Veteran motion picture and television executive Frank Price, who had more than one go-round at both MCA/Universal and Columbia Pictures, died Monday in Santa Monica. He was 95.
His son Roy Price, former president of Amazon Studios, reported his death, posting on X, “My father, Frank Price, passed away peacefully in his sleep this morning at 95. He lived a full life and we will miss him deeply.”
One of the few journeymen writer-producers to rise through the ranks to head both television and film production divisions, Price headed MCA’s TV division in the 1970s, a period of great prosperity for the company, with such series as “Kojak,” “Baretta” and “The Rockford Files.” He moved on to become president of Columbia Pictures in 1978 and then chairman and CEO before he left in 1983; such films as “Kramer vs. Kramer,” “The Big Chill,” “Tootsie,” “Gandhi,” “Ghostbusters” and “The Karate Kid” were released by the studio during his tenure. Moving back to MCA to run Universal Pictures, he added to his hit (and Oscar) list with “Out of Africa” and such box office successes as “Back to the Future,” “Dragnet,” “Mask” and “The Secret of My Success.”
Returning to Columbia in 1990, he was responsible for “A League of Their Own” and “Dracula.”
“Kramer vs. Kramer” (five Oscars), “Gandhi” (eight) and “Out of Africa” (seven) all swept the Academy Awards under his watch.
What’s more, he could boast that the 10 biggest box office successes made under his supervision grossed more than $1.5 billion — a very impressive number back in the ’90s.
But Price also had to take responsibility for Universal’s “Howard the Duck,” one of Hollywood’s legendary big-budget fiascoes along with “Heaven’s Gate” and “Ishtar.” The film helped bring his friendship and business alliance with MCA president Sidney Sheinberg to an abrupt end. Later, when Sony Pictures chairman Peter Guber decided to hire former Warner Bros. executive Mark Canton to head Columbia Pictures in 1991, Price was given an abrupt heave-ho, though he was reportedly paid $10 million for the inconvenience.
Price was rather soft-spoken in a town where senior executives have been known to crack china with their high-decibel yells. He helped usher in an era of prosperity for film execs. For a time, he and Alan Ladd Jr. (at 20th Century Fox) were the highest-paid studio heads in the business, far outstripping their predecessors, although their remuneration was later to be dwarfed by that of Michael Eisner and Guber.
In 1959 he joined Universal as an associate producer and writer on “The Virginian.” Two years later he was promoted to exec producer. Similar stints on “Ironside” and “It Takes a Thief” followed. During the same period, he produced NBC TV movie “The Doomsday Flight,” which drew 30 million viewers.
He was a senior VP of Universal Television by 1971 and exec VP two years later. In 1974 he was named president of Universal Television and a VP of the MCA parent company in 1975. By 1977 he had been elected to MCA’s board of directors.
Under his presidency Universal TV boasted such series as “Kojak,” “Baretta,” “The Six Million Dollar Man,” “Quincy,” “The Incredible Hulk,” “Bionic Woman” and “The Rockford Files.”
The miniseries “Rich Man, Poor Man” and “Centennial” also aired during this period, as well as such ground-breaking telepics as “Duel,” “That Certain Summer,” “The Execution of Private Slovik” and “A Case of Rape.”
In 1978, he was lured to Columbia Pictures to become president of its film division. His personal cause, “The Blue Lagoon,” became a major box office attraction, as did “Stripes,” “Stir Crazy,” “Tootsie,” “Ghostbusters” and “The Karate Kid.” Other, more prestigious successes were “Absence of Malice” and “Tess.” In 1979 and 1982 Col won best picture Oscars for “Kramer vs. Kramer” and “Gandhi,” respectively, though the latter was a pickup.
Price’s star continued to rise as he became chairman-CEO. But after Columbia was sold to Coca-Cola, Price became engaged in a power struggle with his superior, Francis (Fay) Vincent Jr. He once resigned to become an independent producer and reconsidered.
But the tension continued, and Price quit again in 1983 to return to MCA, where he was named chairman of the Motion Picture Group and vice president of MCA Inc. The 1985 Oscar winner “Out of Africa” was a testament to his story and star sense, and the studio’s coffers were enriched thanks to Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment and the megahit “Back to the Future.”
But such high-priced disappointments as the $38 million “Legal Eagles” and the disastrous $35 million “Howard the Duck” brought Price’s deteriorating relationship with MCA’s Sid Sheinberg to reported fisticuffs.
In 1986 he resigned, settling out his $3 million per year, five-year contract. He then started his production company Price Entertainment, a joint venture with TriStar Pictures, which was later absorbed by Sony Pictures Entertainment. The film “The Bear” was its first major release, followed by 1992’s “Gladiator” and “Hexed.”
In 1990, under the Guber/Peters regime, he was returned to the position of Columbia Pictures chairman. He registered “Boyz N the Hood,” “My Girl” and “Prince of Tides” on his resume before being unceremoniously booted out in favor of Mark Canton.
His reward for the ignominy was an independent production deal and a $10 million severance.
Price was a busy producer in the mid- to late ’90s. He produced African American Vietnam story “The Walking Dead” (1995) and achieved a significant success that year with romantic drama “Circle of Friends,” starring Minnie Driver and Chris O’Donnell. Both were at Savoy Pictures. Also in 1995, he was exec producer of HBO telepic “The Tuskegee Airmen,” which scored Price an Emmy nomination in the outstanding made for television movie category.
The next year he produced the very Catholic-themed film “Mariette in Ecstasy,” about stigmata, and the comedy “Getting Away With Murder,” starring Dan Aykroyd, Lily Tomlin and Jack Lemmon.
In 1997 he produced the family adventure “Zeus and Roxanne,” and Price Entertainment went on to produce films including “Shadowlands” and “A Bronx Tale.”
William Francis Price Jr. was born in Decatur, Ill., and grew up in Flint, Mich. In high school he worked as a copy boy and police reporter for the Flint Journal, followed by a year’s tour of duty with the Navy’s USNEV program, editing the Navy newspaper.
He matriculated at Michigan State U., majoring in journalism.
After moving to New York in 1951, he was hired by CBS as a story editor and writer on such TV programs as “Studio One,” “Suspense” and “The Web.” Moving West, he was a story editor at Screen Gems on “Ford Theatre” and “Playhouse 90” and then at NBC on “Matinee Theater.”
Price served on the board of governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, the board of trustees of the Sundance Institute for Film and Television and the board of directors of the Motion Picture Association of America. He also served as chairman of the USC School of Cinema-Television’s board of councilors.
He was named motion picture executive of the year in 1980 by the National Association of Theater Owners.
He is survived by his Katherine, sons, David, Roy, and William, who is married to Megan; and 14 grandchildren.
