The Entrepreneur

Josh Richman is godfather of the Los Angeles club scene.  His record of renowned clubs includes "Grand Ville," "Teddys," "Les Deux" and "Greystone Manor." He is a founding member of the Alliance, an event promoting agency that organizes A-List parties for companies like Sony, Cadillac and Heineken. With his ever-present fedora and walking stick, Josh has no business card, no office and no website. His success is built on a vibrant personality and a magnetic pull to the people and places "that matter."

Josh and I grew up across the street from each other in a Studio City suburb. We were best friends as kids but Josh was always a step ahead of me.  While I listened to Elton John, Josh listened to T-Rex.  While I watched Beanie & Cecil, Josh viewed Fritz The Cat.  Josh's family was the first in the neighborhood to subscribe to the Z Channel and we spent many nights watching movies like Freebie and the Bean and California Suite.

We were both latch key kids. We played sports year round until the streetlights came on and we scoured the nearby Auto Graveyard beneath Mulholland Drive searching for snakes and scorpions.  We shared the surreal experience of seeing our local ice cream man suffer a heart attack and crash his truck into a fire hydrant.  We also raised hell together, breaking into people's homes and rearranging their furniture and changing their answering machine messages.

At age 5, Josh began recording radio commercials with his father Don Richman, a legendary radio producer and tv writer.  As a teenager, Josh parlayed his radio experience into an acting career.  He appeared in The River's Edge, Heathers and Natural Born Killers.  Josh was orphaned by the deaths of both parents by age 21.  His surrogate family became confidantes like Johnny Depp, Robert Downey Jr. and Keanu Reeves.  In 1991, he forged a relationship with Axl Rose that led to Josh writing the Guns N' Roses music video "Don't Cry" as well as his directing the video for "Live And Let Die."

In 1992, Josh produced the film The Last Party in which Robert Downey travelled along the presidential campaign trail. Josh was also manager for the rock band Deadsy which featured lead singer Elijah, son of Cher & Gregg Allman. Always a diehard USC Football fan, Josh is a Dodger dugout staple and a courtside regular at both Lakers and Clippers games. Like his father, Josh is a true renaissance man and I'm fortunate to call him a true friend. (6" x 8", black ink print)

Karloff

Boris Karloff was born William Henry Platt in England in 1887. The youngest of 9 children, he was bow-legged, had a lisp and stuttered.  All his brothers were members of the British Foreign Service and his great aunt, Anna Leonowens, was the inspiration for the musical The King And I. He moved to Hollywood in 1919 and took small roles in silent films, often playing exotic Indians or Arab villains due to his dark skin tone (his background was Anglo-Indian).  He supplemented his meager film income by working as a truck driver.

In 1931 at the age of 44, Karloff took on the role that made him a star: Frankenstein.  The part had been offered to Bela Lugosi, but Lugosi passed.  The Frankenstein costume had a heavy back brace and 4-inch platform boots weighing 13 pounds each.  The bulky costume caused Karloff back pain for the rest of his life but it also brought him immediate fame.  "My dear old monster," Karloff said.  "I owe everything to him.  He's my best friend."

During production, director James Whale was afraid that 7-year old Marilyn Harris, who played the little girl, would be terrified of Karloff in costume.  When she first saw "the monster" at the crew hotel, Marilyn ran from her car to Karloff, took his hand and asked, "May I drive with you to the set?"  Karloff responded, "Would you darling?"

Karloff reprised the monster role in Bride of Frankenstein and Son of Frankenstein.  During production on the latter film, Karloff's only daughter Sara was born.  He rushed to the hospital in full costume and makeup to witness her birth.

Karloff and Lugosi were Universal's top horror stars in the 1930's.  Though they were not close friends, their legendary "feud" was merely a publicity stunt.  Off screen, Karloff was a kind gentleman who gave generously to children's charities. He was one of the original twelve founders of the Screen Actor's Guild and he spoke out about hazardous working conditions for actors.  Suspicious of film studio anti-union tactics, Karloff always carried a role of dimes so he could conduct union business on pay phones.  (He was convinced his home phone was tapped.)

Karloff played key roles in The Mummy, The Mask of Fu Manchu and Scarface where his character was gunned down in a bowling alley.  In 1941, he starred as a homicidal gangster in the stage version of Arsenic and Old Lace. Karloff turned to radio and television in the 40's and 50's.  He did a parody of Frankenstein with Vincent Price on the Red Skelton Show and his final appearance as Frankenstein came in a 1962 episode of Route 66.

Though he worked in the US for more than half his life, Karloff never became a naturalized American citizen. He also never legally changed his name to "Boris Karloff."  He gained new fame in 1966 as the narrator in How the Grinch Stole Christmas.  He was also the inspiration for the first illustration of The Incredible Hulk and his voice was the basis for Kellogg's Tony The Tiger commercials.

Karloff lived out his final years in England battling arthritis and emphysema. Despite three back surgeries, he always remained grateful for Frankenstein. "You could have heaved a brick out the window and hit ten actors who could play my parts.  I just happened to be on the right corner at the right time."

Karloff died of pneumonia in 1969.  He was cremated in Surrey, England.  Four low-budget Mexican horror films which he made late in life appeared after his death.  Take that Tupac. (4" x 6", black ink print)