Netflix’s new documentary Return of the King: The Fall and Rise of Elvis Presley revisits the period in Presley’s career when he was at a crossroads. Converted seven years previously from a singer to a movie star by his influential manager, Colonel Tom Parker, Presley was dissatisfied and restless. Elvis’ movie roles had become increasingly unfulfilling, and he yearned to be singing again. So in 1968, Parker lined up a make-or-break television special to re-introduce Elvis to the public.
Return of the King: The Fall and Rise of Elvis Presley revisits the lead-up to the event, and the tensions between Elvis Presley and Tom Parker. As depicted in other media focused on Elvis’ life, the pair’s relationship was often tempestuous. Nevertheless, both men had a profound influence on each other.
Colonel Tom Parker & Elvis Presley’s Partnership After The 1968 Comeback Explained
Parker And Presley’s Relationship Soured
Despite Parker’s influence on suspending his stage career, Presley had much to thank the Colonel for and knew it. “I wasn’t known at all until Colonel Parker started managing me,” he says in Return of the King: The Fall and Rise of Elvis Presley. Parker had skillfully managed Presley’s two-year hiatus in the army, by having him record a good deal of music before embarking for Germany, and then releasing single after single, so Presley had more than 40 top-10 hits during that period. On his return, it was Parker who negotiated the lucrative movie contracts that ensured Presley’s wealth and fame.
But the ’68 Special marked the beginning of the decline of their relationship. Presley re-found himself as a singer, while Parker wanted him to stick to the big screen. Parker negotiated Presley’s Las Vegas residency at $125000 per week, retaining his 50% manager’s fee, which would later become a bone of contention. As part of the deal, Parker included a $50,000 per year “consultant” fee. As Presley’s health deteriorated under the weight of prescription drugs, the two men drifted apart. After a Vegas concert in September 1973, the two men argued over Presley’s Hilton Hotel contract, and Presley promptly fired Parker on the spot.
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Parker Was Sued By Presley’s Estate
As portrayed in Return of the King: The Fall and Rise of Elvis Presley, the two reconciled later, but the relationship was fractured beyond repair. After Elvis’s death in 1977, it was rumored that Parker had acted as if nothing had happened, and when he turned up at Presley’s funeral in a Hawaiian shirt and baseball cap, the Presley estate began looking more closely at Parker’s management contracts. When it was found that Parker had missed out on millions of dollars in poorly negotiated deals with RCA, and on huge royalties by failing to sign up with BMI or ASCAP, Elvis Presley Enterprises sued Parker for mismanagement in 1981.
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Despite this, Parker continued to consult with Hilton Hotels until his death. He lived in the same fourth-floor suite he had during Elvis’s residency, but having racked up severe gambling debts, he was eventually evicted. Despite his legal issues with the Presley estate, he continued to be involved in Presley’s legacy, organizing the tenth-year fan convention event in 1987, and attending some of the many posthumous events honoring the singer. At the age of 87, stricken with diabetes, gout, and a range of other health issues, he succumbed to a stroke on January 27, 1997, at a Las Vegas hospital – an episode not covered in Return of the King: The Fall and Rise of Elvis Presley.