ENCOUNTERING VINCENT PRICE

I was privileged to meet the wonderful Vincent Price three times in my life,  and a fourth encounter by mail after I moved to Los Angeles.

Encounter #1: Fall 1960: St. Louis, my home town, had their version of Mardi Gras called the Veiled Prophet Parade, a tradition that migrated up-river with the people from New Orleans who came north to work at Anheuaser Brewery.  In fact the Soulard Market area that was built up around the brewery looks like a section of New Orleans was dropped into the St. Louis landscape and retains its architectural beauty and integrity even today.

The “VP” as it was come to be called was held in March every.  In 1960, when I was nine, my family, along with another family, went down to the Chase Park Plaza Hotel on Lindell and Kingshighway for dinner. The Parade route went from Forest Park, east down Lindell and we all went out to the pool deck to watch the parade. Now, you must understand I had a talent for going off on my own and this night was no exception. 

A digression, if I may:  I was so fascinated with show business even as a child, I would manage to talk my way into any TV and radio station and hang out, specifically KXOK, the local AM rock station, and then KSD (now KSDK the local NBC affiliate), but my favorite was the first independently owned KPLR , Channel 11, owned and operated by the owners of the Chase Park Plaza Hotel.

Okay, back to the story. I slipped away from my family and went to the KPLR offices. I had been there so often the receptionist knew me by my first name. The windows of the KPLR reception area looked out on Lindell Blvd and it was the first time the Veiled Prophet Parade was being televised on KPLR, the television in the reception area also showing the parade.

As I waited for the Parade to start I was chatting up the receptionist, another television show was being broadcast which I wasn’t paying any attention to when one of KPLR’s local celebrities, actor, singer, and restaurateur Joe Cusinelli; the co-star of one of the local kid’s show “Captain 11’s Show Boat” that aired The Three Stooges shorts and hosted by former Ziegfeld Follies Chorus boy Harry Fender; came out into the lobby. Obviously Joe knew me and we immediately began chatting.

While we were talking, the show that was on, ended and four men exited through the lobby and out the front door. Joe turned to me and said “You know who that was who just left?”,  I said that I didn’t.  “That was Vincent

Price”. I immediately bolted for the front door. When I got outside I saw a man walking toward the sidewalk and I was crest fallen feeling I had missed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

As I turned to go back into the lobby, there was Vincent Price standing right behind me, along with three other men. I was immediately awestruck and dumbfounded.  As I recall he seemed to this skinny nine year old to be twelve feet tall, he was actually 6 feet, 4 inches.  And like his horror film colleague Boris Karloff, had one of the nicest demeanors for someone who was best known for villains and mad men.

One of the men with was the P.R. man for the Roger Corman directed “The House of Usher”.  I told Mr. Price who I was and that I was a fan. I recall the P.R. man being rather obnoxious, pressing me to get Mr. Price’s autograph but I didn’t have any paper on me. The P.R. man suggested Mr. Price autograph my hand. For some reason the idea didn’t appeal to me and I declined, but remained nonetheless and watched the VP Parade alongside Vincent Price.

When the Parade ended I thanked Mr. Price and excused myself to rejoin my family who insisted to know where I had been. I told them I had just spent the passing hour watching the Parade with Vincent Price. Needless to say, they didn’t believe me. It was then that I regretted not letting him autograph my hand.

ENCOUNTER #2:  EARLY 1970’S:

A decade later, after coming to Los Angeles for the first, as short, time, I returned to St. Louis. While in Los Angeles I watched the Saturday night “Creature Feature” hosted by “Sinister Seymour” (Larry Vincent). He bore a striking resemblance to John Carradine and had the dry, sly delivery revived years later by “Elivria, Mistress of the Dark” (Cassandra Peterson).

When I returned to St. Louis KDNL-TV the first UHF station had just come on. I knew Jack Miller, best known as “Corky, The Clown” who had been on the air in St. Louis for years and I went to visit him with this idea of trying to be the local horror movie host.  Jack told me that KDNL had just acquired the Roger Corman “Edgar Allen Poe” film package.  I got a hold of a couple of high school friends (John Goodwin, who became an Emmy winning make-up effects artist for “CSI”, and Ken Stack, who went on to run a local theater in Bangor, Maine who had also put together a one man show as Edgar Allen Poe, and we wrote a series of intros and wrap-arounds to these films.

I had gotten wind of the fact that Mr. Price, by then the art

buyer for Sears and Roebuck, was coming to St. Louis for a day. I hopped on a bus early and went down and “staked-out” the lobby of the Chase Park Plaza hotel, periodically calling the desk from the lobby house phone, finally learning that his flight from Toronto had been delayed. I sat in the lobby for about eight hours.

Finally, Mr. Price arrived and I “ambushed” him at the desk as he was registering. I related the story of our first meeting and , even with the flight delay, he was gracious, patient, and courteous, listening to my “pitch”, requesting that he consider coming on my proposed show.  He told me he would be returning to St. Louis that coming may to do “The Raven” with the St. Louis Symphony and very kindly gave the name and address of his manager in Los Angeles. I wrote to Mr. Price’s manager, but never received a reply.

Using the possibility of landing Mr. Price to make an appearance on my proposed show, Jack Miller arranged for an audition tape to be made and I proceeded to work up a character and make-up. Not having the skill to create foam latex prosthetics, I constructed my make-up using morticians’ wax, put a costume together and went ahead with the audition.

To say I was nervous was a gross understatement. I was terrified the day of the audition and sat on the set, holding my copy, hands shaking and plunged ahead. What I failed to take into account was how hot studio lights can be and as we rolled tape I could feel my “face” literally melting, adding to my terror and thinking I was going to look like the “Incredible Melting Man”!

Needless to say it was the worst audition tape to find its way into the KNDL video library, but was told if I could find sponsors for the show, KDNL would put me on the air. I immediately set about trying to find sponsors, but it was a futile attempt and, perhaps thankfully, the show never got past the audition tape.

ENCOUNTER #3-MID 1970’S:

I moved back to Los Angeles again in 1974, living on Sunset Blvd in a hotel/apartment building across the street from the Comedy Store and Hyatt House and got a job at Vendome liquor on Sunset and La Cienega Blvd.

It was the week of Thanksgiving and I was stocking the shelves when who would walk in but Vincent Price. All the other employees stared in awe and I just walked up to him, introduced myself, again relating  our previous encounters, then asked him how I could be of help. He was preparing a Thanksgiving Dinner and needed a few extra ingredients.

I spent about ten minutes with him, bid him a happy holiday and returned to my work as he went to the counter and made his purchases, then exited.

He got only a few paces from the door, turned around, came back in, looked around and after finding me shouted out “Michael. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!” and exited again.

I went back to my work and caught sight of the other employees’ heads pivot, seemingly in unison, turning to look at me all with the same expression of “How did he rate a conversation with Vincent Price?” on their faces. I never explained the connection.

SORT OF ENCOUNTER #4-EARLY 1980’S

In the early 1980’s I came up with an idea for a television series entitled “Lundy & Foxxe”. The lead character was a world renowned mystery writer and a stunt woman who get involved in real crimes.  It was about this time that Mr. Price was making the rounds of the talk shows plugging his cook books, his hosting PBS’s “Mystery”, and various other projects, but also revealing his wonderful wit and sense of humor. He even did several guest appearances on “Hollywood Squares”.

I came up with the idea of adding Mr. Price to the cast playing himself. After all he was a gourmand, art expert, and actor and felt I could use these facets of his personality well as portraying him as a long time family friend to the lead character.

At about the same time I was working as a messenger in Los Angeles and one day I heard over my radio as another driver got a pick-up from ABC TV Prospect lot going to Vincent Price’s home, but failed to hear the address. The next day I went into the office, pulled all the dispatch tickets and went through them looking for the address which I eventually found.

I went home that night and wrote Mr. Price a three page letter, again relating our various encounters and outlining the idea of my TV show and mailed it. I never expected to get a reply. A short time later I received a hand written postcard from Mr. Price. The message: “Sounds like an interesting idea. Contact my agent” with his agent’s name, address, and telephone number.

At my earliest opportunity I call his agent, the legendary Walter Kohner of the Kohner Agency. I was transferred to Mr. Kohner’s assistant and explained who I was, how I knew Mr. Price and what I wanted to do and asked if it would be alright to include Mr. Price in the script. There was a long pause and then she said, “You know, most people don’t ask. They just do it and then call us. Hold on.” The next thing I knew I was talking to Mr. Kohner himself.

I again explained my plan, which he thought was intriguing and told me to send him the script when it was finished. About two weeks later I delivered the script.  Know I planned to just drop it off but was asked to wait, then I was ushered into Mr. Kohner’s office.  I found myself seated opposite an elegant, white haired gentlemen with a most genteel manner. We spoke of a number of things, including his Holocaust experience.

He told me about an autobiography he and his wife had written Hannah and Walter: A Love Story. It basically tells of his discovering Hannah, both captured and sent to different concentration camps, then reuniting years later and marrying. I can’t recall if he gave me a copy of the book or if I went out and bought it, but I read it. The chapters alternated, one chapter written by Walter, the alternate chapter written by Hannah. It’s a most moving book.  I called him and suggested it would make a terrific TV Movie. But he down played the idea, being humble and quite modest.

A few weeks later Walter called me to tell me although he liked and enjoyed the script,  he felt it conflicted with Mr. Price’s schedule.  I did end up with three hand  written post cards from Vincent Price, one of the most congenial celebrities it was my pleasure to know.