Flint Portraits: Romain Johnston

An earlier post on Frank Price prompted a reminder from a reader about another Central High grad from the same era who made it big in the entertainment industry — Romain Johnston. Price and Johnston were friends at Central and active in the high school theater scene.

Here is Johnston's entry from the Art Directors Guild Hall of Fame :

A legend in the Variety Show or Musical genre, Johnston won three Emmys® and was nominated an additional ten times. Johnston got his start in art direction with the television series Number Please (1961) and went on to win his Emmys for work on The Mac Davis Show (1974), The Sentry Collection Presents Ben Vereen: His Roots (1978) and Pryor’s Place (1984). In 1978, Johnston received three of the five Emmy nominations for Art Direction of a Variety or Musical Program. He has also worked on iconic series Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters, The Flip Wilson Show and The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.

Flint Portraits: Frank Price

Flint Expatriate Frank Price, the former Columbia Pictures and Universal TV chief, recently bought an ocean-view condo in Santa Monica for $3.1 million. At Columbia, he was involved in the creation of Kramer vs. Kramer, Tootsie, and Ghandi.

Before he made a name for himself in the entertainment world, Price stood out at Central High School, where he was editor of the school paper, president of the drama club, and president of the junior class. He worked as a copy boy at The Flint Journal, and eventually worked his way up to police and fire reporting. After a stint in the Navy, he worked summers at Chevy in the Hole to pay his way through Michigan State. He transferred to Columbia University, but he left early when to work for the CBS story department.

Lauren Beale of The Los Angeles Times reports:

The 3,165-square-foot third-floor unit shares no walls with neighbors. Features include terraces, marble floors, a built-in aquarium and two fireplaces. There are two bedrooms and three bathrooms. The complex, which has 24-hour security, a gym and a rooftop swimming pool and deck, was built in 1997.

My mom remembers Price from her days at Central. And you can get more of his story here.