colonel tom parker interview

It's one of only a very few villainous roles that Hanks has taken in his long career in movies, making it a relatively rare departure for the actor. 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. He sells! And again, he did not advise Elvis on any aspect of his performance. In 1969, she was an employee of the International Hotel when Elvis made his record-breaking performances there. Yeah, I think it was Ghost of a Chance. (The Hard Way is also on record as a temporary title.) There's a number of thematic elements there that All right. Austin Butler won the Golden Globe for Best Actor, beating out favorite Brendan Fraser (The Whale), and he picked up a nomination for the same award at the Oscars. King, Xavier Samuel as Scotty Moore, and Kodi Smit-McPhee as Jimmie Rodgers Snow. King and Little Richard later. Check him out. ", Another guy says he has a script which would cinch an Oscar for Elvis and wouldnt we do it for less money. When Parker crony Gabe Tucker threw a magazine piece on the Colonels desk that insinuated that Elvis was gay, Parker didnt say a word until his friend stopped sputtering. The Colonel promoted Elviss first big tour with Hank Snow. That convinced him this would be an opportunity to truly disappear into a different kind of role. "What he did was keep Elvis alive," Luhrmann explains of how he saw Parker's mindset. up to the suite after the shows. [Laughs.] But he also found rare footage of interviews Parker gave, which is how he hit on the accent that is so decidedly un-Hanks-like. And I would love to make a movie about that guy. Then she was hired on as Elvis' tour secretary and traveled . Variety spoke with her about how much rings true about both of the movies primary subjects, point by point. Elvis clearly demonstrates the ways in which Parker was integral in crafting Presley into an icon, but it also doesn't hold back in exposing the abuses and limitations of that relationship a paradox and tragedy that Hanks says became the most intriguing driving force in his portrayal. Its both sanitized and expanded. 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. During the interview, Hanks talked about the way Parker was a promoter and not a manager, why Elvis never fired him, and how he prepares for a really emotional scene. But Im happy to have a show like Smokey Joes Caf in existence. And so things resumed as they had been. 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. And that's what you do in order to get there on Monday at 10:00. And maybe its a given that a director who puts hip-hop and hard rock on his period-film soundtracks, as Baz Luhrmann does, might favor effect over total verisimilitude. The actor won his first Oscar for Philadelphia, where he played an AIDs-afflicted lawyer, losing significant weight to portray the character's declining health. But we were having too much of a ball, going to jazz clubs and going to the theater, and hanging out with Ahmet Ertegun and Jerry Wexler. Sadly, Elvis was too much the star that he could not take lesser parts to learn and develop as an actor. What Elvis Gets RightAnd WrongAbout the Real Colonel Tom Parker The 89-year-old co-writer of "Jailhouse Rock," "Hound Dog," "Trouble" and 20 more Presley tracks recalls hitting it off with Presley and alienating his manager as well as successes like the Broadway smash "Smokey Joe's Cafe. I got to really appreciate Elvis. Its great. Love him or loathe him, Elvis manager Colonel Tom Parker was good for Vegas Yes, he did. The Tom Hanks Tom Parker portrayal was certainly a different type of role for the actor, who is known for taking on characters like the sunny Mr. Rogers in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. As opposed to the more methodical camera coverage Hanks is accustomed to, Luhrmann is more free-wheeling. I called Jerry the next morning and said, Hey, he wants a song. So we wrote him a ballad and made a demo of it on Sunday, and I brought it in to him on Monday. Remembering Loanne Parker - Graceland Most of the songs he cut of yours, you two wrote expressly for him. I was a fan while my friends and peers were not. I dont like the choice of all the songs. RELATED: Austin Butler on Elvis and Why it Took Months After Filming to Find Himself Again. But there was never a Christmas sweater or a fairy-tale Christmas set. 2023 Variety Media, LLC. He wanted us to write the score for it, and for us to help get Elvis to play the lead. He was in for a surprise. Is it fantasy that he was constantly seeing or meeting up with all these important artists? 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. Colonel Tom Parker Facts for Kids - Kiddle We thought we were the only white kids who knew all that stuff! King used to visit some in Las Vegas, but that was in the 70s. Was the Variety review of the New York show, or was it the out-of-town tryout in L.A.? She growled it both times. This article originally appeared on The Hollywood Reporter. Stand by Me as the song for the royal wedding, where they had the Black choir singing it, that was apparently Meghan Markles choice as the song for their wedding. By the third day, you're in love with him. So we hit it off and we had a great relationship. 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? But we had recorded it with a Black duo, who were out of a gospel group, that we got to do a secular song we called em Willy & Ruth on our own little Spark Records label that we had with Lester Sill. How did you finally land on the Colonels bad side? I was expecting to hear stories about the distrust she had for Colonel Tom Parker over these many years. "The Colonel is like Falstaff with a chainsaw. Finally they asked her to do Joey Bishops show, and she said, Ill do it if I can do this song. She did, and boom, everybody responded. However, it soon became obvious that Elvis had staying power, with the right guidance. All in all, the manager was known for some appalling behavior towards his star client, and Elvis tries its best to portray that accurately. Elvis and the Colonel were associated throughout the musician's entire career, including music, movies, and TV specials. Colonel Tom Parker [1909-1997] Colonel Thomas Andrew "Tom" Parker (Born Andreas Cornelis van Kuyk) was an enigma from the day he arrived on a freighter in Tampa Bay, Florida, as an illegal immigrant at about the age of 20 until his death at the advanced age of 87 in 1997. 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. In 1967, Parker pushed Elvis to marry Priscilla Beaulieu, hoping that it would help change the tide of his career. Theres a story behind you two trying to cajole Thornton into singing it a certain way, which she didnt take kindly to it at first? Tom Hanks is playingElvis Presley manager "Colonel Tom" Parker in the upcomingBaz Luhrmann film, and to get a better idea of the infamous character, the actor had dinner withPriscilla Presley. Theres about three different uses of Hound Dog, including the original Big Mama Thornton version, and of course theres some Jailhouse Rock in there. Elviss first manager, Bob Neal, told me that he had a heck of a time getting stations to play Elviss first single. Tom Hanks on 'Elvis' and How He Prepares for a Really - Collider So we developed some protective mechanisms. Its a wild story. Yeah. Thats really what he was looking for all along. Having been a staple in The King's life for so long, he was well known to Elvis' ex-wife, Priscilla Presley, who humored his appearances at such venues, regarding him as a family friend despite their clashes over the estate. That was fine we took foreign nationals but he just had to swear hed become a U.S. citizen, which he never did, because he went AWOL. Tom Hanks has built a reputation for disappearing into his roles. 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. If not the term producer really coming into usage in music? Born in the Netherlands, Parker entered the United States illegally when he was 20 years old. He took really great care of us. But Im very proud of its success, nevertheless. The next day we went into the studio to record, at Radio Recorders Annex (in Hollywood), and as we were walking in, Jerry said, You know, she ought to growl it. And I said, Yeah Why dont you tell her? And he said, Why dont you tell her? [Laughs.] And when he said that, I said, 'Oh, well, okay, now that's brand new,'" remembers Hanks. Elvis would never have been so crass as to have fired Colonel from the stage. 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 to expose. Tom Hanks was also intrigued by the fact that the wider public knew very little about the Elvis manager, claiming this was another reason he took on the role. If there were an award to bestow for the most accomplished living American pop songwriter who never doubled as a recording artist, the frontrunner would almost definitely be Mike Stoller, 89, half of one of the most famous writing duos of all time, Leiber & Stoller. Teenage Elvis, living in Memphis, certainly went to West Memphis, Arkansas and to Beale Street to hear Black performers. 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. When watching the movie, you think about all the what ifs. Procols Ninth was the name of the album. But the more I read about the Colonel, it was about the sell overwhelming the other side. Colonel Tom Parker - Wikipedia Tom Hanks will be playing Colonel Tom Parker, the infamous music manager who discovered Elvis and landed him his contract with RCA. With B.B. Lets talk about a few of the greats you worked with who were not Elvis Presley. A producer was complaining that an Elvis picture of his didnt do so well. Yes. Jumping into why I get to talk to you.The thing that's interesting about Tom, is that he was really good for Elvis at the beginning. I mean, even the 1968 comeback special, he said, "Hey, great. And then I said, Well, we did also a few songs that we didnt write. They finally decided that we were producers. Born as Andreas Cornelis Dries van Kuijk in the Netherlands, the Tom Hanks Tom Parker portrayal saw him illegally immigrate to the United States, finding employment as a carnival worker before joining the Army, where he was eventually discharged after going AWOL. You were business guys as well as writer-producers, and you were not nave enough to have the wool pulled off your eyes, even if you were still in your early 20s. Finally, Tom Hanks wasn't nominated for Best Supporting Actor. Colonel Tom Parker Biographer Says Tom Hanks' Elvis Movie Accent Isn't In fact, Colonel didnt even have to go down to the casino. Elvis Presley: TRUTH about Colonel Parker and '50 per cent' cut With writer-director Baz Luhrmanns Elvis opening in theaters this weekend around the world, I recently got to speak with Tom Hanks about playing Colonel Tom Parker in the biopic. But what you're describing there is literally something that happens on movies. I would say it was in his spiritual DNA, as he grew up with Black playmates and heard that music all around him. But here was a guy that took him from the worst rental apartment in a bad part of town in Memphis and put him in Graceland, which is the mansion that's right there. And so they came to see it, and I said, Listen, why cant we just do it without a book? And they liked the idea, and thats how it got started. And she said, No. We did some that were not quite so successful. His performance alone is reason to see the film. In an exclusive interview, David E Stanley said his brother's manager Colonel Tom Parker - played by Tom Hanks in a new movie about the star - treated the iconic singer as a "product" and. They were hot with Grand Funk Railroad and a variety of things, but that was not what they were looking for in 1969. Because I made Elvis Presley. Would Elvis have gone to Black Pentecostal tent meetings as a kid, as seen in the film? Its a very strong film; I really like the movie. The Colonel wouldve made a movie like this you know, without Baz Luhrmanns ability or chops. Yeah, we did some that were very successful. He could turn down scripts. Everybody's very familiar with it. No. Thats total and unequivocal bunk, a complete invention in the movie. We found that a lot of the blues singers that we knew, he knew them also, which was a surprise to us. The first three days of the movies are chaos. Parker had no passport and couldnt go and didnt trust any other promoter to take him. Was there a late 50s concert riot in which Elvis deliberately disobeyed Parkers orders not to move around or wiggle on stage? 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. Elvis took care of what Elvis did and Colonel took care of what Colonel did. ", The Colonel just shrugged at the perception around Hollywood that Elvis was falling off at the box office due to over exposure. He dreamed about that. Elvis never knew. Davis went to have a look and went back to tell Colonel Parker all about him and how he wiggled and girls went wild. First, Baz Luhrmann joined a list of directors including Joe Wright, Frank Darabont, and Lawrence Kasdan as someone who had two Best Picture nominations but didn't get a Best Director nomination either time. It was never told to him. He literally never made any artistic suggestion to Elvis. But he worked closely with the Pentagon, planning Elvis army career and post-army concert to raise money for the U.S.S. What idea?" Why dont you wait outside? So we waited, trying to imagine how we were going to be rewarded for bringing this great plumb. And the Colonel said, What took you so long?. Is there a song you wrote for Elvis youre proud of that doesnt get as much attention? He was a fabulous singer, fabulous performer, and very special and hes very hot, again, still. But you ought to see it, because theres something happening with these songs in this theater. You know, there wasnt much rock n roll or rhythm and blues in these theatrical productions that I knew of at that time. We did Procol Harum [in 1975]. Elvis would invite B.B. We could write pretty fast, but that was an unusual situation. 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. A couple of songs, a little story and some nice people with him. 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. Privately, Parker referred to Elviss family as shit and rubbed his thumb and forefinger together. Related: Every Baz Luhrmann Movie, Ranked According To Box Office Mojo. Paul Shirey is a senior news writer for Screen Rant. But the thing that really did it for us Jerry went to a party in New York and met a producer, Charlie Feldman, who was going to do a movie of a novel by Nelson Algren called A Walk on the Wild Side. He had (Elia) Kazan to direct, Budd Schulberg to write the thing and James Wong Howe to do the cinematography. With the Coasters, who you were just as prolific with, you had a whole style of songwriting going that was based in storytelling, almost like mini-musicals you called them playlets.. Do you think, based on your experiences with the Colonel, which werent great, that its easy to paint him as a villain? 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 to expose. After a lifetime of earning well over $100 million managing Elvis, The Colonel's estate was barely worth $1 million upon his death. Listen, this guy was no fool! It adds a little spice. You think you're going to get fired and nothing works. The complex Elvis/Parker relationship is the glue that holds Elvis together, making it different from yet another musician biopic. It has been my thought that Elvis was afraid that his success would evaporate, and therefore it was business, a formula that worked. People are so used to hearing it within the polite context of Christmas radio that they dont think about what a down-and-dirty, raw song that is. Yes, Priscilla invited us to a private screening, and she and Jerry Schilling were there. Did Parker talk of things in carnival or carnie or conman terms as much as he does in this movie? Loanne Parker, wife of Colonel Tom Parker, passed away earlier this week.Loanne had a strong connection to Las Vegas, Nevada - even though she was from southern Ohio - and she had an even stronger connection to Elvis. It sounded like a weird (Southern) regional dialect, and you would know it was Dutch only by listening for certain consonants. 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. A lot of the young Brits, the rockers, they were big fans of American rock n roll or rhythm and blues records. 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.
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