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Not only was Colonel Tom Parker not a colonel, he wasn't Tom Parker either. His real name was Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk and he was born in Breda, Holland, in 1909. Even as a child, he astonished everyone at his ability to make money. He began in the entertainment business at age 6. He persuaded some of the local kids to put on a circus and then he charged the rest of them to attend. At 16, he disappeared under a cloud to the United States and, unable to gain legal status, he joined the US Army in order to assimilate into the country. On leaving the army to join a carnival called The Johnny J. Jones Exposition, he simply took the name of his former commanding officer. Thus he became Colonel Tom Parker. There is a simple, if pathetic, reason why Elvis never performed to his millions of fans outside the US: The Colonel was terrified that his illegal status would be discovered and he would not be allowed back into theUS. This was only the beginning. The career of the 20th century's greatest popular musical icon was destined to be entwined with the mysterious life of an obscure Dutchman who exercised total control over the Presley industry until well after Elvis's death when the Presley estate finally took legal action to get rid of him. Parker ran the fat-man competitions for the Johnny J. Jones Exposition until one day in Tampa, Florida, he discovered that the local humane society needed a director. It wasn't so much that he cared about animals but the job came with a house, car, office and a supply of petrol. The job suited his unique genius and he bombarded the local papers with tear-jerking stories of lost dogs, the need for contributions and the crisis of animals in need. For the first time ever, the Tampa Humane Society began to show a considerable profit. Buoyed by his success, the Colonel decided to open a pet cemetery behind his office. Among the services offered was a lifetime contract for fresh flowers on the graves, which Parker promised to arrange with a local florists. In fact, he got the' throwaways' from the florists and arranged them throughout the cemetery. Another side of Parker's impresario genius, which may have had implications for the future rock icon, was a show called Colonel Tom Parker and his Dancing Chickens. It consisted of a bizarre performance where, to a background of live country music, chickens danced on straw. Concealed under the straw was a hot plate which, understandably, helped to produce the desired effect. Parker then moved into music management taking a singer called Eddy Arnold to country music fame. At the same time he forged links with the William Morris Agency and movie mogul Abe Lastfogel that would later become determining factors in Elvis Presley's career. Legend has it that after the young Elvis spent $4 one afternoon in the Memphis Sun studios making a record for his mothers birthday his obvious talent was spotted and The Colonel was among the first to hear of his extraordinary charisma. He finally got Presley by buying out his Sun contract and by promising him exposure outside the state. Parker began by taking 25 per cent of Presley's earnings. But by 1967 he was able to negotiate a 50 per cent share of all Presley's earnings astonishing considering what Presley was then earning. In retrospect, it was The Colonel's needs in the first instance which were to define and some might argue, blight Presley's career. Parker set up a music publishing company (of which he owned half) and songwriters offering material to Presley had to give half of their royalties to that company. Not surprisinglythe major writers refused and over the years Presley's material suffered accordingly. From the outset, Parker exercised absolute control over Presley's career and decided that, as Elvis became more and more popular, he would deliberately limit his live and television performances. The endless stream of Elvis movies was a strategy devised to circumvent the problem of Parker's, and thereby Presley's, inability to travel overseas. Contractually, Parker was able to exercise absolute control and make vast profits on royalties while at the same time turning Presley into an international star. Later as the quality of the movies dipped into mediocrity, Parker remained unconcerned turning down quality movie offers time after time when the producers found his demands too outrageous. Over the years, it emerged that Parker's secret vice was his chronic addiction to gambling. One night, he apparently lost $1.25 million in two hours at a table in Las Vegas. Equally, the explanation as to why Presley's final years saw him following a gruelling performance schedule in Vegas sometimes twice a day even as his health and sanity were declining may lie in Parker's gambling addiction. Although he had the greatest living star on the planet on his books, here was the old Dancing Chicken Impresario having his act grind out two shows a night while he hit the tables. As Presley, at only 40, headed for total physical collapse, there is no evidence of Parker attempting to halt the slide. The suspicion grows that The Colonel may well have calculated that at that stage a dead Presley was going to be even less trouble and more profitable than a live one. Out of that tragedy would emerge his total control of the legacy. He knew that an early and tragic end would catapult his star into the showbiz constellation as it had done with Marilyn Monroe before him. With his genius for marketing, Colonel Tom Parker made Elvis Presley an international conglomerate. But one wonders at what price to the fullest achievement of that beautiful, haunting and unforgettable talent? After Elvis' death Parker continued to be involved in the late singers estate, having come to an agreement with Vernon Presley Elvis' father, but in 1983 following a court case taken by Elvis Presley Enterprises he lost all rights to any agreement that had been put in place. In his later years he became an advisor to the Hilton Hotel Group in Vegas and spent his last years living in a suite provided by the Hotel free of charge. He died on January 21, 1997 in Las Vegas, Nevada at the age of 87.
Elvis, Elvis Presley, and Graceland are registered trademarks of Elvis Presley Enterprises.
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