\n<\/p>\n
\n\tVeteran 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.<\/p>\n
\n\tHis son Roy Price, former president of Amazon Studios, reported his death, posting on X, \u201cMy father, Frank Price, passed away peacefully in his sleep this morning at 95. He lived a full life and we will miss him deeply.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tOne of the few journeymen writer-producers to rise through the ranks to head both television and film production divisions, Price headed MCA\u2019s TV division in the 1970s, a period of great prosperity for the company, with such series as \u201cKojak,\u201d \u201cBaretta\u201d and \u201cThe Rockford Files.\u201d He moved on to become president of Columbia Pictures in 1978 and then chairman and CEO before he left in 1983; such films as \u201cKramer vs. Kramer,\u201d \u201cThe Big Chill,\u201d \u201cTootsie,\u201d \u201cGandhi,\u201d \u201cGhostbusters\u201d and \u201cThe Karate Kid\u201d 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 \u201cOut of Africa\u201d and such box office successes as \u201cBack to the Future,\u201d \u201cDragnet,\u201d \u201cMask\u201d and \u201cThe Secret of My Success.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tReturning to Columbia in 1990, he was responsible for \u201cA League of Their Own\u201d and \u201cDracula.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cKramer vs. Kramer\u201d (five Oscars), \u201cGandhi\u201d (eight) and \u201cOut of Africa\u201d (seven) all swept the Academy Awards under his watch.<\/p>\n
\n\tWhat\u2019s more, he could boast that the 10 biggest box office successes made under his supervision grossed more than $1.5 billion \u2014 a very impressive number back in the \u201990s.<\/p>\n
\n\tBut Price also had to take responsibility for Universal\u2019s \u201cHoward the Duck,\u201d one of Hollywood\u2019s legendary big-budget fiascoes along with \u201cHeaven\u2019s Gate\u201d and \u201cIshtar.\u201d 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.<\/p>\n
\n\tPrice 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.<\/p>\n
\n\tIn 1959 he joined Universal as an associate producer and writer on \u201cThe Virginian.\u201d Two years later he was promoted to exec producer. Similar stints on \u201cIronside\u201d and \u201cIt Takes a Thief\u201d followed. During the same period, he produced NBC TV movie \u201cThe Doomsday Flight,\u201d 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\u2019s board of directors.<\/p>\n
\n\tUnder his presidency Universal TV boasted such series as \u201cKojak,\u201d \u201cBaretta,\u201d \u201cThe Six Million Dollar Man,\u201d \u201cQuincy,\u201d \u201cThe Incredible Hulk,\u201d \u201cBionic Woman\u201d and \u201cThe Rockford Files.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThe miniseries \u201cRich Man, Poor Man\u201d and \u201cCentennial\u201d also aired during this period, as well as such ground-breaking telepics as \u201cDuel,\u201d \u201cThat Certain Summer,\u201d \u201cThe Execution of Private Slovik\u201d and \u201cA Case of Rape.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tIn 1978, he was lured to Columbia Pictures to become president of its film division. His personal cause, \u201cThe Blue Lagoon,\u201d became a major box office attraction, as did \u201cStripes,\u201d \u201cStir Crazy,\u201d \u201cTootsie,\u201d \u201cGhostbusters\u201d and \u201cThe Karate Kid.\u201d Other, more prestigious successes were \u201cAbsence of Malice\u201d and \u201cTess.\u201d In 1979 and 1982 Col won best picture Oscars for \u201cKramer vs. Kramer\u201d and \u201cGandhi,\u201d respectively, though the latter was a pickup.<\/p>\n
\n\tPrice\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\n\tBut 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 \u201cOut of Africa\u201d was a testament to his story and star sense, and the studio\u2019s coffers were enriched thanks to Steven Spielberg\u2019s Amblin Entertainment and the megahit \u201cBack to the Future.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tBut such high-priced disappointments as the $38 million \u201cLegal Eagles\u201d and the disastrous $35 million \u201cHoward the Duck\u201d brought Price\u2019s deteriorating relationship with MCA\u2019s Sid Sheinberg to reported fisticuffs.<\/p>\n
\n\tIn 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 \u201cThe Bear\u201d was its first major release, followed by 1992\u2019s \u201cGladiator\u201d and \u201cHexed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tIn 1990, under the Guber\/Peters regime, he was returned to the position of Columbia Pictures chairman. He registered \u201cBoyz N the Hood,\u201d \u201cMy Girl\u201d and \u201cPrince of Tides\u201d on his resume before being unceremoniously booted out in favor of Mark Canton.<\/p>\n
\n\tHis reward for the ignominy was an independent production deal and a $10 million severance.<\/p>\n
\n\tPrice was a busy producer in the mid- to late \u201990s. He produced African American Vietnam story \u201cThe Walking Dead\u201d (1995) and achieved a significant success that year with romantic drama \u201cCircle of Friends,\u201d starring Minnie Driver and Chris O\u2019Donnell. Both were at Savoy Pictures. Also in 1995, he was exec producer of HBO telepic \u201cThe Tuskegee Airmen,\u201d which scored Price an Emmy nomination in the outstanding made for television movie category.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe next year he produced the very Catholic-themed film \u201cMariette in Ecstasy,\u201d about stigmata, and the comedy \u201cGetting Away With Murder,\u201d starring Dan Aykroyd, Lily Tomlin and Jack Lemmon.<\/p>\n
\n\tIn 1997 he produced the family adventure \u201cZeus and Roxanne,\u201d and Price Entertainment went on to produce films including \u201cShadowlands\u201d and \u201cA Bronx Tale.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tWilliam 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\u2019s tour of duty with the Navy\u2019s USNEV program, editing the Navy newspaper.<\/p>\n
\n\tHe matriculated at Michigan State U., majoring in journalism.<\/p>\n
\n\tAfter moving to New York in 1951, he was hired by CBS as a story editor and writer on such TV programs as \u201cStudio One,\u201d \u201cSuspense\u201d and \u201cThe Web.\u201d Moving West, he was a story editor at Screen Gems on \u201cFord Theatre\u201d and \u201cPlayhouse 90\u201d and then at NBC on \u201cMatinee Theater.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tPrice 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\u2019s board of councilors.<\/p>\n
\n\tHe was named motion picture executive of the year in 1980 by the National Association of Theater Owners.<\/p>\n
\n\tHe is survived by his Katherine, sons, David, Roy, and William, who is married to Megan; and 14 grandchildren.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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, \u201cMy father, Frank Price, passed away peacefully in his sleep this morning<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17796,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[5298,2527,10070,1319,4182,8731],"class_list":{"0":"post-17795","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-columbia","9":"tag-dies","10":"tag-frank","11":"tag-price","12":"tag-studio","13":"tag-universal"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17795","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17795"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17795\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}