Elvis True Story: Who Was Orion? The Masked Lookalike Explained
Elvis is Baz Luhrmann's cinematic tribute to the cultural phenomenon of Elvis Presley, a phenomenon that Presley's former studio, Sun Records, cashed in on with a masked singer known only as Orion. Luhrmann's movie tells the story of Elvis Presley, from his modest childhood to his untimely death, from the perspective of his former manager, Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks.) Parker is a rare villain role for the supremely likable Hanks, who appears to relish the chance to play Presley's controlling and manipulative manager.
Parker saw Elvis Presley as the ultimate "Snow Job", a carnival term that referred to an attraction that would convince audiences to part with their cash. Parker dubbed himself The Snowman, an unashamed profiteer and conman. Luhrmann's movie exposes Parker's business practices as what they were later deemed to be by the courts, the financial abuse of Elvis Presley. However, Colonel Tom Parker wasn't the only industry conman who sought to profit from the Presley myth, as the story of Sun Records and Orion proves.
RELATED: Elvis True Story: How Accurate It Is & What The Movie Changes
The story of Orion picks up in the wake of Elvis' untimely death from a heart attack in 1977. With a nation in mourning for the King of Rock and Roll, bereft fans flocked to Graceland to pay tribute to Presley, and spoke on camera about their wish that he was still alive. The Elvis ending doesn't linger too long on the public outpouring of grief for Presley, but another film, 2015's documentary Orion: The Man Who Would Be King becomes a spiritual sequel of sorts, and tells the eerily similar story of Orion and his own controlling and manipulative manager, Shelby Singleton, who sought to profit off Elvis' passing via Orion
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