career began to take off, Marie became more of a housewife, although she would occasionally travel with him to various parts of the country. During the 1960s, after many years of ill health, Marie began to display signs of dementia. Parker began to distance himself emotionally from her, heartbroken by her slow mental deterioration from the woman he once knew. Marie died on November 25, 1986, of a chronic brain syndrome at age 78. In October 1990, Parker married Loanne Miller, his secretary since 1972. From then on, he continued living in Las Vegas, mostly avoiding contact with the press. Gambling Many Parker biographers, including Dirk Vellenga and Alanna Nash, have stated that Parker's gambling habit began to get out of control in the mid-1960s. During the 1960s, with his wife's health deteriorating, and Presley's career struggling, Parker found an escape with gambling at Las Vegas casinos. Fans and biographers alike believe that one of the main reasons Parker signed Presley to a Vegas hotel in 1969 for his live comeback was to help cover losses he experienced in their casino. He would often spend 12–14 hours at a time gambling in the casinos, betting large sums. It is believed that Parker lost at least $1 million a year from gambling. At the time of Presley's death in 1977, it was suspected that Parker owed the Las Vegas Hilton over $30 million ($ in dollars) in gambling losses. After a lifetime that saw him earn in excess of $100 million, Parker's estate was worth barely $1 million when he died. "Colonel Tom Parker rubbed my head in Vegas", Eddie Murphy stated in 1989. "A couple times he set me up in the Elvis Presley suite on top of the Hilton, and I would go play Elvis for a week… One night we were at the crap table together and he rubbed my head for luck. I wanted to punch him in the face. But this guy is like eighty years old – too old to be taught the limits of racism… He probably doesn't realize how horrible a thing that was to do." Songwriter Mac Davis recounted a similar experience where Parker rubbed his head and declared "You're going to be a star. You tell everybody the Colonel touched your head." Later, Davis says "He remembered me, and he said 'I told you you were going to be a star.'