Ebony and Ivory

I wonder if Vincent Price was a creepy kid?

When his kindergarten teacher asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up, did he answer "Gee, Miss Randall, I guess I want to be known as the Master of the Macabre...assuming I ever learn what "macabre" means." Or did he begin his life with dreams of chartered accountancy, or perhaps something really noble, like swim coaching?

How old do you think he was when someone first said "Vinnie, baby... when they finally get around to inventing big production zombie-dancing music videos, you should definitely do the voice-over!"?

Regardless, Mr. Price leveraged his precise elocution and evil charm to win the role of Egghead (2nd panel), and then went on to team with Michael Jackson on "Thriller." His much more important work, though, was in such cinematic triumphs as "The Abominable Dr. Phibes", which paired him with Virginia North as Vulnavia, his beautiful but quiet hench-babe. She's the one in the photo above, and in the fuzzy white hat in the extra-credit puzzle panel 2.







To the right of Mr. Price (or should I channel the ghost of Bob Barker and say "Price's right"? Ar ar.) is Frank Gorshin, in the garish green garb of the Riddler. On Star Trek, he played a half-black, half-white bounty hunter who was obsessed with tracking down the guy in the second panel of the "easy" puzzle. Mr. Gorshin began his career as a standup comic who did some pretty decent impressions, and that's probably what got him hired to do the voice of Yosemite Sam after Mel Blanc died.

I didn't realize the irony until after I assembled the pictures, but there's something appropriate about putting the half-white/half-black guy next to Michael Jackson. I suppose I could've also done that with Vanilla Ice, or President Obama. Hmm.

Anyway, the sidewinder in the cowboy hat is Cliff Robertson, appearing as special guest villain "Shame." He was also Spiderman's Uncle Ben, who would never have been shot if Peter had actually gone to the library instead of rassling Bonesaw. Great responsibility does not necessarily give birth to great judgment, I guess.

Much earlier in his career, though, Mr. Robertson won an Oscar for "Charly", where he played a mentally deficient fellow who takes a drug that makes him really really smart. For a while. That story was based on "Flowers for Algernon," which I was forced to read in high school English class. All I remember from that is that "Algernon" was the name of the rat, who is shown in panel 1 of the extra credit puzzle. (He got really smart, too...for a while. Whether he was friends with any radioactive spiders, though, I do not know.)

Finally, we have the Penguin, who was killed by Mr. T in "Rocky III." But long before he was a fight manager, Burgess Meredith had an iconic role in the original Twilight Zone series. He played a myopic bookworm who never had enough time to read. He becomes ecstatic to learn that everyone else on Earth has died, figuring that he can spend the rest of his days at the library, absorbing the wisdom and entertainment value of all the world's printed literature.

I won't spoil Serling's twist, but you can view it here, if you're interested. Oh, and by the way, Julie Newmar named her Star Trek baby Leonard James Akaar. And when Spock learns of his shipmates' delight in the name, he tells them he thinks "you're both going to be insufferably pleased with yourselves for at least a month."

Classic.

On a completely different topic, my bike is tuned up and outfitted with new tires...so I'm ready for a long bike ride this weekend. There's also the Horsetooth 2.4-mile swim, so though I won't post anything for the next couple of days, I am pretty sure I'll have interesting tales to tell come Monday. Have a great weekend!