Social Media Vincent Price Style: The Sequel February 16 2014, 6 Comments

Almost as soon as I could read, my dad would hand me the instructions to anything mechanical and have me explain how to “make it work”. It was the same on our road trips: Neither of my parents ever bothered to look at a map, knowing that I loved being tasked as the navigator, and that I was good at it. I loved it, too! My parents were both so incredibly gifted at so many things that it felt good to be better than they were at simple little life chores like finding our way from Point A to Point B or knowing which wire went where in the new stereo.

Now that I’m exactly my dad’s age when I was born, I wonder whether they were really so bad at both of those things, or whether it’s just easier to have someone younger figure it out. Because that’s how I feel about social media. I just know that learning this would be a lot easier if I was 12. And the more I think about my dad trying to figure it out, I realize that I probably would have had to do all his social media for him. He would have handwritten his “tweets” on spare envelopes or paper placemats in that beautiful penmanship of his and handed them to me to type. And the thought of my dad trying to wrangle an iPhone is purely hilarious! But if he had, I’m pretty sure that his Instagram photos would have been a lot like mine—taken in museums around the world.

The good news is that I grew up with my dad’s two aphorisms: “A man who limits his interests limits his life.” “If you are always curious, you will never be bored.” And certainly learning social media, the digital world, and how to connect through the digital ether is always interesting.

In a few weeks, I will take off on a wonderful road trip—driving around the country revisiting the restaurants in my parents’ famous cookbook in preparation for our 50th anniversary reissue of A Treasury of Great Recipes. And I will also be appearing and #MonsterMania in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. I have two special treats in store for me in New Jersey: My nephew, Jody Price, will sit in with me one day to sign autographs and meet fans. Jody is a terrific musician who has been putting on some great Vincent Price-themed events in the Jersey area. And super-fan Bryan Hewitt from England will be flying over for a visit! How cool is that! One other treat awaits me: A long-awaited visit to the #BarnesFoundation in Philadelphia. For me, walking through a museum is like spending a few hours with my dad. Art was always our common ground and I still love “chatting” with him about art!

Then it’s up to New York for a special #VincentPrice screening—more to be announced soon!

I will be launching a new website that you can find here on vincentprice.com dedicated to the 50th anniversary of my parents’ cookbook. So keep checking back.

In fact, we have lots more Internet ventures that will be launching in the next six months—and even an opportunity to take a Vincent Price-inspired trip to Europe this summer. All this news is coming soon!!!

But, just so I know you all are out there listening, can you please weigh in whatever way suits you best? Please let me know the best way for us to reach you with our news, events, product launches, appearances, blogs, photos, etc. Is it via this website, Facebook, Twitter, Google +. Would you like a newsletter, a fan meeting place? What do you fans want from us? Please tell us! We’re eager to hear from you, because you are the ones keeping the Vincent Price legacy alive.

Last but not least, to keep my SEO (search engine optimization--I just learned that) gurus happy, here is the paragraph they asked me to write. It's like a bad exercise from English class. Please find a way to include the following three phrases in a paragraph: thriller movies, classic horror movies, horror movie posters--and keep it interesting. All this so that, #Vincent Price fans can find us better through Google.

My dad loved making thriller movies and classic horror movies. He loved being grouped in the same category with such classic horror movie stars as his dear friend #BorisKarloff. He loved that his thriller movies scared audiences. And, of course, as someone who loved art, he always got a kick out of seeing the horror movie posters of his films. Geez. This is tougher than I thought.

Wait!! I've got an idea: I'll make it a contest. By Friday, February 21, please send a paragraph or two about Vincent Price that uses the three phrases--thriller movies, classic horror movies, and horror movie posters--in interesting and fun ways. My brother and I will pick the winner, and the winner will get the signed Vincent Price tshirt of their choice. This will be way more fun for me! I can't wait to see what you write! Game on, horror fans!!!

On the lighter side: I hope you enjoy this little Vincent Price tribute to social media that we created.

And I hope to see you soon somewhere out there on the road.

Cheers!
Victoria

Social Media Vincent Price Style January 09 2014, 2 Comments

Vincent Price often said that his favorite song was "People" sung by @Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl. He said it when he felt his wives became too possessive of his time; he said it when asked what he wanted sung at his funeral. But mostly he said it and then quoted the line from the song--"People who need people are the luckiest people in the world."

Vincent Price genuinely loved people. He was an extrovert, who enjoyed meeting and talking with almost anyone, anywhere, at any time. He maintained lifelong correspondences with family, friends, and fans--with a steady stream of postcards from the many places he visited. He enjoyed meeting people, not for the sake of self-aggrandizement but rather because he loved hearing their stories, and seeing the world through their eyes. He replied to his own fan mail and was not the kind of star who sat down in an airplane seat and tried to pretend his seatmate did not exist. In fact, some of his most interesting encounters happened on airplanes--like the first time he flew on a jet (after twenty-plus years on prop planes) and expressed his panic at not seeing the propellers to his seatmate, which prompted the gentleman to give Vincent and long and reassuring lecture on airplanes and aerodynamics, and why planes are built to stay UP in the air. When, at the end of the flight, Vincent did as he always did and introduced himself by saying, "My name's Vincent Price"--as if most people wouldn't have recognized his distinctive voice, face, or 6'4" frame--his seatmate replied, "Pleasure to meet you. My name's @Eddie Rickenbacker." To have been the recipient of a lecture on flying by the most famous American World War I flying ace was just one more proof for Vincent of why people who need people are the luckiest people in the world.

And so, it is fun to think about what Vincent would have thought about social media, and how he would have participated. Now, the first thing that needs to be said is that he was technologically challenged. He loathed reading instructions to anything, and as soon as he figured out--as we all do--that his daughter at age eight was more technologically adept than he, he quickly enlisted her to read all instructions, road maps, etc. He never owned a computer, and handwrote everything--eschewing even typewriters. So, getting him computer savvy would have been a challenge. And a smartphone--given the size of his 6'4" hands--would have given him fits. That said, once he did master something technical--his dear friend industrial designer @Henry Dreyfuss, who designed the #Polaroid camera (as well as the thermostat, telephone, and #John Deere tractor, to name a few of his many groundbreaking designs), gave him one of the early Polaroids--and Vincent was enamored with it and quickly become a devotee. So, IF he could have overcome his innate aversion to all things technical--I think Vincent would have been a fool for Facebook, a Twitter junkie, a #Pinterest pinner, an #Instagram photographer, and mostly an inveterate blogger.

Imagine a Vincent day on social media. As he boarded a flight from one city to the next on one of his lecture tours on which he spent 60 days traveling around the country speaking about the visual arts, instead of writing one of his countless essays on the back of the in-flight menu or magazine, he would have pulled out his laptop and written a blog post about what he had seen or done the day before--a visit to the #Albright-Knox in #Buffalo, perhaps, or a wonderful chat with a young sculptor about his passion for the visual arts. And had he lucked out on an interesting seatmate, he might have shot a photo of the two of them together to be posted later on his #Facebook feed. Upon landing in #Kansas City, he would have requested a trip to the #Nelson Atkins Museum, where he would have posted a few pictures on Instagram of one of the iconic @Claes Oldenburg Shuttlecocks in the Sculpture Garden, or waxed rhapsodic on #Twitter about their extraordinary Native American art collection. Any opportunity to promote an American museum would have been welcome! Back in his hotel, instead of sending postcards, Vincent would have taken to Facebook to message one on one with his fans, and post a few photos of the day of the art he had seen--and used the opportunity to exhort his readers to become more involved in the visual arts. "Checking in" on Facebook at dinner at one of Kansas City's famous steakhouses would have prompted commentary on the quality of the meal or the fun of discussing the best ways to chop garlic with the chef. And both he and fans would have posted photos of him chatting and signing autographs after the lecture. And oh how he would have loved Pinterest! Instead of collecting countless postcards at museum shops, Vincent would have posted his own photos and comments about his favorite drawings, paintings, and other works of art he was fortunate to see on his journeys around the world.

In short, as one of the most social of actors, Vincent Price would have been a monster on social media! Early on in his career, @Helen Hayes, the first lady of the American theatre, gave him a piece of advice he heeded until the end of his 60-plus year career. "An actor," she told the 24-year-old Vincent, "is a public servant. Without your audience, you are nothing." Vincent knew this to be true. He was grateful for everyone of his fans, cognizant that his ability to live what he saw as the extraordinary life of an actor was utterly dependent on the love and loyalty of his fans.

Living up to Vincent's legacy in this regard is a challenge. But I'm trying. I'm devoting the first half of this year to learning everything I can about social media and how to use it to promote and preserve Vincent Price's extraordinary legacy. So, please bear with me as get better at answering all of your emails and Facebook messages and Tweets, at posting on Facebook, and posting photos on what I hope will be my next project--a new @Vincent Price Pinterest page. I have so many ideas of how to reach out to Vincent Price fans, but finding the time and getting the know-how on top of having a job that consumes 60-plus hours of my time a week is my current challenge. But it's a blast "meeting" all of you and hearing your wonderful Vincent Price stories--so please be patient as I learn!

Vincent's second wife (of 23 years), designer @Mary Grant, was often confounded by her husband's social enthusiasms. She loved a party as much as anyone, but thought of a party as she did a Broadway show--as something requiring planning and forethought and preparation. For her gregarious husband, meeting an interesting person at the dentist's office was an opportunity to socialize, and might elicit a phone call telling her he was bringing someone home for dinner. Any resistance on her part could often evoke the line, "People who need people. . ." with a wink and a smile.

As the child of Mary and Vincent, I like to think I fall somewhere in between the two of them--social when I have signed up to be and an intensely private person when left to my own devices. Finding my own place of peace with my father's fame and its legacy is a lifelong challenge--but one that is a wonderful personal journey. The next year and a half will see four book project chronicling this journey: A reprint with an updated introduction of my 1999 biography of my father--#Vincent Price: A Daughter's Biography; a 50th anniversary edition of my parents famous cookbook--#A Treasury of Great Recipes; a commemorative book of photos and essays about Vincent Price, including essays by @Richard Matheson, @Bill Hader, and my brother, @VB Price; and most personal to me, a memoir about growing up as I did called Taking My Mother to China. I'm also figuring out how to get out more and meet fans at various events--and so far have quite a few scheduled for the first half of 2014. So, check out our News and Events page as well as our Facebook feed. And, what is most fun, we are designing some great new Vincent Price products. One of my current favorites is our Vincent Price phone case! So, check them out on our products page and in our Facebook shop! (Can't you just imagine Vincent Price standing in front of a painting he loved in a museum with his iPhone in a Vincent Price phone case Instagramming his thoughts about why art matters?)

So, thank you for joining us on this journey. We're excited to be on it with you. Stay tuned for more and send us your comments and suggestions for what you want to see from vincentprice.com!

Victoria Price: To Horror Fans Everywhere! December 04 2013, 5 Comments

I need to make a confession that may not endear me to some of you: I am NOT a horror fan. I know. . .It seems at best a bit ironic for the daughter of Vincent Price to say she doesn't like horror movies--and at worst, perhaps a kind of sacrilege. But here's why. Imagine you’re a little kid who absolutely adores your dad. You think he’s the kindest, gentlest, sweetest, most loving person you know. And then imagine that you see him doing horrible things to people--like really horrible--killing them and dipping them in vats of wax! And even worse, you have to watch horrible things happen to him--being burned, boiled alive, hacked to death by angry mobs, just to name a few. How would that make you feel?

The reason I’m confessing this to you is because I want to be honest: Most horror fans know more about my dad’s horror movies than I do. So, I never want to claim to know something I don't. . .But in one very significant way, I have become a horror fan--or more accurately, I have become a fan of horror fans. Because without you, my dad’s legacy would not be what it is. You are the ones that keep him alive. So many of his fellow actors who were much more famous than he was at the beginning of his career are barely remembered. Think of people like Robert Taylor, Tyrone Power, or Ronald Coleman. All three were way bigger stars than my dad during the 1930s and 40s. But now they are mostly remembered by classic movie buffs. Not Vincent Price, though. Quite a few people have suggested that my dad may be more famous now than he was twenty years ago at the end of his life and career. And that's because of his scary movies; because of people like Tim Burton and Michael Jackson, who loved those scary movies; and because of fans like you. Thanks to you, my dad not only has never been forgotten, but he has been introduced to new generations of fans. And, for a daughter who loved him, that makes me happier than you can imagine.

I am fortunate to get to travel the world meeting my dad's fans, and hearing all your stories about how much he meant to you. I love seeing your Vincent Price tattoos, discovering your favorite films or recipes from my parents' cookbook. I love it, not only because it keeps my dad alive in my heart and mind, but because he is so alive in yours!

But the truth is, I think about my dad all the time. I think about him because, to this day, he remains one of the most interesting, loving, nice, generous, joyful, fun, funny clever, interested, interesting, curious, wonderful people I have ever met. And I have the good fortune of having extraordinary friends--people who have invented life-saving medical devices, who have won Wimbledon, who have climbed Mount Everest, who have written award-winning books and plays and movies. And I’m not alone in my assessment of my dad. When I wrote his biography, I interviewed well over 200 people, and not one had a negative thing to say about him. Now that’s pretty extraordinary--to work in Hollywood for over 60 years and still remain a genuinely nice man who always found time for his fans. I can’t tell you the number of people over the years who have told me about their lengthy correspondences with my dad, or how he took time to encourage them in their artistic careers, or how he always spent time after a show or lecture taking one on one with the people who waited to see him.

Was he perfect? No, of course not. In fact, my dad was so notably absent during my childhood that, as a little girl, I actually thought he worked at the airport--because we spent so much time dropping him off and picking him up there. And he would be the first person to sell you he wasn't perfect. But all of the good things people say about him--all true!

And so, as the years have passed and people have continued to share their stores with me about him--about his great sense of humor, his many kindnesses, about the way he found time to write them postcards or mentor them or spend time with them--I’ve come to realize that Vincent Price as not extraordinary because he was famous, because he had one of the longest careers in hollywood, because he had an amazing voice, because he epitomized a genre, or because he contributed to so many other fields in the arts besides acting. No. Vincent Price was extraordinary because he lived his live WELL. He lived it with gusto, joy, kindness, love, humor, and generosity--and he shared those qualities with everyone he med. And it was infectious--he made you believe that life was an incredible adventure, and all you had to do was dive in wholeheartedly. He made you believe in the power of good--which is pretty ironic, don’t you think, for one of the most famous bad guys in movie history?

 

And so, it is with great pleasure that we are finally launching vincentprice.com as a place where Vincent Price fans can come to connect, gather information, pass on their stories, and learn about what we're doing to promote the Vincent Price legacy. Bear with us as we begin to put this website together--and please tell us what you want to see here. We have some great ideas--including creating official Vincent Price fan clubs in various countries, as well as some cool new memorabilia. But first, in time for the holidays, we are pleased just to have this site up. Please be sure to check out our new shop, where you'll find some gifts for the Vincent Price fan in your family. And Happy Holidays from our family to yours!