Elvis Presley rejected “A Star Is Born” for this reason: the author

One of Elvis Presley’s biggest regrets was not sharing the screen with Barbra Streisand.

The statement was made by Norman Brokaw’s son, Joel Brokaw, who wrote a biography about the late Hollywood agent called “Driving Marilyn.”

Brokaw, who represented Presley as well as Marilyn Monroe, Clint Eastwood and other major stars, died in 2016. He was 89 years old.

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“I interviewed Priscilla Presley, who was also a client of my father’s,” Joel told Fox News Digital. “I asked her about her relationship with (his supervisor) Col. (Tom) Parker. She mentioned that there was only one time when they had some kind of disagreement.’

According to Joel’s book, Presley had the opportunity to star with Streisand in 1976, A Star Is Born. Parker, however, “refused to do it,” believing that “Barbra could minimize it.”

“It was a decision Elvis regretted,” Joel wrote.

Joel told Fox News Digital that at the time, Presley really wanted to be taken seriously as a Hollywood actor. He looked Rebel Without a Cause star. James Dean as a source of inspiration. Still, Parker wanted Presley to prioritize performing — even if that meant taking part in mediocre musicals.

“Elvis wanted to do meatier… acting roles,” Joel said. (But) Colonel Parker really liked the status quo when Elvis made these movies with soundtracks. Many songs… were played from movies. (And the movies) were fun and light. It complemented the first residencies that any artist did in Las Vegas…Elvis, I think, was one of the first to do that.”

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“It was a very convenient…marketing strategy,” Joel shared. “But Elvis wanted to develop himself as an actor. And so Colonel Parker turned down this opportunity, the offer for Elvis to star in a movie called “A Star Is Born” with Barbra Streisand… He didn’t want Elvis to be overshadowed by Barbra. Streisand”.

“According to Priscilla, that was the only blemish on their relationship,” Joel added.

The author had his own theories as to why Parker was adamant that Streisand would outshine Presley.

“Perhaps part of Colonel Parker’s anxiety about Barbra Streisand’s pairing with Elvis may be due to their current trajectory and careers,” he explained.

“Elvis wanted to develop himself as an actor. And so (his manager) Colonel Parker turned down that opportunity, the offer for Elvis to star in the movie ‘A Star Is Born’ with Barbra Streisand … He didn’t want to see Elvis in the shadow of Barbra Streisand.”

—Joel Brokaw, author of Driving Marilyn

“Elvis was on top for so long. And as we got into the 1960s and the British Invasion, the coming of the Beatles, Elvis was starting to lose a lot of his luster and popularity.

“Barbra Streisand was on her way,” he noted. “I think (Parker) felt like maybe the momentum was more on her side at the time.”

The original 1930s film starred Janet Gaynor and Fredric March, while the 50s remake starred Judy Garland and James Mason. Streisand starred in her version alongside Kris Kristofferson.

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In 2018, a fourth version of the romance between a young artist on the rise and a fading artist premiered. It stars Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper and was directed by Cooper.

In November, Priscilla confirmed that Streisand had planned for Presley to play her on-screen love interest, but Parker told him not to take the part.

“Barbra offered him the part,” Presley’s ex-wife said People magazine in November. “The colonel talked him out of it, saying, ‘Oh, that’s not going to be good.’ She will be in charge, not you. Her film, not yours.’

“Elvis regretted it because he felt he could have played the role,” added the 79-year-old.

In 2023, Streisand wrote in her memoir, My Name is Barbra, that she considered Presley to appear in the musical drama before the role went to Kristofferson. She flew to Las Vegas to meet with Presley in an attempt to convince him.

“We were talking about the movie and Elvis was interested,” wrote the 82-year-old, who was quoted as saying USA Today. “But it’s clear that it didn’t work out. Marty (Ehrlichman, her manager) says Colonel Parker asked for more money than we could afford. And (producer) John (Peters) says the colonel wanted to make a movie. not sure about that.”

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“I know that Elvis had put on a lot of weight and was no longer at the top of his game, although he still drew a large audience,” she shared. “Perhaps the story was too close to his own life and the colonel talked him out of it.”

Presley has a complicated relationship with Parker explored in a new Netflix documentary“Return of the King: The Fall and Rise of Elvis Presley”. It features interviews with Priscilla and his close confidante/business partner Jerry Schilling.

In the film, Presley can be heard describing how frustrated he was with making money-making musicals compared to more serious roles.

“Hollywood’s perception of me was wrong, and I knew it, and there was nothing I could do about it,” Presley said. “I didn’t know what to do. I just felt like I owed things I didn’t fully believe in.”

“They couldn’t pay me any money in the world to make me feel like I had any kind of inner satisfaction,” Presley added.

Presley’s Hollywood career has sunk so low that the Grammy winner sings the nursery rhyme “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” in the 1967 film Double Trouble.

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“It’s a crime to me,” Priscilla said in the film while watching the scene.

“This is a crime,” she stressed. “To put him in that situation and sing that song. It made him a laughingstock. And he knew it.”

Director Jason Hehir said Presley felt so overwhelmed and consumed by his film career that he sometimes became “physically ill”.

“He was very unhappy. He couldn’t get out of bed,” Hehir said. “A lot of people … don’t understand how frustrated he was … He was doing these movie roles and it just seemed like he was taking the easy way out and cashing huge checks. But that was not his ambition as an artist.”

“It was always frustrating for him,” Hehir shared. “…He couldn’t even get out of bed because he was so hungry for an artistic challenge. But he locked himself into these movie contracts and his management allowed him to lock himself into these movie contracts.”

“It shed light on what’s really important to him, which is performing,” Hehir continued. “And I think the frustration of not performing in front of a live audience for seven years and instead just being on set and making more and more mediocre movies—a light bulb went off in his head.

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“He wanted to do something for himself, not for his leadership. Not for movie audiences. He wanted to get back to the Elvis he wanted to be.”

Presley died in 1977, he was 42 years old.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.