Parker made his mark on world of entertainment

Wednesday, Jan. 22, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

Col. Tom Parker's accomplishments in the entertainment industry far exceeded what he did for rock 'n' roll king Elvis Presley, but the two forever will be entwined.

Parker never tired of talking about his protege, whom he guided from an unknown singing Memphis truck driver in 1955 to the top of the entertainment industry at the time of his death on Aug. 16, 1977.

"The thing Elvis liked most about Las Vegas was the people -- they are so friendly here," Parker said at a news conference at the Las Vegas Hilton five days before the 10th anniversary of Presley's death. Parker died Tuesday in Las Vegas at age 87.

"I think the thing he liked most about performing here -- and it was the thing I liked the most -- was our check every week."

Parker's statements, published in the SUN on Aug. 11, 1987, were made on the 31st anniversary of the colonel's first promotion headlining Elvis at the Florida Theatre in Jacksonville.

Before that, the rotund former carnival pitchman and one-time dogcatcher had guided the successful careers of country-western singers Eddy Arnold and Hank Snow.

Parker, who received at various times between 25 and 50 percent of Presley's earnings -- a figure some of Elvis' inner-circle members thought was too steep -- was credited with getting Presley a $35,000 recording contract with RCA Victor in the mid-1950s.

Parker also got Presley three key television appearances on "The Ed Sullivan Show" in 1956 and 1957, which launched Elvis to stardom.

When Elvis was drafted into the Army, Parker insisted that he report for duty. Parker then conducted numerous promotions that kept the singing idol's name in the public's eye during the two-year stretch he served in the military.

Elvis' Las Vegas debut at a downtown hotel in the mid-1950s was not so sterling.

The hip-gyrating, sneering country boy with the unique bluesy voice was not quite what the average Frank Sinatra-loving Las Vegas show-goer was looking for in an entertainer. Reviews of his performance were mediocre, at best.

Parker did not make the same mistake in judging Las Vegas audiences when he brought a more mature and glitzy Elvis, complete with bespangled jumpsuits, back to town in 1969.

Parker created a great deal of hype for Elvis, including the erection of a building-high mural of Presley on the side of the Hilton -- then the International Hotel.

Presley made more than 700 performances at the International and Hilton between 1969 and '77, filling every one of the 1,600 showroom seats.

However, in those days, Elvis' take at the box office was far less than it is today for major performers.

"I feel ashamed to tell you what Elvis made for his shows back then," Parker said, keeping the figure a closely guarded secret.

"Ask the Internal Revenue Service," he once told a reporter who pushed for details about Elvis' earnings.

Parker did note, however, that an Elvis dinner show in Las Vegas cost just $15 per person. Assuming no comps were given, the box office receipts would have totaled no more than $24,000 per show.

Still, Parker insisted that Elvis was the highest paid performer in Las Vegas in his time.

As open as Parker was about Elvis' performing career, he was tight-lipped about Presley's purported drug addiction, which many believe contributed to his death at age 42.

If a reporter asked Parker about the reports of Elvis using illegal narcotics, he often would say he couldn't understand the question because his hearing had worsened with age. If the reporter didn't get the message, he'd just ignore the repeated and follow-up drug questions altogether.

However, in response to a question about what goal Elvis never accomplished but would have liked to, Parker acknowledged Presley's untimely demise by answering: "Stay alive."

In response to snide comments such as that Elvis didn't go to the bathroom without Parker knowing about it, Parker argued that his leash was not that tight.

"Elvis lived his life, and I lived mine," Parker said.

"We may have had dinner three times a year. I never handled his money, his (late) dad Vernon did that. But whenever there was a problem, they called The colonel."

In a 1993 interview, Parker said: "I don't think I exploited Elvis as much as he's being exploited today."

In a June 1994 SUN interview, Parker again shared his memories of Elvis.

"Elvis and I had a great rapport," he said, noting that he still watched Presley movies on late-night television.

Perhaps nowhere was Parker's influence on Presley's career more influential than in the 32 motion pictures Elvis made -- mostly second-rate vehicles to showcase his music.

One of Parker's purported decisions, however, may have cost Elvis a shot at stardom in a quality film. Presley was up for the lead male role and second billing in the 1976 remake of "A Star is Born" starring Barbra Streisand.

Parker had not let Presley appear in a film without top billing since his 1956 debut in "Love Me Tender," where, incredibly, he received third billing behind Richard Egan and Debra Paget.

When film producers did not give in to Parker's demand to have Presley's name listed ahead of Streisand, singer Kris Kristofferson was given the role for which he received much critical acclaim.

Ironically, it would have been only the second film in which Presley's character died. The first and only time that happened in an Elvis movie, other than postmortem tributes, was in "Love Me Tender."

Parker never considered the work Elvis did to be all that difficult.

"No, he (Elvis) never worked too hard," Parker said in 1987. "Elvis worked two-hour shows for 200 nights a year. When you add that up, he worked about four months a year."

Parker often said that Presley's greatest joy in life was his daughter, Lisa Marie, who made headlines in recent years for her marriage to and divorce from rock icon Michael Jackson.

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