Love him or loathe him, Elvis manager Colonel Tom Parker was good for Vegas There was a precursor to [Smokey Joes Cafe] that was done up in Seattle. [A movie version of Walk on the Wild Side was eventually produced in the 60s, with none of the same talent attached, and flopped.]. It became a big hit. "The question was, 'Why are we still talking about Elvis Presley?'" Fresh off portraying Sir John Falstaff in a Los Angeles production of Shakespeare's Henry IV, Parts One and Two, Hanks saw something Shakespearian in the dynamic. Presleys schedule didnt allow it anyway, according to Parker. Hanks has gone dark before during his legendary and long career, but by and large, he's Forrest Gump, Joe Fox, Captain Miller, Chuck Noland, and of course, Woody the toy cowboy. We dont have approval on scripts only money. Want to know what everyone in the music business is talking about. I was expecting to hear stories about the distrust she had for Colonel Tom Parker over these many years. It had a line for our signatures. Within 30 minutes of their first meeting, Hanks was hooked. I think we maybe killed them! An early hero in Tupelo was a hillbilly singer named Mississippi Slim. However, the tide wasn't actually changed until a 1968 TV special, produced by Scott Binder, put Elvis the singer back on top, while simultaneously showing the Colonel how close he was to losing the singer to another producer. And he continued to go see Black performers, such as Jackie Wilson, throughout his life. King used to visit some in Las Vegas, but that was in the 70s. ", "If Shakespeare was looking to take on a historical character now, you couldn't go past the idea of the Colonel and Elvis," Luhrmann adds. I didnt like Hound Dog, but I loved the way he did our other songs. Charlie Lamb, who was present that day, told me that Parker got up from the lunch table and got in his car that minute and drove to find him. HANKS: He was a promoter and not a manager. Colonel Parker Managed Elvis' Career, but Was He a Killer on the Lam? It was sad. Thats Luhrmann being the showman. He was believed to have been in debt to the Las Vegas Hilton for over $30 million at one point, which led to his eviction from the property after Elvis' death. Halle Bailey, Melissa McCarthy, and director Rob Marshall share the tale behind making their underwater musical with a groundbreaking Disney princess. Although from the Netherlands originally, actor Tom Hanks' Parker had a Southern-style accent due to a huge chunk of his life being spent there, but it was more of a mixture with his native Dutch accent. Why not? Elvis and the Colonel were associated throughout the musician's entire career, including music, movies, and TV specials. What he didn't do later on in the 60's and to a degree in the 70's was go to this wickedly, incredibly singular talent, worthy of altering the zeitgeist in the mid-1950s. Judge says Elvis' manager's profits were 'excessive' and 'shocking' - UPI When I was 23, II got a royalty check for about $5,000 a song called Black Denim Trousers and Motorcycle Boots (a No. We told him this story, and he said, Elvis would have given his left arm to be in a movie like that with those people. Most of the songs he cut of yours, you two wrote expressly for him. Well, yes and no. The piece by Michael Fessier, Jr., carried the headline, Elvis Hits $20,000,000 Gross Jackpot. The articles first three paragraphs broke down the various amounts and sources of Presleys income since 1956, with the total having reached the $20 million mark by the end of 1963. But Nashs work is considered by many to be the authoritative word on Parker, a former carnie who made his fortune off the King, and whose pros and cons as a very, very controlling manager continue to be debated to this day. Variety met with him at the home he shares in the Hollywood hills with his wife, fellow musician Corky Hale. With B.B. Theyre doing it in Connecticut now; a young lady who was in the show in London is directing it. But we did an album of the score with an orchestra and some wonderful British singers and actors. Why AI Has Some Viewers Asking Which Film Actors Are Real. Parker loved it that Elvis was like a male striptease artist like the bally girls on the carnivals. He did not know how to say no to someone who had already made all of his dreams come true. Then she was hired on as Elvis' tour secretary and traveled . "Because I don't know what Colonel Tom Parker looks like. Parker was ticked that there was initially no Christmas music, though, and (TV producer) Steve Binder and Elvis threw him Blue Christmas as a bone. The pattern that Parker would traditionally follow was affordability and profit over quality, which would eventually help to torpedo Elvis' career for a time. When Elvis returned home from the Army, The Colonel focused on more films, TV appearances, and albums, saturating the airwaves with Elvis. I had a different layer of expectations," the actor said. Paul Shirey is a senior news writer for Screen Rant. shown as being Parkers idea to get him away for a while to put a lid on the sexual energy and image. And he pretty much disappeared after we started talking and telling him what to do or suggesting this and that; he just took off. Hanks was particularly intrigued by how little he (and by extension, the audience) knew about the Colonel. And the movies I mean, naturally I liked Jailhouse Rock, but I dont think it was a great movie. So that started a little bit of discomfort on the part of the Colonel. According to the Colonel, We make no picture deals without the great potentate Abe Lastfogel. (Lastfogel was the long-time president of the Morris agency. The Masked Lookalike Explained. I think that these days these days meaning going back a couple of decades writers and performers have gotten very hip to protecting their stuff, much more so than we were. 2023 Variety Media, LLC. The issue of his choices to include in his repertoire would become important to signify his talent. ), Parker admitted he was a bit troubled by the public perception that he was profiting too much from Presleys work. Check the list of the 10 top box office stars Elvis is right there. Then we didnt see her at all for the next five or six years until she was presented with a demo that we had done of Is That All There Is? She said the song was written for her, that it was based on her life which it wasnt, but she said it was her life story. It sounded like a weird (Southern) regional dialect, and you would know it was Dutch only by listening for certain consonants. HANKS: There's a YouTube, one was named Comrade Rockstar and another movie called Red Elvis. "And the Colonel says, 'Because of me. There were concert riots, most notably in Jacksonville, Fla., but not a concert for which Parker issued orders like that. TOM HANKS: Wow. Colonel Parker is seen as under pressure from secretive governmental forces who want to keep Elvis from corrupting youth and to try to get him to tamp down Presley, they threaten toexpose his past, as a non-American native of Holland, which hes desperate to hide. Tom Hanks' portrayal of Elvis' manager Colonel Tom Parker in the 2022 biopic created controversy - here's the true story behind Hanks' Tom Parker. Only then did the Presley-Parker partnership make a triumphant return to television and, soon after that, to the concert stage. We were picked up by a freighter, and I had to pay cash to send a wire to Atlantic Records that we were arriving. So we developed some protective mechanisms. While Elvis and the Colonel carried the movie to several awards, Hanks' omission stands out above most others. But that gets telescoped in the movie. We had a few run-ins with the Colonel. Parker saw his job as an elevated version of. And I was very happy with the way my songs were used. "I had the luxury of essentially recreating somebody who no one really knew," the two-time Oscar winner says. Is there anything to that? He was also a consultant to the Hilton, where he gambled every day. Colonel Tom Parker - Wikipedia Is the portrayal of Elvis relationship with Priscilla, however briefly that is dramatized, basically accurate? Tom Hanks on 'Elvis' and How He Prepares for a Really - Collider Colonel Parker is of course best known as the manager of Elvis . The Colonel seized on the moment and put Elvis back on tour, eventually settling on a residency in Las Vegas and a non-stop barrage of venues and recordings that took the singer to the brink, as he deteriorated into a mockery of his former self. By Ken Sharp "The King" is back in the forefront of popular culture with the new Baz Luhrmann bio pic Elvis starring Austin Butler as the hip-swiveling Memphis fireball of a singing sensation and Tom Hanks as notorious manager Colonel Tom Parker.. On the heels of the film's release comes a new re-pressing of the must-have book The Colonel: The Extraordinary Story of Colonel Tom Parker . He did not have an artistic thought in his body. The timeline well, what timeline? As a matter of fact, when we were in Paris, I heard Edith Piaf at LOlympia doing a French translation of Black Denim Trousers and Motorcycle Boots, called LHomme a la Moto The Man on the Motor Scooter which was a big thrill. Elvis made a chilling cry for help just months before his death The Tom Hanks Tom Parker portrayal was a shocking one. He was a heavier-set man with balding hair and frequently wore a fedora and a suit of some type, sometimes made of gaudy designs to help promote something. Did Parker talk of things in carnival or carnie or conman terms as much as he does in this movie? But living in a colored neighborhood, as he did, he certainly heard early R&B, jump-blues and swing tunes pulsating through the walls at the nearby juke joints, and he loved it, as he did both Black and white gospel. Leiber died in 2011 but, creeping up on 90, Stoller remains active still showing up to collect the few accolades he hasnt already received, like the Icon award BMI bestowed upon him at its annual ceremony in May, and also working on a stage musical he doesnt want to say much about at the moment. Well, wed had it pulled over already, a few times. Lets talk about a few of the greats you worked with who were not Elvis Presley. The attitude towards the work that was Jerrys (lyrics) was, We cant use that, and other people might disagree with what he did or his take. "But having seen the movie, I notice something profoundly different every time. You seem right.' Elvis influences were so diverse. I mean, if youve heard Big Mamas record and the rhythm and the whole structure of the music, as compared to this kind of rockabilly [he claps out the differences in the two versions rhythms] But as Ive said: After it sold 7 million singles, I began to see some merit in it. Is it fantasy that he was constantly seeing or meeting up with all these important artists? He cared about the reaction of the audience. He never left the carnivals, really. Colonel Parker is the devil to many Elvis Presley fans. We went back to my house and, in about 10 or 15 minutes, we wrote Hound Dog and took it back. He says, "I said he should sing this kind of thing." Col Parker is talking from 16:45---16:55(ish) and that last bit is 20:04---you get a clear shot of Parker talking and good audio . His performance alone is reason to see the film. Elvis Presley's manager Colonel Tom Parker, whose sole client was the King, has long been said to have taken 50 per cent of all the rock 'n' roll icon's earnings.When asked about the deal . And director Baz Luhrmann has teased how fans . The Colonel wouldve made a movie like this you know, without Baz Luhrmanns ability or chops. One of the first things that we saw was the kid (in the screenplay) was in prison. But if you have gotten over the fear of making the movie in the first place, which you do I think in the first three days of the movie. When it was just written lyrics on a piece of paper, she started to croon it. Yes. He told me: There were times when B.B. The Beatles and the Stones both covered your songs (Kansas City and Poison Ivy, respectively). "What he did was keep Elvis alive," Luhrmann explains of how he saw Parker's mindset. They keep asking us to do more, he said. Were Elvis primary music influences almost all Black artists, as portrayed in the movie? "I had a different layer of expectations.". 'Reconsider Baby' is one example I always remember. Does the phrase Thats All Right, Mama apply to the new Elvis movie as in, thats all correct, maam? Variety and the Flying V logos are trademarks of Variety Media, LLC. And when I got to New York and stepped off the gang plank, Jerry ran up to me I hadnt seen him in almost four months and said, Mike, we got a smash hit! I said, Youre kidding. He said, Hound Dog. I said [incredulously], Big Mama Thornton? He said, No, some white kid named Elvis Presley. And thats how I heard about Elvis. Im working on another show right now, and I cant divulge the name of it, because the producers, when theyre ready, will want to do that. Elvis Biopic Will Feature A Side Of Tom Hanks We've Never Seen Before Davis went to have a look and went back to tell Colonel Parker all about him and how he wiggled and girls went wild. Variety fried it. And we got to demonstrate the others for him. Well, they were a lot of fun. "But the challenge for me, as well as the freedom, was having this engineered look every day. . Is it true, as portrayed, that Parker was consistently trying to pressure Elvis to tone down his sex appeal? Is it true that Colonel Parkers reason for being attracted to Elvis was that he thought a white singer who sounded Black was bound to be a star and accomplish what a Black singer could not? [Laughs.] King would be playing in the lounge, and Elvis would be playing in the big room. Elvis took care of what Elvis did and Colonel took care of what Colonel did. Acclaimed author of several books about Elvis including the recently re-issued, 'The Colonel: The Extraordinary Story of Colonel Tom Parker and Elvis Presley' (Interview by Kees Mouwen, Nigel Patterson and Paul Belard. Was the Variety review of the New York show, or was it the out-of-town tryout in L.A.? In 1969, she was an employee of the International Hotel when Elvis made his record-breaking performances there. Whats your overall feeling on the movies truth-ometer? King, there was a chance meeting at Sun Studios and, in late 1956, at a famous all-Black charity show, where King was the headliner and Elvis, as an invited guest, came out and wiggled his leg, but did not perform. The Colonel, who was neither a colonel nor named Tom Parker, was born Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk in the Netherlands and came to the U.S. without documentation at the age of 20. The reasons for this are a source of controversy, as it was believed that Parker's status as an illegal immigrant (the theme of the Netflix series Stateless) would prohibit him from traveling as he didn't have a passport, nor could he get one due to his status. For one, Parker said, we can do some of the personal appearances we havent been able to. I recently spoke with Baz Luhrmann to discuss the 20th . The Elvis manager certainly had some unethical practices when it came to the King of Rock n Roll, and many were shocked upon viewing the film to find out that this was the case. But there is some history with Varietys initial bad review that maybe we should bring up. Anyway, one of us said, Uh, Big Mama, you know, you could growl it, and she said, Dont be telling me how to sing the blues! [The version Leiber and Stoller relay in their memoir has a little more lewdness to the response.] Then after that, you just have to have this faith in your own individual process and the power of the script. In the end, playing Parker required Hanks to spend an average of five hours per day in the make-up chair. In 1958, Parker encouraged Elvis to voluntarily enlist in the Army (part of Elvis' true story) after he received a draft notice and serve a two-year stint as a regular soldier, showing the world that he was just like any average American. This would sand the rough edges off his image and bring him back as the all-American boy fit for family entertainment with Frank Sinatra. Its (Eminem performing) over the background sound of Elvis recording of Jailhouse Rock, which Jerry and I virtually produced as well as wrote not the movie version, but the single version that Jerry and I were in the studio with Elvis working on back in 1957. We could write pretty fast, but that was an unusual situation. Didnt he ask to become the manager of Leiber and Stoller, too and, as the story goes, he presented you with a completely blank contract? Well, it became a different song. Reportedly, Hanks was approached by movie director Baz Luhrmann, and after a short conversation, the actor was hooked. Check him out. Related: Every Baz Luhrmann Movie, Ranked According To Box Office Mojo. Parker realized early on the bigger potential of Austin Butler's Elvis and transitioned to managing him full-time. If not the term producer really coming into usage in music? So its a perfect chance to catch up with Stoller,who wrote the music to Jerry Leibers lyrics on two dozen Presley songs, including the classics Hound Dog, Jailhouse Rock, Trouble, Treat Me Nice, Love Me, Loving You, Santa Claus Is Back in Town, Bossa Nova Baby and (Youre So Square) Baby I Dont Care. No other writers are so closely associated with the King, even if their run of collaborations with Elvis was ultimately cut short by want to hazard a guess? Arizona monument. Elvis Presley expressed his desire to go overseas frequently, but he was kept at bay with easy and fast money arranged by The Colonel on projects in the U.S. By the time they reached the final years of Elvis' career, the two were so intertwined and invested that it made more sense to stay in business than to walk away. Austin Butler on Elvis and Why it Took Months After Filming to Find Himself Again, The Best Epic Movies of All Time, According to the AFI, The 25 Best Thrillers of All Time, Ranked, The Legend Behind the Jerry Lewis Holocaust Clown Movie Youll Never See. Johnny (Otis) said, Are you familiar with Willie Mae Thornton? I said, no. Tom Hank's Col Tom Parker accent . It was the pre-Broadway run in Los Angeles. It was never a well-organized hand of poker. He then did the unthinkable, convincing Elvis' father, Vernon, to sign over control of Elvis' movie and singing "career" to him. "Baz said, 'There would've been no Colonel Tom Parker without Elvis. Related: Elvis True Story: Who Was Orion? Unfortunately, Jerry and I didnt complete a show we were working on about Oscar Wilde, and its kind of sitting in our back pockets. Other than the tremendous pains Baz has taken to make this story seem woke, the liberties are essentially fair except to Parker. The actor wore a fat suit and heavy make-up to appear more like Parker, but the real performance came in the mannerisms, accent, and presence of Hanks embodying Elvis' manager. We found that a lot of the blues singers that we knew, he knew them also, which was a surprise to us. After Elvis' death in 1977, the Elvis Presley manager continued on as if The King were still alive. Tom Hanks goes dark: Why our favorite good guy wanted to play the. Alex Shoofey, the executive VP of the International, testified that Parker was good for $1 million a year in gambling, but others think that number is low. Anyway, what do I know about production? King and Little Richard later. As you can see in the trailers, Elvis is about the complicated relationship between Colonel Tom Parker (Hanks) and Elvis Presley (Austin Butler). The Truth About Elvis Presley's Relationship With His Manager, Colonel The trade paper said, Just buy a boxed set of Phil Spector records instead. The Phil Spector line was the lowest blow of all. And then Jerry added: Screw Variety. I looked up the review, and it wasnt very prophetic, saying that things did not bode well for Smokey Joes Broadway aspirations. So maybe this is a place for you to get some official vindication. 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. Variety and the Flying V logos are trademarks of Variety Media, LLC. Gaining or losing weight, taking on accents, and experimenting in a variety of genres that pushed his limits as an actor, Hanks has built a career out of challenging roles.