When you’ve lived for the better part of a century and spent over half your life in the entertainment industry, you get to know a few people. And David Frankham remembers every one of them.
Roy and I are honored to have hosted the veteran actor for his return to Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner on Friday, Frankham’s 98th birthday, when once again he lit up the internet with a treasure trove of memories and his extraordinary ebullience.
In addition to revisiting his experiences on “Star Trek” and “The Outer Limits,” Frankham, who also costarred in the feature films “Return of the Fly,” “Master of the World,” “Tales of Terror,” and “One Hundred and One Dalmations,” shared anecdotes about Vincent Price, Charles Bronson, Basil Rathbone, Walt Disney, Rosemary Clooney, Alec Guinness, Miriam Hopkins, Gladys Cooper, Henry Hull, and many others.
Frankham was joined by filmmaker Ben Wickey, who was visiting him at his home in Santa Fe, NM. Wickey was on the team of animators responsible for the Academy Award-nominated feature film, “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On” (2021). A big fan of the Vincent Price gothics produced by American International Pictures in the 1960s, Wickey coaxed Frankham into employing his voice talent in a stop-motion adaptation of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The House of the Seven Gables” (2018). Not coincidentally, there are plenty of A.I.P. tributes in the film, which also sports a bit of an Edward Gorey/Rankin-Bass vibe. It’s an awful lot of fun. If you have 27 minutes to spare, here it is:
Frankham’s close friend, Jonathan David Dixon, was also on hand. Dixon voices the role of Mr. Holgrave in the film and provided its pitch-perfect score.
Finally, not to spoil it for anyone, but toward the end of the show, there was a surprise visit from Mimi Gibson, who costarred with Frankham in “One Hundred and One Dalmations.”
Frankham’s appearances are always priceless (or, given the source, perhaps Price-full), so do check out the show at the link.
And if you just can’t get enough, you’ll find another one archived here:
Of course, there’s plenty more in his memoir, “Which One Was David?”
Our next livestream will take place on Friday evening at 7:00 EST, when Roy and I will return, our pallid selves, to discuss another classic movie yet to be determined. Keep watching this space. And thank you, David Frankham!
