He died in 1997 at the age of 87. After all, the Alien Registration Act of 1940 had offered an effective amnesty to all illegals, and when Elvis made it big his manager made plenty of powerful new friends. 5 million today. Indeed, Parkers brief military career had ended in ignominy. With the passage of the Music Modernization Act, the independent administrator, the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC), was created and given access to Gracelands Elvis Presley Enterprises and Sony/ATV Musics music library to oversee mechanical licensing. He sold the rights to Presleys early recordings, gave away the rights to the master recordings, lost royalties after he negotiated Elvis seven-year contract with RCA Records in 1973, and squandered his own fortune to a gambling habit. The Foundation is funded by royalties from Elviss music and proceeds from licensing agreements. In 1932, he had gone absent without leave and served several months in military prison for desertion. Though rumors and allegations of Colonel Parker taking advantage of Elvis money have been circulating for years, no evidence has been found to suggest that he stole any money from the King of Rock n Roll. That version doesnt fully fit the facts; its impossible to know now within a week when Parker left the Netherlands, and hence how closely his departure coincided with the Breda murder. The story of Elvis Presley is, as we know very well, one of the greatest and saddest success stories in the history of American entertainment. The Colonel: The Extraordinary Story of Colonel Tom Parker and Elvis Presley. The proceeds from these licensing agreements are typically shared with the family and some key former employees. Answer (1 of 4): The show must go on. Did Elvis Really Fire Colonel Parker? A symbiotic relationship," Hanks added. Elvis Presley was one of the most successful and popular recording artists of all time and during his lifetime he was said to have made an incredible amount of money. After the December 1968 special, Parker got Elvis to return to live performances, centering them in the newest and biggest casino in Las Vegas, while convincing Presley to raise his managers fee to almost 50% of the previous ones. Elvis and the Colonel. Parker accepted that the outing would be a return to big live performances, choosing the old television set for Elvis to film a special. He got the honorary title from a country singer named Jimmie Davis in exchange for working on the campaign which helped get him elected Governor of Louisiana. 7 mo I believe, not much money left. When youre surrounded by Yes men that tell you how good you are, all of a sudden reality escapes, he added. But look it up and you will discover that he, on that very night, left for America and adopted a different name. I played along. He graciously accepted the piece of shit, as Thomas is said to have called the boat, to sell for cash. When asked about the deal in 1968, the Colonel responded: Thats not true at all. He sold Elvis hats, lipstick, sneakers,. 2 million from his investments, bringing the grand total to over $28 million. Wed stop and go in there, and it would be very dark, very eerie, and the Thing would be this poor pathetic Black person on his hands and knees in a low cage. The time he got so mad at me, hammering his cane in the floorboard of his Buick on that ominous ride through the Sin City desert, was when I asked him why he didnt give Elvis better movie scripts and songs. He had toured with carnivals, worked with elephants and managed a palm-reading booth before finding his feet in the early 1950s as a music promoter. He missed them, but didnt want to foist his troubles off on them. The Presley estate also has a charitable component. Some of them have received royalty payments, as well as rights to use his name. Parker initially took a 25 percent commission, which grew to 50 percent. Even his Dutch family is willing to admit that it is a possibility, though they believe, as I do, that if he killed her, it was an accident. Up until that time, the Memphis radio personality Bob Neal and guitarist Scotty Moore were acting as Presleys personal managers. The trust ushered in a period of renovations and improvements to the home, turning the estate into a major tourist attraction. Off to the side as always, his manager, "the bigbellied, strawhatted, cigarcarrying" Colonel Tom Parker, watched over him. There a woman by the name of Nel Dankers-van Kuijk flicked through a copy of Rosita, a Belgian womens magazine. The last time I saw the Colonel, who peppered his office with stuffed animalsprizes from the carnivalwe were back in the Buick, and he and his wife, Loanne, were driving me to my hotel after lunch. The Elvis Presley Trust operates the property and receives 50% of the proceeds of Graceland, while the remaining 50% of the profits are split between Lisa Marie and Priscilla. Who benefits from Elvis Presleys estate? | READ MORE. Presley received $4.6 million. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[250,250],'coalitionbrewing_com-leader-3','ezslot_10',155,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-coalitionbrewing_com-leader-3-0');Additionally, she regularly gives tours of the property, permitting guests to view the home, Presleys grave, and the rest of the estate. Since 1979, several administrators chosen by Priscilla Presley on behalf of her daughter accused Parker of having closed a lousy deal with RCA in 1973 for selling the royalties from Elvis songs prior to that year for just 5.4 million dollars, a price considered unethical when considering that precisely this contract affected the period of greatest creativity and fame of Presley. Kleins reputation has been overshadowed as the man who drove the Rolling Stones into exile, and broke up the Beatles, but he didnt curb the musical enthusiasm. In 1980, a judge ordered an investigation into his practices and found Parkers management was unethical and that he likely cost Elvis (and himself) millions. Express. The proceeds from Graceland are currently divided between Lisa Marie Presley, Priscilla Presley, and the Elvis Presley Trust. He made about $200 million during his professional career and was said to be the highest-paid performer of the 20th century. Parker died in 1997 at the age of 87. Because of this fact, Parker convinced Elvis that a concert abroad would be risky for personal safety reasons, and that outside the US he would not find suitable settings for a star of his fame. Cookie Settings, Nash still believes it more likely than not that Colonel Parker was a killer, Kids Start Forgetting Early Childhood Around Age 7, Archaeologists Discover Wooden Spikes Described by Julius Caesar, 5,000-Year-Old Tavern With Food Still Inside Discovered in Iraq, Artificial Sweetener Tied to Risk of Heart Attack and Stroke, Study Finds, The Surprisingly Scientific Roots of Monkey Bars. He took the name Tom Parker when he enlisted in the Army, christening himself after the officer who interviewed him. The result was a show titled Elvis, taped at the NBC studios. Vellenga had been filing occasional updates on the Parker storythe Colonel was by far the most famous son of Bredaand found that he was building a detailed picture of what was by any standard a hasty departure. Tom Parker, Elvis Presley's . Colonel Tom Parker was Elvis Presleys manager throughout most of his career and was a shrewd negotiator who negotiated many of Elvis lucrative deals, from movie revenues to music sales. Colonel is depicted as a Svengali character and, to be fair, most managers of popstars over the years have been more than a bit dodgy, he said. Half Man, Half Animal! He took that really seriously. Answer (1 of 3): There is no credible evidence to suggest that Tom Ford ever stole money from Elvis Presley. His accent, on display in a rare interview with Ted Koppel in the 80s, sounded more like a slight speech impediment mixed with the insulation of a rural upbringing. In the late 80s, Lisa Marie Presley, Elviss daughter, began living in the home. How much money did Colonel Parker make off Elvis? I really dont think that there was murder in him, Todd Slaughter of the Elvis Presley Fan Club of Great Britain told Alanna Nash after knowing Parker for a quarter-century. (It was written for his 1958 movie "King Creole.") The eight-song, half-hour set opened with . There, in Parkers hometown, a journalist named Dirk Vellenga got a tipit was Do you know that Tom Parker comes from Breda? The Colonel encouraged anything that grabbed headlines and created controversy for his boy. In July 1972, inspired by Richard Nixons visit to the Peoples Republic of China, Parker reported that Elvis would give a major live concert in Hawaii to be broadcast worldwide via satellite television. Parker then worked hard to get Elvis appearances on Milton Berles television show and then The Ed Sullivan Show, while simultaneously contracting with merchandising manufacturers to use the Elvis name identically to a trademark. In this Elvis Presley biopic, the musician is presented as a mythic figure and true life superhero, saving the world from repressive rhythms to become the King of Rock and Roll, while Parker comes off as the cartoon villain, and not only because Hanks sounds like the Dutch uncle of Looney Tunes Foghorn Leghorn. Presley, as it turned out, was managed by Parker alone. And while Elvis legacy keeps on living, a man behind the shadows Colonel Tom Parker played a role both in Elvis rise to the stars and in his downfall into the pits of drug abuse and suffering. More still went to RCA records, sole owner of all of Elvis' music before 1973, thanks to a $5.4-million deal Parker arranged in that year. It is a deal that severed the Presley estate from the royalties for more than 700 songs and put $2.6 million in the colonel's pocket. He did not give 2 shits about Elvis. It carried a story about Presleys recent discharge from the U.S. Army, illustrated by a photo of the singer standing in the doorway of a train and waving to his fans. Elvis Presley: Graceland closure extended AGAIN How long for? But he was never inept, and he was fiercely loyal in his business dealings and determined to honor his contracts to the letter. The trust was established in 1993 and Lisa Marie is the beneficiary of the trust. It is a deal that severed the Presley estate from the . ELVIS PRESLEY and Colonel Tom Parker had a complex relationship over the years and the manager is widely reported to have taken an extortionate 50 per cent cut of all the King's earnings..