Elvis was the biggest star in the world and throughout his career he was desperate to travel and touring abroad. However, he only went to Germany on military service from 1958 to 1960, and occasional trips to Hawaii later in his career. At the press conference on June 9, 1972 for his concerts in Madison Square Garden, he admitted that his two biggest dreams were making non-musical films to show his acting abilities and traveling and touring abroad. He had ample opportunities to do both (including an invitation from the Queen to perform in London) but one man constantly stood in the way – his manager Colonel Parker. The man, who lied about his citizenship and military service, was a murder suspect – and died working in a casino to feed a gambling habit that stripped him of his $100 million fortune. Even Baz Luhrmann calls him a “sociopath”.
Dick Clark, the host of the American Bandstand, once said, “Parker’s handling of the man was as bad or worse than his handling of Elvis’ business. He kept him in a cage like an animal. He kept him outside like a trained bear.”
This cage was blamed for the rapid decline of King in the mid-1970s, with Priscilla Presley even saying that Elvis’s addiction to binge eating and addiction was often caused by his professional unhappiness—starting with the endless string of incomplete films and increasingly frequent musicals ( sometimes three a year) Parker forced him to continue appearing during the 1960s.
There is a famous image from one movie set of Elvis aiming a gun at Parker, but countless friends, family members, and commentators have described how the manager constantly carried the gun to his client and the cash cow’s head.
It is undeniable that it was Parker who propelled Elvis from the local sensation in the South to a national and then international star.
Parker heard Elvis and his band The Blue Moon Boys in 1955 and knew there was something special there. Soon he was getting into concerts and working alongside their manager, Sun Records owner, Sam Phillips. Parker eventually paid $35,000 for Elvis’ contract and soon began a bidding war with national record labels. He chose RCA because he had relationships established there that he could use to exert influence.
Parker was a born crook, who told everyone he was born in the Appalachian Mountains. In fact, his real name was Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk, a Dutch carnival worker and docker born in Breda in 1909. He had a job forcing chickens to “dance” on a red hot plate.
He mysteriously disappeared overnight on May 17, 1929, leaving behind all his belongings, including expensive clothes, identification papers, and money. That same evening, a local woman, Anna Ann den Enden, was brutally murdered at the street vegetable vendors where the Parker family lived.
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As for the (fake) Southern title and military title, Parker helped Jimmy Davis become Governor of Louisiana in 1944 and was awarded the honorary rank of colonel in the Louisiana State Militia. He also evaded the World War II draft by getting so heavy that he became disqualified.
The symbiotic relationship between Parker and Elvis became increasingly strained in subsequent years. Despite his dissatisfaction with the films and music release options, the star has rarely stood his ground—most notably bypassing his manager for insisting on bold and exciting song choices for his 1968 television special.
It wasn’t enough. The loss of projects like A Star Is Born (and watching it triumph at the Oscars) combined with a grueling tour system where half of its profits poured into Parker, all led to huge losses, fueled by an overabundance of prescription drugs.
Elvis died on August 16, 1977. At the time, Parker reportedly owned the Las Vegas Hilton with more than $30 million ($135 million today) in gambling debt. He continued to run the Elvis estate but sold the rights to the lucrative early recordings.
Parker died in Vegas on January 21, 1997, at the age of 87. His funeral was held at the Hilton Las Vegas, and Priscilla said in his eulogy, “Elvis and the Colonel made history together, and the world is richer, better and more interesting because of their cooperation. Now I need to locate my wallet, because I noticed there was no ticket booth on the way here, but I I’m sure the colonel has arranged for some losses on the way.”
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