Colonel Tom Parker

Born Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk in the Netherlands, he slipped into the United States at twenty, adopted a new name, and worked the carnival circuit before moving into music promotion in 1938 with crooners and country singers. A stint helping Jimmie Davis win the Louisiana governorship earned him an honorary colonelcy he'd use for life. He met Presley in 1955, became his manager by 1956, and landed him at RCA Victor - "Heartbreak Hotel" broke commercially that same year. Parker negotiated merchandising, media deals, and personal choices including military service in 1958 and marriage in 1967, while collecting an unprecedented share of earnings. He pushed Presley into films through the 1960s decline, remained through the 1968 comeback, and held on until Presley's death in 1977, when lawsuits accused him of fraud and exploitation. He managed the estate afterward, but having sold off early recordings and lost heavily to gambling, he spent his final years in Las Vegas, broke and fading, until 1997.