LOS ANGELES — Colonel Tom Parker was mercilessly villified in an NBC movie the other night. Elvis Presley’s manager was depicted as a scheming scoundrel who sold out his client to further his own interests.
According to Dick Clark, The Colonel got off easy. “I’ve held that story for 20 years,” said Clark, who appeared on ABC’s portion of the midseason press tour to promote the upcoming American Music Awards.
“I wanted it told so badly because it’s the classic example of horrendous mismanagement. Elvis was a great talent, a national treasure. He died with $5 million in the bank, not an inconsiderable sum, grant you, but today it’s over $100 million. Can you imagine what the estate would have been worth if it had been handled properly?”
Clark said the accepted figure of Parker taking 50 percent of Elvis’ earnings shortchanges the reality, because Parker also took exorbitant agent’s fees for cutting deals off the top. “The Colonel made more money than his act.”
Parker’s handling of the man was as bad or worse than his management of Elvis’ business affairs, Clark said. “He kept him in a cage like an animal. He trotted him out like a trained bear. He raped … oopsy daisy. Stop. Time. I can’t say those things. You draw your own conclusions.”
The harsh rhetoric is especially damning considering the source. No one in the history of rock ‘n’ roll has been more plugged into the behind-the-scenes machinations of the contemporary music world than Clark. Also, Clark is one of the genuine nice guys and class acts in the business. He has spent more than 40 years in a profession notorious for drug abuse and sex scandals without ever being tainted by a whisper of misconduct.
Moreover, he is unwaveringly cooperative with the media, yet almost never has had a negative word to say about anyone.
But once he got started on The Colonel, he took the governor off his mouth and said he felt good he had. “I mean, I had to keep biting my tongue for so many years. It’s been very frustrating.”
Clark went so far as to speculate that Parker might have been culpable for Elvis’ death. “It’s my contention that had Elvis been handled properly and had loved ones around him who really cared, who weren’t just sucking his blood dry, he might be alive today.”
OPRAH LANDS INTERVIEW WITH MICHAEL JACKSON
The almost reclusive Michael Jackson has agreed to his first extensive, no- holds-barred TV interview.
Jackson will go one on one with Oprah Winfrey in a live, 90-minute prime-time special that will air Feb. 10 on ABC. The interview is scheduled to take place at Jackson’s Los Angeles mansion.
ABC Entertainment President Ted Harbert, who announced the programming coup, said Jackson initiated the idea. “He went to Oprah. He wants to do this. He said he is open to discuss anything.”
It probably helped that Jackson, who will not be paid for the interview, was reportedly pleased with the way he was portrayed in the ABC miniseries The Jacksons.
LIFE IMITATES ART
There’s a little bit of Homer Simpson in actor Dan Castellaneta, who supplies the voice of the cartoon family patriarch in the Fox series.
Castellaneta took delight in relating a Homer-like story about himself at a Fox press reception. An avid football fan, he set aside a week ago Sunday for a full day of playoff viewing. This was in spite of the fact that his wife had been bugging him that they had to flea bomb their house. The Castellanetas have a dog and a cat.
When the score got up to 35-3, Houston over Buffalo, Castellaneta decided that it was a good time to make his wife happy.
“I figured that game was over, so I could flea bomb the house, go out for a couple of hours, then come back and watch the second game.”
While he was gone, of course, Buffalo rallied to win 41-38 in overtime. “I walked out on the greatest comeback in the history of football,” Homer’s alter ego said with a shake of his head.
No, he didn’t add, “Duhhhh!”
