a string of number one records which saw him becoming one of the most prolific hitmakers in history.
Did Parker Take Advantage Of Elvis?
Many of the details only made news in 1980, when fans were shocked to learn that Parker had taken a huge 50% of Elvis’s earnings. A judge found that his management was unethical and that he had cost his client millions.
Parker had also found many other ways to get money out of the legend of Elvis. In what was possibly the first marketing campaign aimed at the teen market, he sold Elvis lipstick, charm bracelets, sneakers, record players, and teddy bear perfume. He even sold “I Hate Elvis” buttons for those who didn’t like the singer. By 1957, he had grossed over $22 million through merchandising alone.
Despite the obvious exploitation of Elvis, some critics argue that Parker was a groundbreaking manager and a master promoter: He negotiated one of the first $1 million-a-picture deals for a Hollywood actor and ensured that via his films, Elvis stayed in the public eye throughout his time in the army.
He also landed the singer the highest-paying Vegas contract for the time, plus he staged the first live international solo concert via satellite for Elvis’s Aloha from Hawaii special in 1973.
The Colonel encouraged anything that grabbed headlines. He even used the controversy to get coverage.
Was Colonel Parker Really A Colonel?
Not really. Although he used an esteemed military rank, it was an honorary title bestowed on him by the governor of Louisiana. His time in the U.S. Army had, in fact, ended in disgrace, and the only rank he achieved was that of a private. After going absent without leave, he spent several months in military prison for desertion, where he suffered a nervous breakdown, leading to his discharge from the Army.
His uneasy relationship with the military didn’t end there, however. Drafted to serve during World War II, Parker followed an alarming regimen to ensure he didn’t have to do duty: He ate until he weighed more than 300 pounds, getting himself declared unfit for further service as a result.
The eighteen-year-old Van Kuijk had vanished in May 1929 without telling any of his family or friends where he was heading. Later, investigations lead to the shocking revelation that his disappearance had coincided with an unsolved murder in the town of his birth.
A 23-year-old woman had been battered to death in her home behind the greengrocer store she and her husband ran. After ransacking the house, the killer scattered a layer of pepper around the body before fleeing, to prevent police dogs from picking up his scent. The murder took place on the same night Van Kuijk disappeared.
Whether he was involved in the murder has never been established, leaving fans wondering if Colonel Tom Parker was really that bad. It’s just another link in the chain of dark secrets around the manager of the icon.
Colonel Parker died in 1997. Despite living his life as someone else, his death certificate is made out in his real name, Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk.
Meanwhile, Elvis Presley is still the biggest-selling solo artist of all time.