Vincentennial

As a kid, I didn't know very much about Vincent Price. I thought he had an amazing voice, but about the only things I knew him for were Saturday morning cartoons such as THE 13 GHOSTS OF SCOOBY DOO and as the narrator in that scary Michael Jackson video. It wasn't until years later that I learned how talented an actor Price really was. May 27th was Price's birthday and this year he would have been 100 years-old.

Price was a native of St. Louis and in honor of one of their hometown boys who did well, St. Louis held a two week celebration of Vincent Price called Vincentennial. There were all sorts of film showings, there was a special play being performed about Price, there were lectures, and there interviews and presentations by famous people. During the first weekend I went to one of the Vincentennial events. It was held at the Hi-Pointe theatre in St. Louis. It was a special showing of the movie THE TOMB OF LIGEIA previewed by an interview with Roger Corman (I was sitting about 15 feet away from Corman before the interview began). Last week I had a chance to see a special Vincent Price exhibit at The Sheldon. It's not very large, but is really interesting. The exhibit will be there until August and is free, so if you're in St. Louis, I highly recommend it.

I also attended a presentation by Victoria Price, Vincent's daughter, that was held at the Missouri History Museum. It was extremely interesting (and also free!). I learned a lot about Price that I never knew about before and has made me interested in exploring more of the man's work. Happy Birthday, Vincent Price!