ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, January 22, 1997 TAG: 9701220043
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: LAS VEGAS
TYPE: NEWS OBIT
SOURCE: Associated Press
WHEN CRITICS COMPLAINED in 1993 about the hefty cut he had taken of The King's earnings, Parker said, ``I don't think I exploited Elvis as much as he's being exploited today.'' - Col. Tom Parker, the former carnival barker who helped guide Elvis Presley to stardom, died Tuesday of complications from a stroke. He was 87.
Parker, a rough-around-the-edges figure with a fondness for Cuban cigars, became Presley's manager in 1955 as the young Memphis truck driver was on the verge on becoming a rock 'n' roll sensation, and stayed in the job until the death of The King in 1977. After that, Parker all but retired.
Thomas Andrew Parker was credited with getting Presley a $35,000 recording contract with RCA Victor in the mid-1950s when Sam Phillips of Sun Records in Memphis decided to sell the contract.
He also arranged Presley's early television appearances, including three on ``The Ed Sullivan Show'' in 1956 and 1957 that helped catapult the young Presley to stardom.
He seemed to exercise firm control over Presley, who affectionately called Parker ``admiral.'' The ``colonel'' was an honorary title bestowed on Parker in 1948 by Gov. Jimmie Davis of Louisiana.
Parker took 25 percent to 50 percent of Presley's earnings - figures that some in the Presley circle considered too high. He defended his take, saying: ``I sleep very good at night. When they've done all they can with him, then they start picking on me.''
``I don't think I exploited Elvis as much as he's being exploited today,'' Parker said in 1993.
Parker was a somewhat mysterious figure who preferred to stay out of the public eye. Even his birthplace was in dispute: He said West Virginia, but most reference books said Breda, Netherlands.
His wife, Loanne, and longtime friend Bruce Banke said he came to the United States and served in the Army before becoming a carnival pitchman. He founded the Great Parker Pony Circus, and Colonel Tom Parker and His Dancing Chickens, an act in which he placed live chickens on a hot plate covered with sawdust. The chickens ``danced'' to the music.
Parker managed country singers Eddy Arnold and Hank Snow in the 1940s and '50s. He also managed pop singer Gene Austin, who recorded the hit ``My Blue Heaven.''
Parker and Snow opened a booking agency in Nashville in the mid-'50s and began booking concerts for Presley, which led to Parker's becoming Presley's manager.
Banke, former vice president of advertising and publicity at the Las Vegas Hilton, caller Parker a master promoter.
``You could not walk, fly or drive into Las Vegas and not know Elvis was in town,'' Banke said. ``The colonel bought up every billboard, had spots on every radio station. When he would take Elvis on tour, he would remember the call letters of every radio station where Elvis was going to appear.''
After Presley's death, courts ruled that Parker had no legal rights or interest to his biggest client's estate.
Somewhat lacking in the social graces, he wore walking shorts, a colorful shirt and a baseball cap to Presley's funeral.
Early in Presley's career, it was Parker who started marketing Elvis bracelets and other trinkets that first gave Elvis memorabilia its reputation for tackiness. The keepers of Presley's estate have tried in recent years to promote more-tasteful and better-made souvenirs, such as mugs and clocks.
He walked with a cane during much of his adult life because of a bad spine. He enjoyed gambling and was often seen playing roulette and craps in Las Vegas, where he lived from the 1980s onward.
He is survived by his wife. Funeral arrangements were incomplete.
LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP/File. Col. Tom Parker, once a carnival pitchman,by CNBarranged Elvis Presley's early television appearances, including
three on ``The Ed Sullivan Show'' in 1956 and 1957 that helped
catapult the young singer to stardom. color.