Parker was born in the Netherlands, but when he was 20, he moved to the United States without a visa. He gave himself a new name and said he was born in the U.S. His Dutch birthplace and his status as an immigrant were kept secret for a long time. A carnival worker by background, Parker moved into music promotion in 1938, working with one of the first popular crooners, Gene Austin, and then country music singers Eddy Arnold, Hank Snow, and Tommy Sands in his early career. He also helped Jimmie Davis get elected as Governor of Louisiana. Davis thanked him by making him an honorary “colonel” in the Louisiana State Militia.
Parker first met Elvis Presley in 1955, and by 1956, he was his only agent. Within a few months, he had convinced RCA Victor to give him a recording contract. Because of this contract, Elvis Presley’s first single, “Heartbreak Hotel,” became a big hit in 1956, and he went on to become one of the most popular and financially successful entertainers in the world. Parker was able to get more than half of the money made by the business, which is something that has never happened before with a music manager.
He worked out lucrative deals for Presley to sell merchandise, appear on TV, and act in movies. He had an effect on Elvis Presley’s personal life, like when he joined the army in 1958 and when he married Priscilla Beaulieu in 1967. Parker pushed Presley to make movie musicals, which became the focus of his career during the 1960s, when his popularity was going down, until he made a comeback in 1968 and went back on the road. Parker didn’t see him much after that, but he kept his job as his manager until Elvis Presley died in 1977.
Parker managed Elvis Presley’s estate for the rest of his life, but after selling RCA Records the rights to Presley’s early recordings, he had trouble making a steady living and also lost a lot of money gambling. In 1980, a judge asked for an investigation into how Parker ran his business. The judge found that Parker’s business practises were not ethical. [2][3] Parker spent his last years in Las Vegas, where his health kept getting worse until he died in 1997.
Colonel Tom Parker Net Worth : $1 Million
Colonel Tom Parker was a Dutch-American talent manager and music businessman. At the time of his death in 1997, he was worth $1 million. Colonel Tom Parker was best known as Elvis Presley’s manager. In the 1950s, he helped Elvis Presley become a big star. He also influenced his decisions to join the military and marry Priscilla, among other things. In the early 1980s, after an investigation, a judge ruled that Parker’s way of running Elvis Presley’s business was wrong.
| Net Worth: | $1 Million |
| Date of Birth: | Jun 26, 1909 – Jan 21, 1997 (87 years old) |
| Place of Birth: | Breda, Netherlands |
| Profession: | Elvis’ manager |
Colonel Tom Parker Early Life
Colonel Tom Parker was born as Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk on June 26, 1909, in Breda, Netherlands. He was the seventh of Adam and Maria’s eleven children. As a child, he worked as a carnival barker in the town where he grew up. Parker moved to Rotterdam when he was 15 and worked on boats there. A few years later, he got into the U.S. without permission by jumping ship from the boat he was working on. Parker then went back to the Netherlands. When he was 19, he went back to the US illegally, but this time he was caught. He worked at carnivals there.
Colonel Tom Parker Military Service
Parker joined the US Army soon after he got back to the US. To hide the fact that he was in the country illegally, he took the name of the officer who interviewed him, Tom Parker. He was in the 64th Coast Artillery at Fort Shafter in Hawaii for two years. Then, at Fort Barrancas in Florida, he joined the army again. But after re-enlisting, he went missing in action (AWOL) and was charged with deserting. Parker was put in solitary confinement because of this. When he got out, he had a psychosis that put him in a mental hospital for a short time. This got him kicked out of the Army.
Colonel Tom Parker Career
After he got out of the army, Parker went back to working at carnivals. From 1931 to 1938, he was a carnie for Royal American Shows. After that, he went into the music business as a promoter. Gene Austin, a well-known singer, was the first big name he worked with. During this time, Parker also worked as a field agent for the Hillsborough County Humane Society, helping to raise money and awareness for its work. When he went back to music, he started working as a manager for singers like Eddy Arnold and Tommy Sands.
Colonel Tom Parker Personal Life And Death
In 1935, when Parker was still in the circus, he married Marie Francis Mott. The pair worked together at carnivals early on before Parker’s career in management took off. In the 1960s, Mott started to show signs of dementia, which made Parker pull away from her and turn to gambling for comfort. Mott died at the end of 1986, when he was 78 years old. In 1990, Parker married Loanne Miller, who had been his secretary for a long time.
By the time Parker made his last public appearances in 1994, he was sick with gout and diabetes, among other things. At the age of 87, he died of a stroke in Las Vegas in the beginning of 1997.
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